mike1949 Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 About twenty years ago coming back from Clevedon in Somerset on the M5 Northbound after watching our local football team play away to Clevedon with my son on the back of my Divvy 600 he decided to fall asleep going across the Avonmouth bridge in Bristol. My mistake was to shout his name and ask him if he was OK. What I should have done was to pull into the emergency lane and woke him up. But since that experience I've learned that is a common occurrence. (frightening) But the most frightening time was coming back from Poole in Dorset again watching our local team play and as luck had it I entered a 40mph speed limit just before Warminster on the A350 and he decided to feint. I felt him slipping off the back of the bike towards the middle of the road so I had to hold him in a headlock to stop him falling into the road, literally stall the bike into the side of the road. Believe it or not about four cars passed us before finally a car stopped to help me get him off the bike and sit him onto the grass verge. And the car that stopped was a woman on her own and gave my son some water from a bottle she had been drinking from. She did leave without giving me her details but to this day I really do thank her and will never forget her good deed where as others just drove past. But the good news was just after she left a car with Chippenham supporters pulled up thinking that we had broken down but after explaining what happened they put my son in their car and took him all the way home with me following behind. There is good people about thankfully. Mike. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhat250 Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 Thats an amazing and great story mike,,,,,thanx for sharing,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike1949 Posted January 10, 2021 Author Share Posted January 10, 2021 Cheers Blacky. Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE0 Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 (edited) There are some decent good people about Mike and glad it turned out alright. Has anybody had any pillion 'mishaps'? well yes, only the once, fortunately it all turned out 'ok' albiet a very frightening experience. it was also about twenty years ago, when I offered to take a nurse colleague out on my 400/4, as she'd never been on a bike before and admired my bike parked outside. I took the bike out through the countryside of West Sussex and ended up about to join a straight stretch of dual carriageway along towards Chichester. It's a T junction and the road is clear both ways save for a left hand drive gutter sweeper parked in a layby down the road. There was no showing off but i pulled out and opened up the throttles as the road was clear. Then to my horror, that street sweeper pulled out across the road heading for the gap in the central reservation. It was a 90 degree turn and the driver was in the left seat! If i'd braked there was insufficient distance to stop so it was a split second decision to aim the bike at the decreasing gap and to lay the bike down which grounded the off side peg and we shot under the raised cab of the street cleaner. I've no idea how I came out unscathed as I righted the bike on the other side and went over to the side of the road. The guy got out of his cleaner and exclaimed he just didn't see me pull out of the side road. My nurse colleague said it was so exciting and didn't see the danger in the situation. Personally I was white as a sheet and never took another pillion again! Edited January 11, 2021 by NE0 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike1949 Posted January 10, 2021 Author Share Posted January 10, 2021 Blimey NEO, That reminds me of when I was taking my daughter on the A4 into Bath to the RUH for her orthodontic appointment and as we were entering Bath City centre on the Dual carriageway a "White van" man not only pulled in front of us from a side street but stopped right in front of us blocking our exit, after exchanging a few choice words his response was "That's what you've got brakes for ain't it" Mike/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 I had a low speed off way back when with the girlfriend on the back. No big deal and it didn't put her off marrying me but... My biggest fright was as a puny 18yrs apprentice shipwright, I was coming home from my birds house when I saw one of my workmates staggering home drunk. I stopped and asked if he wanted a lift (always seemed to carry a spare lid then). Big Stan gets on the back. Now, I was 5'8 and about 11stone, Big Stan was about 6' 8 and around 20 stone, extremely drunk and wobbling all over the place. Never came off, but the worst 5 mile pillion ride I've ever done. 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnerz89 Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 I was riding through Copenhagen with the Mrs on the back, and there were these huge tabletop speed bumps all down this road. The kind that wouldn't be out of place on a bmx track. So I had the bright idea of standing up on the pegs and hitting one at ramming speed forgetting she was there. As we came down off it she slid forward onto the riders seat as I simultaneously went to sit back down on her lap. I stood straight back up and got punched in the arse for my trouble 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted January 15, 2021 Moderator Share Posted January 15, 2021 One of my dads mates (now passed) used to always bring up a story about them going on the piss and my dad falling asleep on the back of his goldie, whats funny about that, he dosed off alright, right off the back. Tumbled like a rag doll apparently and got up with little more than scratches. He is convinced to this day being asleep AND pissed up save him from breaking anything. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike1949 Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 45 minutes ago, Cynic said: One of my dads mates (now passed) used to always bring up a story about them going on the piss and my dad falling asleep on the back of his goldie, whats funny about that, he dosed off alright, right off the back. Tumbled like a rag doll apparently and got up with little more than scratches. He is convinced to this day being asleep AND pissed up save him from breaking anything. I've heard this before Cynic. when babies and drunks fall over they don't hurt themselves. I remember about twenty odd years ago I was exiting a roundabout and got up to about 45 MPH and had a rear tyre blowout and although it happened in a nanosecond it seemed to go in slow motion and to this day I remember just relaxing knowing I was going to come off and literally got away with a couple of bruises. Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted January 16, 2021 Moderator Share Posted January 16, 2021 On 1/11/2021 at 7:03 PM, jimmy said: I had a low speed off way back when with the girlfriend on the back. No big deal and it didn't put her off marrying me but... My biggest fright was as a puny 18yrs apprentice shipwright, I was coming home from my birds house when I saw one of my workmates staggering home drunk. I stopped and asked if he wanted a lift (always seemed to carry a spare lid then). Big Stan gets on the back. Now, I was 5'8 and about 11stone, Big Stan was about 6' 8 and around 20 stone, extremely drunk and wobbling all over the place. Never came off, but the worst 5 mile pillion ride I've ever done. Had this taking a mate of mine to Margate to pick his bike up from his in laws. Dopey bastard fell asleep, that in its self wasn't the issue the issue was him waking up mid roundabout and leaning in like he was pilot. Waiting for the punchline??? I was 11 stone sopping wet and he was chasing 20 so you can imagine the scene, we decked everything, my knee (with sliders, that stopped us going down i think) pegs, exhaust, centre stand, it must have looked like the forth of July. He then realises his sleepy mistake and decides as I'm fighting to lift the bike..... To lean the other way at which point it stands up like a teens first hardon and aims for the barrier. After nearly high siding me in the process i get the bike back under control and have to pull over in the layby for a smoke (i did at the time) and to call him 3 kinds of cnt but we ended up laughing like idiots in front of a tea van. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Snakebite68 Posted January 17, 2021 Moderator Share Posted January 17, 2021 I've been the pillion in a situation. Was at a friend of a friends at about age 15 and he offered to take me home on his RD350LC, but like most things, it had to be NOW! So there I am, climbing on the back whilst trying to zip my leather up and his girlfriend had kicked one peg up but not the other... So now I'm trying to zip my jacket up AND kick the peg down at the same time. Him, thinking I was on, takes off. I don't... Next thing I know, I'm laying on my back in the middle of the road and everyone comes to to see if I'm ok. I'm fine, just slightly confused about what happened. But this isn't the worst part! We thought he'd get to the end of the street and turn around for me, but we don't see him for the next 20mins... By the time he gets back, I've taken my helmet off and had a fag and a cuppa. And here he is and we walk out to meet him and he says: "I didn't realise you weren't on the back till I got to your house, so rode back slowly to see where I'd lost you. What happened?"!!! I was only 10 stone at the time and hadn't put all my weight on the bike when he took off. So he just never noticed the change in weight. He thought I was the best pillion ever!!! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike1949 Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 On 1/14/2021 at 12:54 AM, finnerz89 said: I was riding through Copenhagen with the Mrs on the back, and there were these huge tabletop speed bumps all down this road. The kind that wouldn't be out of place on a bmx track. So I had the bright idea of standing up on the pegs and hitting one at ramming speed forgetting she was there. As we came down off it she slid forward onto the riders seat as I simultaneously went to sit back down on her lap. I stood straight back up and got punched in the arse for my trouble Blimey finnerz, good for her. Just as well it wasn't the other way round. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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