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[Davie Hall]

I started taking my son on the pillion at 4 y/o as that was when he could reach the raised footrests I fitted. We used to go to rallies with a belt around us both and the tent on the seat behind him. By the time he was 8y/o he was going to London from Newcastle as a pillion and was a superb passenger.

[Adam]

I don’t want to play The Devil’s Advocate here but I feel I must comment on this thread.
In a past career I met a lot of people who had become disabled for a variety of reasons. One of the saddest was a guy in his twenties who, as a four-year-old was involved in a car accident. His Grandad had him on his lap in the front passenger seat when they had a head on impact. Grandad had foolishly put the seat belt around the two of them so when the car stopped dead from about 40 mph, little lad was crushed against the seat belt by Grandad’s fifteen stone mass. Massive spinal injury resulted and the unfortunate fellow will never walk again.
Liken this to having your child strapped to you as a pillion passenger. None of us goes out with the intention of dropping the motorcycle but it might happen to you one day because of the fool in the tin box or the diesel fuel on the road or that bit of wet cow shi7. As you roll along the road your child strapped to your back may well suffer much as the fellow in the scenario above has.
I would never want any parent to stop carrying their child on a motorcycle, the joy is fantastic but I feel that A L Eddie has the answer, suitably raised foot pegs, back rest, maybe even the addition of arm rests. Your precious child might be better off on their own in the event of a drop rather than being strapped to you.
I got back into motorcycles when my children were 14 so I never experienced having them pillion when very young. My son did about 50 metres and yelled at me to let him off, never got back on again, his twin sister LOVED IT. They are 32 now, he has never been on a motorcycle in the interim and every time she comes back for a visit we have to have a bit of us time pootling around the Purbeck lanes and Jurassic Coast. Fabulous.
Just my personal thoughts, no scientific or statistical evidence.
Tin hat on.
Adam

[Adam]

I don’t want to play The Devil’s Advocate here but I feel I must comment on this thread.
In a past career I met a lot of people who had become disabled for a variety of reasons. One of the saddest was a guy in his twenties who, as a four-year-old was involved in a car accident. His Grandad had him on his lap in the front passenger seat when they had a head on impact. Grandad had foolishly put the seat belt around the two of them so when the car stopped dead from about 40 mph, little lad was crushed against the seat belt by Grandad’s fifteen stone mass. Massive spinal injury resulted and the unfortunate fellow will never walk again.
Liken this to having your child strapped to you as a pillion passenger. None of us goes out with the intention of dropping the motorcycle but it might happen to you one day because of the fool in the tin box or the diesel fuel on the road or that bit of wet cow shi7. As you roll along the road your child strapped to your back may well suffer much as the fellow in the scenario above has.
I would never want any parent to stop carrying their child on a motorcycle, the joy is fantastic but I feel that A L Eddie has the answer, suitably raised foot pegs, back rest, maybe even the addition of arm rests. Your precious child might be better off on their own in the event of a drop rather than being strapped to you.
I got back into motorcycles when my children were 14 so I never experienced having them pillion when very young. My son did about 50 metres and yelled at me to let him off, never got back on again, his twin sister LOVED IT. They are 32 now, he has never been on a motorcycle in the interim and every time she comes back for a visit we have to have a bit of us time pootling around the Purbeck lanes and Jurassic Coast. Fabulous.
Just my personal thoughts, no scientific or statistical evidence.
Tin hat on.
Adam

[2cvandy]

You shouldn't be needing that tin hat Adam, very sensible advice. When my Dad took me pillion neither of us had any dedicated motorcycle gear, certainly no helmets, and as I wasn't allowed my first pair of long trousers till I went to secondary school at 11 years old, I would definitely have been wearing shorts! Makes you wonder why he ever thought the belt was necessary, let alone why he thought it was a good idea.

[Scalyback]

From things I heard, never, ever take a child on your bike, unless you know he/she is toilet trained.



You have been warned.

[simon]

I was a pillion on my older brother's bikes from an early age. He's ten years my senior and you could get a license here at 15 so I was likely 5 or 6 years old. I was hooked from then on. I sat on a cushion on his 741B Army Indian's carrier and in a wooden drawer that had been fashioned into a sidecar on his BSA M20. A G9 Matchless and a Triumph Thunderbird stand out as excellent fun rides. Sadly with the perverse logic my Mother had she decided that when I was about 10 I was too big and therefore at more risk (no idea where that was thought up) and the rides were banned. The roads were very quiet then and the pace was a lot slower but it was a profound experience. I took my girls for rides on my bikes and still do occasionally generally when they are cadging lifts and I can't be bothered wrestling the traffic in a car. My wife was never happy about the girls on the bikes and I understand why. It is a different world now but in this germ free risk averse age I still think that there is something to be said for the calculated risk of a ride on a fine machine. I would think that though!

[jefrs]

Impact is given by the formula E=0.5Mv^2 where M is mass which means a child won't hit the road quite as hard as an adult and v is velocity so the slower you go the less damage can be done. I've seen folks riding in shorts but I also know about gravel rash and consider them barking mad. The first thing that will hit the ground will be the hands, it's an instinctive autonomic reaction, that means gloves.



I haven't mentioned helmets because when I was pillioned as a nipper things were a lot safer then and we didn't need them, only a mad ton-up racer would have had a lid