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By Mazpillion June2005
I have been riding pillion since I was 17 years old, when my then
boyfriend had a Triumph Tiger Cub – a much maligned beast, it did us
proud, we even toured Belgium on it in 1972, with no problems
whatsoever. This is what first gave me a taste of how much fun
biking was, much to my parents’ horror! The next couple of
boyfriends were 'cagers', TR2B (sweet car) and a Spitfire – can you
see the Triumph connections here? Then there was the French
boyfriend who had no transport, but he had a friend who did……so
since 1973 I have been pillion to my significant other, Nigel.
Unfortunately all our old photos are stored away somewhere right now
and I can't get to them, Andy did ask......saves embarrassment!
Most of my friends thought I was mad – no, not because of Nigel but
because of the bikes – can’t get dressed up (no problem, jeans and I
get on fine!) makeup/hair gets spoiled (who cares, minimal makeup
and a folding brush is cool!) In fact, we did buy some 4 wheeled
transport at one point, a transit van, which was when Nigel took up
drag racing, with a rather nippy drag bike, powered by – would you
believe it? – a Triumph Tiger engine….. He did very well, clocking a
pretty impressive 9.08 seconds in July 1978. But I digress….. (AndyW
- you'll have to find some photos Maz!)
Those were the days! LOL
As Nigel was in the bike trade then, we used to change our 2 wheels
on a fairly regular basis, and the list was as follows:
1973 – Yamaha 650 XS2
1974 – Yamaha RD350 – tuned to the eyeballs – I regularly used to
end up with my legs up under Nigel’s armpits on this one and on one
occasion at least was more than pleased about the positioning of the
rear light!
1976 – Yamaha RD500 – very reliable, but ultimately bland.
1979 – Suzuki GS1000S – what a lovely bike, fast, fun, agile and a
pillion seat like an armchair – was still riding pillion 2 weeks
before our daughter was born! We are still looking for another of
these at the right price to add to our gradually growing “stable”.
Speaking of Tracy here's a couple of photos taken recently here at
our place in Perpignan, France. Me and my girl and one of her on the
old man's SV.
Back to the 'potted history' ......At this point Nigel’s Grandfather
took pity on us and gave us his car to transport the new family
unit, so we had a 1000cc bike and a, errr, an 850cc car - well, you
have to get your priorities right!
1983 – Yamaha FJ1100 – another great bike from the riders point of
view but disappointing for me, with very bad turbulence between the
2 of us at any speed over 100 so that I had to hunch up to avoid
being blown off the back. We had this bike for a few years, as sprog
number 2 had put in an appearance in 1984. My riding days were very
few and far between at this point, although we managed to get the
odd run out courtesy of the Grandparents… We went to the Isle of Man
in 1986 that was fun, topless passes at the Highlander, wet t-shirt
comps, generally behaving badly, mad Sunday….. oh, and some good
racing too! (AndyW.....and you haven't changed a bit by all
accounts! ;-)
Biking took a back seat for both of us for a while, until in 1999,
when Nigel bought a 996 Ducati. I have to admit that my heart sank
when it came home – well, I was a couple (..!) of stone heavier and
the rear seat was sooo small. I felt that it was going to disappear
up my bum, like a thong. Plus, I couldn’t get on with the high
seating position and was sliding all over the place, nearly off more
than once. So, biking and I fell out of love for a while, which
didn’t do a lot for our relationship as Nigel always wanted to be
out on the bike, and I was scared of it.
Enter good old Dr Atkins, and the shedding of 3 stone. All of a
sudden, the seat seemed bigger, and I had sussed the correct riding
position to stop falling off. The absence of a grab rail had been
the main cause for concern but one day I experimented by leaning
forward with my left hand on the tank for support, and bingo! This
position works a treat – heavy braking, reach round other hand and
rest both on tank – emergency brake – reach down and grab the old
man's family jewels! (Not had to use this method ….. yet….:-) In
case of wheelie, switch from hand on tank to arm round waist, very
quick and easy.
The huge plus of the modern sports bikes from a pillions point of
view is the visibility – I can see as much as Nigel and can read the
road as well as he can. Now, if I go on the back of, say a tourer, I
am frustrated because I can’t see where I am going – gone are the
days of sitting fat, dumb and happy behind HWMBO. Now I feel more a
part of what is happening, rather than (literally) a back seat
passenger. The Ducati was followed in 2002 by a Yamaha R1 – same
riding position, terrific bike, wheelies were so smooth, and awesome
power!
"Does this bike make my bum look big?"
However, later that same year we bought a house in the South of
France where we are now and whilst we were here visiting, before the
'Big Move', we rapidly discovered that the R1 was sadly not the bike
for this region. So the hunt was on for a Vtwin replacement. Tested
the 999 – hated it! Tried a friends Multistrada – loved the ride,
hated the looks! Sat on an SV1000S – loved it, which is where we are
today. She is quite simply one of the nicest of all of the bikes we
have had, a terrific ride from my point of view, although I’m not
too sure about any great distances – but that is more an age thing
than any fault of the bike! She was made for the roads down here,
and we have an absolute blast riding her, whether it is the coast
road, or in the mountains.
People have often asked me why I don’t ride myself, and the answer
is quite simply that I don’t particularly want to. I have tried, a
couple of times, but don’t have the road confidence, even though I
am a confident, and fairly rapid, driver of 4 wheels. I have the
utmost confidence in Nigel, and he is such a good, and exciting,
rider, I could never have the fun riding solo that I do as his
pillion. After all these years (cue violins), I know his riding
style and can read the road as he does, so in effect, we ride as a
team. Perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea. I know a lot of guys don’t
like having anyone on the back, but for me the best compliment I can
get is if I ride behind someone else and they tell me that they
hardly knew I was there. At 5’6”, and over 10 stone, that truly is a
compliment!!!!!
AndyW - time for a quick plug! Nigel and Maz run a B&B
business from their lovely place in Perpignan. Several forum
members have visited already and all had a great time. Find out more
here:
http://www.motorcycletoursfrance.co.uk/
A couple of beach bums too! aka Nigel and recent visitor Scoby
Here are their 2 bikes in Collioure, which is just at the start of
the really good coastal run!
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