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by LilBytes 2233 days ago
Ouch! Thanks for sharing the stories.

My Kawasaki Z900 (2017) is pretty comical for wheelies, more so with a pillion on your R1 as you noted.

Here's a pick of a stock version of the bike. Because of the position of the pillion seat, it being so far to the rear, the short swing arm and because the pillion seat sits so far up and away from the rider. The front wheel lifts with such a trivial amount of power to the front.

I've still had a few rides on it with pillions but god damn, like you said. It does not inspire confidence with an additional passenger.

The Adventure Tourers I've had I was a lot more comfortable with, to date that's a Tiger 800 (2015) and a current Kawasaki Versys 2020 (1000CC). Both were great for additional passengers. Especially the Versys with the electronic suspension to cater for additional pillions or luggage.

My experience with riding with pillions must be close to, maybe, 2-3000km at best. And that's being generous. I've not had any accidents with a pillion, only when solo. As you've shown, motorbikes are fickle beasts.