Preserve Your Bike With These 4 Motorcycle Passenger Mounting and Dismounting Tips

PUBLISHED ON MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016
By Fix My Hog

You might think the most common paint and chrome issues seen in motorcycle body shops stem from accidents or vandalism. In reality, it’s damage that occurs from a bike tipping over because it was parked, mounted or dismounted incorrectly. Save yourself some coin and potential embarrassment by checking out these quick and easy tips for mounting, dismounting and riding with a passenger from Fix My Hog.

1. ALWAYS climb onto your motorcycle from the kickstand side.

When you’re getting ready to ride, always mount your motorcycle from the kickstand side. Climbing onto the motorcycle from the kickstand side guarantees the weight of your bike will be against the kickstand.

Getting on from the other side requires you to take the weight off the kickstand. If your kickstand closes, or you don’t get your foot down in time, your motorcycle will tip over.

Once you’ve mounted the motorcycle this way, you can straighten out the front end, start the motorcycle and get ready to ride with it on the kickstand.

2. Prepare for your passenger to mount the motorcycle while it’s on the kickstand.

Let’s say you’ve started your motorcycle, it’s in neutral with the clutch disengaged and your front fork lock is turned all the way to the left (kickstand side).

Before your passenger climbs aboard, make sure you’ve folded down the foot pegs and/or floorboards on both sides of your bike.

With those both in place, you’re ready for your passenger to climb aboard.

3. Have your motorcycle passenger mount from the kickstand side, while the bike is still on the kickstand.

As the driver, you should always mount your motorcycle from the kickstand side, and so should your passenger. This allows you to avoid the same potential pitfalls that can occur if the driver mounts from the side opposite the kickstand.

Once your passenger is onboard, now is the appropriate time to straighten out the front end, stand your bike upright and fold the kickstand in. Then you’re ready to ride!

4. Dismount from the kickstand side, passenger first.

All of these same rules apply to dismounting as well. When you’re all done riding, make sure your bike is in neutral, turned off and back on the kickstand before anybody dismounts.

Turn your front end all the way to the left, so when your passenger dismounts they can use the locked handlebars to assist them in dismounting.

Once your passenger has safely dismounted, fold up the floorboards or foot pegs, and then climb off to the kickstand side. Assuming you parked the bike on a level surface, it will still be there, upright and undamaged, right where you left it.

For more tips on motorcycle passenger mounting and dismounting check out this helpful video from Fix My Hog:

To get even more valuable tips from Fix My Hog, check out these helpful Sturgis Rider® News articles:

Do you have any other great motorcycle passenger mounting and dismounting tips? Share them in the comments below!

About Fix My Hog
Fix My Hog is dedicated to people who love motorcycles but don’t know what to do with a wrench. The website contains an extensive collection of high-quality Harley-Davidson motorcycle maintenance and repair and videos presented by master HD Technician Bob LaRosa. Learn more about Fix My Hog here.