Mounting and Dismounting Your Bike - There's More To It Than You Think
For the experienced rider, this article may seem absolutely ludicrous but I can’t tell you how many times I have seen bikes dropped by a rider as they were getting on or especially when they were getting off. And most of these riders were not newbies, but with a lot of miles (kilometres) under their belts! Complacency, or simply forgetting to put the kick / side-stand down (for this article, we will refer to it as side-stand) while they got off allows gravity on a heavy object (the bike and you) to overcome the legs ability to substitute as the side-stand, and down you all go. Not the most impressive site to watch, or experience.
When we instruct new riders with the Canada Safety Council course (Gearing Up), one of the first things we show them is how to properly mount the motorcycle and be ready to ride. While this write-up is designed for newer or burgeoning riders to the sport, it can serve as a reminder to all.
To Get On:
For almost all riders, with the exception of motor officers, we approach and mount, and dismount, from the side-stand side. If you look at the two tires of the bike, plus the side-stand, and drew a straight line from the front to rear tire, rear tire to side-stand, and side-stand to front tire, you would get a triangle. This triangle is commonly referred to as your “parking triangle”.
To get on the bike, reach over the handle-bars and hold on to the front brake lever. You are now in control of the bike. You are making sure it doesn’t roll away from you. With both hands now on the handle bars, straighten out the bars to have all wheels pointing in the same direction, and swing your right leg over the seat. Do not pick up the bike from its side-stand while you are doing this. Once seated on the bike, and still holding the front brake lever, have both feet on the ground, and now stand the bike upright and transfer the weight to your right leg. Don’t just use the handlebars to do this, but use your left leg and knee to assist with this. Some bikes have rubber mounts attached to the handlebars and to always pull on the bars can cause issues down the road for those mounts.
Now, with the left foot, bring up the side-stand. Make sure it is all the way up. On newer bikes, there is a switch attached to the side-stand that will not allow the bike to start if the side-stand is not all the way up. On a number of older bikes, the switch does not exist, and when you get moving, if the side-stand is still down, it becomes really hard to make a left turn! Once the side-stand is all the way up, place the left foot on the ground and support the bike on your left leg. Bring the right foot up to the peg or floor board, and depress the back brake lever. Let go of the front brake lever. You are still on control of the bike, and set up to start the bike (if not already, but for the purposes of safety, start it once you are mounted) and are ready to ride.
Pretty simple, eh? Many riders forget to keep control of the bike by using the brakes when getting on or off and if the bike is in neutral, instead of 1st gear, your “parking gear” while the engine is not on, the bike may roll on you.
To Get Off:
It is basically the reverse. Hold the front brake lever while your left foot is down on the ground, now place your right foot on the ground and transfer weight to right leg with a slight lean of the bike. With the left foot, put the side-stand completely down. Once this is done, lean bike over to the left and transfer weight to left leg, foot down. Slowly allow weight of bike to come to rest on side-stand. Lift right leg up and over seat, turn handlebars full lock to the left to engage your “parking triangle”, and lastly release the front brake lever. All good!
Keep in mind, the taller the bike, the higher the centre of gravity, and if it has a large full fuel tank, that centre of gravity is even more pronounced.
With Centre-Stands:
If the bike has a centre-stand and it is sitting on it, I recommend that you move the bike off of its centre stand first, making sure to keep the bike under control, then place it on its side-stand before you get on the bike. With some bikes, you can sit on the bike and push it forward to get it off the centre stand, but weight makes a difference in how easy or hard this will be. Make sure the side- stand is in the full upright position before you take it off the centre-stand. Reason: if the side-stand is down and the bike bounces when dropped down from centre-stand, the side-stand could come into contact with the ground beneath it, and cause the bike to fall away from you, and if it is a heavy bike, there would be little chance to stop it once it does.
When putting the bike on its centre-stand, it is easier if the bike is in neutral and the handlebars are straight so the tires turn in the same direction as you lift (and push) up the bike to the centre-stand. However, if there is a slight incline or fears of the bike rolling, leave the bike in 1st gear, and depress the clutch lever. If the bike starts to get away from you, release the lever and the bike should stop. You may have to turn the handlebars to do so, making the job just a bit harder.
Motor Officers:
You may have noticed that Motor Officers approach their bike from the side opposite the side stand and get on. That is because Motor Officers are trained to mount their bikes from the opposite side, partially because when pulled over to the side of the road, it does not place them on the traffic side and make them more vulnerable to being hit by a passing vehicle. This can be referred to as a “survival” technique, and as a point of reference, it is not a bad idea for you to practice this method as well to prepare for the eventual time you are parked with close moving vehicles passing by you. Remember to keep the bike under control by using the front brake and you can step on the peg or floor-board with your right foot if you are short legged (which also helps you to swing your leg over the seat, especially on a tall bike), and once you have done this, everything reverts to the techniques already discussed.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, for a veteran rider, everything here is probably old hat, and practiced on a regular basis. Correct? However, what about carrying a passenger?
Mounting / Dismounting The Bike With A Passenger:
When carrying passengers, there are some additional steps that you have to do in order to make sure that you and your bike stay in the upright position. Before you get on your bike, talk to your passenger in reference to how you would like them to get on with you. This is important, and often forgotten. Don’t assume that the person getting on your pillion knows how or is comfortable with doing so. There are variations to cruisers (lower to the ground) and sport style bikes (higher from the ground).
You mount the bike first, seems pretty simple so far. Now, this is where simplicity can change, depending on style of bike, your strength, your ability to put two feet on the ground comfortably at once, the size and weight of your passenger, how high up the passenger has to step, and if you have a tall backrest or cargo behind the pillion. These all can affect how the passenger gets on, and what you will do while that is happening. If you feel comfortable enough, especially if you have both feet on the ground, and are holding the front brake lever, bring the side-stand all the way up, and allow the passenger to get on, and seated properly while you balance the bike with both legs and feet. This works best with low riding bikes or if you have a lengthy inseam.
For a taller bike, or you can only comfortably get one foot on the ground, leave the side-stand down, straighten handlebars if not already, keep front brake lever depressed, and allow passenger to get on the bike. Once on the bike, have the passenger stay in line with you, without moving about, looking over your right shoulder for a bit of counter-balance, and now slowly push bike with your leg to the right, where your foot is now in contact with the ground, raise the side-stand, and now transfer weight back to left leg. Easy!
In both examples of a passenger getting on a bike, do not start the bike until the passenger is securely on the bike. This helps to insure that neither you nor your passenger will suffer any burns from the pipes or engine if a tip over occurs.
To have the passenger dismount, make sure you discuss this at the beginning of the ride, or remind them again before you allow them off. Shut off the engine, and have them, and you, do everything in reverse to them getting on the bike.
Yes, it may seem like “over-kill” in teaching, and doing, these methods but it is safety first. Practice the various methods and through that, you will pick out the ones that work best for you and bike, and make the modifications as needed to help you enjoy your ride.
And remember to always Ride Skilled - Ride Smart - Ride Safe.
When we instruct new riders with the Canada Safety Council course (Gearing Up), one of the first things we show them is how to properly mount the motorcycle and be ready to ride. While this write-up is designed for newer or burgeoning riders to the sport, it can serve as a reminder to all.
To Get On:
For almost all riders, with the exception of motor officers, we approach and mount, and dismount, from the side-stand side. If you look at the two tires of the bike, plus the side-stand, and drew a straight line from the front to rear tire, rear tire to side-stand, and side-stand to front tire, you would get a triangle. This triangle is commonly referred to as your “parking triangle”.
To get on the bike, reach over the handle-bars and hold on to the front brake lever. You are now in control of the bike. You are making sure it doesn’t roll away from you. With both hands now on the handle bars, straighten out the bars to have all wheels pointing in the same direction, and swing your right leg over the seat. Do not pick up the bike from its side-stand while you are doing this. Once seated on the bike, and still holding the front brake lever, have both feet on the ground, and now stand the bike upright and transfer the weight to your right leg. Don’t just use the handlebars to do this, but use your left leg and knee to assist with this. Some bikes have rubber mounts attached to the handlebars and to always pull on the bars can cause issues down the road for those mounts.
Now, with the left foot, bring up the side-stand. Make sure it is all the way up. On newer bikes, there is a switch attached to the side-stand that will not allow the bike to start if the side-stand is not all the way up. On a number of older bikes, the switch does not exist, and when you get moving, if the side-stand is still down, it becomes really hard to make a left turn! Once the side-stand is all the way up, place the left foot on the ground and support the bike on your left leg. Bring the right foot up to the peg or floor board, and depress the back brake lever. Let go of the front brake lever. You are still on control of the bike, and set up to start the bike (if not already, but for the purposes of safety, start it once you are mounted) and are ready to ride.
Pretty simple, eh? Many riders forget to keep control of the bike by using the brakes when getting on or off and if the bike is in neutral, instead of 1st gear, your “parking gear” while the engine is not on, the bike may roll on you.
To Get Off:
It is basically the reverse. Hold the front brake lever while your left foot is down on the ground, now place your right foot on the ground and transfer weight to right leg with a slight lean of the bike. With the left foot, put the side-stand completely down. Once this is done, lean bike over to the left and transfer weight to left leg, foot down. Slowly allow weight of bike to come to rest on side-stand. Lift right leg up and over seat, turn handlebars full lock to the left to engage your “parking triangle”, and lastly release the front brake lever. All good!
Keep in mind, the taller the bike, the higher the centre of gravity, and if it has a large full fuel tank, that centre of gravity is even more pronounced.
With Centre-Stands:
If the bike has a centre-stand and it is sitting on it, I recommend that you move the bike off of its centre stand first, making sure to keep the bike under control, then place it on its side-stand before you get on the bike. With some bikes, you can sit on the bike and push it forward to get it off the centre stand, but weight makes a difference in how easy or hard this will be. Make sure the side- stand is in the full upright position before you take it off the centre-stand. Reason: if the side-stand is down and the bike bounces when dropped down from centre-stand, the side-stand could come into contact with the ground beneath it, and cause the bike to fall away from you, and if it is a heavy bike, there would be little chance to stop it once it does.
When putting the bike on its centre-stand, it is easier if the bike is in neutral and the handlebars are straight so the tires turn in the same direction as you lift (and push) up the bike to the centre-stand. However, if there is a slight incline or fears of the bike rolling, leave the bike in 1st gear, and depress the clutch lever. If the bike starts to get away from you, release the lever and the bike should stop. You may have to turn the handlebars to do so, making the job just a bit harder.
Motor Officers:
You may have noticed that Motor Officers approach their bike from the side opposite the side stand and get on. That is because Motor Officers are trained to mount their bikes from the opposite side, partially because when pulled over to the side of the road, it does not place them on the traffic side and make them more vulnerable to being hit by a passing vehicle. This can be referred to as a “survival” technique, and as a point of reference, it is not a bad idea for you to practice this method as well to prepare for the eventual time you are parked with close moving vehicles passing by you. Remember to keep the bike under control by using the front brake and you can step on the peg or floor-board with your right foot if you are short legged (which also helps you to swing your leg over the seat, especially on a tall bike), and once you have done this, everything reverts to the techniques already discussed.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, for a veteran rider, everything here is probably old hat, and practiced on a regular basis. Correct? However, what about carrying a passenger?
Mounting / Dismounting The Bike With A Passenger:
When carrying passengers, there are some additional steps that you have to do in order to make sure that you and your bike stay in the upright position. Before you get on your bike, talk to your passenger in reference to how you would like them to get on with you. This is important, and often forgotten. Don’t assume that the person getting on your pillion knows how or is comfortable with doing so. There are variations to cruisers (lower to the ground) and sport style bikes (higher from the ground).
You mount the bike first, seems pretty simple so far. Now, this is where simplicity can change, depending on style of bike, your strength, your ability to put two feet on the ground comfortably at once, the size and weight of your passenger, how high up the passenger has to step, and if you have a tall backrest or cargo behind the pillion. These all can affect how the passenger gets on, and what you will do while that is happening. If you feel comfortable enough, especially if you have both feet on the ground, and are holding the front brake lever, bring the side-stand all the way up, and allow the passenger to get on, and seated properly while you balance the bike with both legs and feet. This works best with low riding bikes or if you have a lengthy inseam.
For a taller bike, or you can only comfortably get one foot on the ground, leave the side-stand down, straighten handlebars if not already, keep front brake lever depressed, and allow passenger to get on the bike. Once on the bike, have the passenger stay in line with you, without moving about, looking over your right shoulder for a bit of counter-balance, and now slowly push bike with your leg to the right, where your foot is now in contact with the ground, raise the side-stand, and now transfer weight back to left leg. Easy!
In both examples of a passenger getting on a bike, do not start the bike until the passenger is securely on the bike. This helps to insure that neither you nor your passenger will suffer any burns from the pipes or engine if a tip over occurs.
To have the passenger dismount, make sure you discuss this at the beginning of the ride, or remind them again before you allow them off. Shut off the engine, and have them, and you, do everything in reverse to them getting on the bike.
Yes, it may seem like “over-kill” in teaching, and doing, these methods but it is safety first. Practice the various methods and through that, you will pick out the ones that work best for you and bike, and make the modifications as needed to help you enjoy your ride.
And remember to always Ride Skilled - Ride Smart - Ride Safe.