Suppose you go to a motorcycle rally and a manufacturer has shown up with some demo bikes to ride. You are 'in the market' so you decide to take one of those bikes for a test ride. Your co-rider wants to go with you on that ride. Good idea?

In a previous article we discussed testing your limits. It was agreed that in order to 'grow' we must push limits, but that a responsible person will control his risks by testing no more than one limit at a time - and then only by putting his 'toes over the line' rather than stepping off the mountain. We agreed that limits include our personal skill level and preparedness, our environment, our equipment, and certain laws.

Vendors do not make a habit of letting people without a motorcycle endorsement on their licenses take a spin on their bikes. The odds are that you have years of riding experience behind you if you are at a motorcycle rally, but how relevant is that experience?

• Five years of dirt-bike experience does not relate well to handling a 750 pound touring bike out on the street.
• No matter how many years of riding a two-wheeled motorcycle, that experience does not relate well to handling a three-wheeled machine at any speed faster than about 10 MPH.
• You may well have a great deal of experience (and skill) handling city street riding, but handling a motorcycle on a freeway requires very different skills and techniques.
• Living and riding on the flatlands does not prepare you well for dealing with the streets of San Fransisco or the mountains in Colorado.
• Just because you can handle a Honda with 'your eyes closed' does not mean that you will be familiar with the controls and feel of a BMW.
• If your only experience in carrying a co-rider is on a touring machine that is specifically designed for that purpose, then you should not assume that you are well prepared to carry a passenger on a sport bike.

If you intend to demo ride a new bike, do it solo - first! Get the feel of that bike and of the terrain you will be riding it on. Learn how to stop and start on those steep inclines/declines that you have no experience with before you put a passenger on the bike. Make the addition of a passenger the only variable that you are testing before you do it. You will both come back from that demo ride, alive and healthy, if you will admit your limits and grow your skills and experience responsibly.

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