Sleeping Pillion

[Susan]

Yesterday I took my daughter for a ride, and along the way she started tapping her helmet against mine. She does silly things sometimes, so for a minute I didn't think much of it.

Then I thought what if she's asleep, so I tapped her hand.

Nothing.

Squeezed her hand.

Nothing.

Jabbed her thigh.

Nothing.

The little turkey was out cold!

We were about a mile from a little town, so I got her woken up a little bit while riding, and hubby rode alongside for a minute to assure me she was at least awake enough to make eye contact, then we got off for a break and a drink.

She stayed awake the rest of the way home, but geeeeeezzzzzze!

 

[2nd childhood]

Wow, scary! How old is she?

 

[Carlos840]

A while ago i went on a ride with two friends, one of them had his girlfriend on the back.
At some point i overtake them and notice she is slouched over and her head was just resting on the guy's back but he did not seem to care.

We stop for a drink and she gets down from the bike saying she just had a great nap! Apparently she does it all the time, just hangs on Koala style and falls asleep!

 

[Susan]

Wow, scary! How old is she?

She's 18 (but developmentally more like 7). This is my daughter who has Downs.

A while ago i went on a ride with two friends, one of them had his girlfriend on the back.
At some point i overtake them and notice she is slouched over and her head was just resting on the guy's back but he did not seem to care.

We stop for a drink and she gets down from the bike saying she just had a great nap! Apparently she does it all the time, just hangs on Koala style and falls asleep!

I was going to say something about the safety factor of a non-alert passenger, but then I got to thinking there's probably more danger in a passenger responding than sleeping. But still, yikes. Sleeping on a moving motorcycle. Just... yikes.

Afterthought: What if he had to accelerate suddenly?

 

[motojoe122]

I was in the same boat, Susan. I picked up my son from his last day of Cub Scout camp on the bike, same deal...I kept feeling him bump into me. I slapped him on the leg and it stopped. When we got home I asked if he fell asleep, he says my eyes were so heavy! I gave him this look and told him that he has to tell me that so we can take a break. I told him that if he falls asleep, that he can fall off and die. He got the point! Looking back, I probably should not have picked him up on the bike after a week of camp....lesson learned for both of us.

 

[Humperdinkel]

My mates daughter sleeps on the back of his bike ALL the time !!! Don't stress to much , she'll be right :thumbup:

 

[lytehouse]

I'm so happy that nothing happened to either of you during her nap.

 

[mave2911]

When I was courting my lovely wife, she admitted to frequently falling asleep as pillion..

Scares the bejesus out of me, but she never fell off, so all's well that ends well!

Cheers,
Rick

 

[pookamatic]

The natural reaction is to freak out and sternly request that future sleepiness is reported so a break can be taken. However... I think people do have the natural ability to sense balance while sleeping. Just look at anyone nodding off while sitting up.

It's certainly not desired, and steps should be taken if a passenger is getting tired. Glad everyone got home safe.

 

[Andz]

My wife falls asleep on the back of the bike regularly, that's when she is the best pillion in the twisties. She is pretty good awake too, I hardly know she is there.

 

[Susan]

It looks like there are mixed opinions here.

I still think I'll do my best not to let my kiddo fall asleep on the bike. However slight the chance, I'd hate for her to get hurt or worse.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I had the same thing happen with my friends older son (maybe 10 at the time) years ago. We were coming home on the interstate, and he starts leaning forward and sideways, obviously falling asleep (from a previous long night of watching movies I find out later).

Smack him in the leg a couple of times and we make it to the next rest stop with hm awake. Did some walking around (maybe 40 minutes from home), get the blood flowing, he was ok after that.. Knock on wood...

 

[PhotoAl]

Saw a young mom in China on a scooter. Her son looked like 6 or 7 and was sound asleep. She reached behind her and kept him from falling off!!! This was in traffic! Scared me just watching. Of course being a scooter she didn't have to worry about accleration.