We don't have any 'extra' arm rests or a riders' backrest or anything else on our 2013 RT besides the std seat & passenger backrest, but my wife often has a bit of a doze while we ar on our longer trips, only waking when we need to refuel & I stop & get off!! Mind you, our 'longer trips' often require 14-18 hours of travel before we hit the next 'big' town; I prefer to ride at night (comes from early days & a few million miles driving Big Rigs); & even if we stop do every hour & a half or so to fuel up & grab a drink, have a restroom break, etc, there's no denying that it can get just a little boring & sleep inducing for the pillion passenger, especially since we've travelled all of the possible routes fairly often, doing most of these trips at least a couple of times each, each & every year for the last 35 or so years.... :shocked:
She just settles back in the seat, leans firmly on the backrest, & sorta hangs on to me with her knees, hands resting on the grab bars. That means I can readily feel if she starts moving the wrong way or slipping/flopping around on the seat; but she hasn't done much of that since we got the RT, it is a very comfortable seat that holds her in place extremely well!! Nothing at all like the Honda 750/4 that she first rode pillion with me on or the sports bikes we've had since - they took some skill for a pillion to stay on, even when she was awake!
I've never heard of a sleeping passenger actually falling off an RT, but I have had a sleeping pillion fall off the back of a Bol D'Or... When the gentle taps from their helmet hitting the back of my helmet disappeared just at the same moment I glimpsed a heel sweeping up & outta sight in the peripheral vision of each eye, it was a bit of a give-away!! Luckily, that pillion had the sense to keep his arms & legs up & off the ground when the shock of hitting the ground woke him up, so he just slid along on his bum & back until he came to a stop. The slide wasn't all that great for the leathers & back of the helmet, but it made a great argument for ATGATT - no real injuries at all, in fact, no skin loss, just a little redness from the heat, even tho the leathers & helmet were basically throw always afterwards!!
I think that while arm rests etc might make the passenger feel more secure (& so shouldn't be ignored) even straight outta the box the seats & backrest on the RT's are far better at keeping a pillion passenger aboard than many might think or feel on their first or early rides; & once the rider has developed their riding skill enough to keep their cornering & accel/decel smooth & steady, then you can actually travel pretty fast for long & boring legs with a sleeping pillion passenger & not have any falling off issues! And while some enabled riders might need a belt or strap for a bit of stability/security on the vehicle, for the rest of us the increased risks inherent with strapping yourself on top of an open vehicle that can flip if hit definitely means they aren't a good idea!! :thumbup:
hyea:
