Kim,
Every bike has, per its manual, a GVW - Gross Vehicle Weight
- that it is rated for. This number varies based upon the bike, down
to even the year and model.
What that GVW is based on is somewhat debatable, however,
one thing that you will run into is that your brakes become less
effective has the load increases. Your stopping distance will increase
and particularly if the balance is off, your bike can swerve under
braking or acceleration. (To be fair, that can happen even when your
under the GVW)
You'll also find that when heavily loaded, you are unable to
accelerate as fast, which of course may affect your ability in traffic
to avoid a nasty situation.
Last year, for the first time I put someone on the back of
my bike - she has since become my girlfriend, Paula, and I gotta say,
we are in a similar situation to you in regards to the load on the
bike. With a rather conservative estimate as to how much she and I
weigh, combined with a guess of how much the fairing, hard bags and
light cargo load I figured we were about 100 pounds over the GVW of my
GS1000.
Due to my height, I cannot jump the rear suspension up to
its highest setting (its on 4 now) and as a result, when loaded, the
shocks do occasionally get overwhelmed and we experience tailbone
jarring bumps. This is particularly annoying in corners, as often I
scrape parts of the bike since we're riding a little low.
In short - I would suggest you load the bike as you see fit,
and be very careful for several miles until you get used to the
acceleration level and stopping distance.
Be aware that with the single front disc of the 450 (my 82
had a single front disc - I assume yours does) that you may experience
brake fade if you stop several times in rapid succession.
One advantage to being that heavily loaded - it is almost
impossible (notice I said ALMOST) to lock the rear wheel and skid. It
is however, much easier to wheelie, particularly if your rear
suspension isn't stiff enough.
Other thoughts?
-Joey
On Thu, Jun 28, 2012 at 1:43 PM, KimAnn <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> I am wondering if all bikes (no matter size/engine size) have a max
> load somewhere around 400lbs?
>
> And more importantly I'm wondering if it is strict to pay attention to
> it. My 450 has a max load of 420 lbs. I want to ride 2up and with gear
> & cargo we're looking at about 520 lbs. Is this a no go? Or with
> certain adjustments might it be just fine?
>
> Thanks for any insight.
>
> Kim
>
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