Rider with pillion on a Honda CB600F

A pillion is a mostly British English term for a secondary pad, cushion, or seat behind the main seat or saddle on a horse, motorcycle, bicycle or moped.^[1] A passenger in this seat is said to "ride pillion" or may themselves be referred to as a "pillion." The word is derived from the Gaelic for "little rug," pillean, which is itself from the Latin pellis for "animal skin." One or more pelts would often have been used as a secondary seat on horseback; the usage has carried over to motorcycles.

Historical references[link]

During the Second World War, following the 1940 debacle in France, the British Army introduced a requirement that all officers up to the rank of colonel should be proficient in the use of the motorcycle, and all officers holding the rank of brigadier were required to be able to ride pillion. These requirements came about as a result of the large number of motor cars that were lost in action. The requirement for riding pillion was quietly dropped as large numbers of jeeps came into service in the middle of the war.^[2]

Other terminology[link]

"Riding bitch" is also used in America to denote sitting in between two other people in a car or truck, where there is often a hump in the front or back analogous to the pillion (due in the front to the presence of the transmission housing). "Bitch seat" or "bitch pad" is vulgar American motorcycle slang for the pillion, as is "riding bitch" instead of "riding pillion".^[3][4][5]

In Norway, the slang term 'eksosrype' (Translated means 'exhaust grouse') serves a similar meaning to pillion.

Licensing and restrictions[link]

To carry a pillion passenger in the United States or United Kingdom, one must hold an appropriate license for the vehicle and there must also be a proper seat and foot pegs for the passenger.

In Australia, the vehicle operator must have held their license (not including a learner's permit) for a minimum of one year before being legally allowed to carry a passenger where physically possible, following the upgrade to the required license class. For example, in New South Wales, you must carry a Provisional 2 (Green) license before being allowed to carry a pillion passenger.

Pillion-riding is associated with terrorist or criminal attacks in some South Asian countries. In Pakistan, for instance, pillion riding is often banned by local authorities around sensitive times, such as the Ashura commemoration, when there have been violent attacks on worshippers.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up pillion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Cal Crutchlow
Crutchlow during the round at Silverstone 2010
Nationality	English
Born	(1985-10-29) 29 October 1985 (age 26) Coventry, West Midlands
Current team	Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Bike number	35
Website	calcrutchlow.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2011– Manufacturers Yamaha Championships 0 2011 Championship position 12th (70 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 20 0 0 0 1 115 Superbike World Championship Active years 2008, 2010 Manufacturers Yamaha Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 20 3 7 5 6 208 Supersport World Championship Active years 2009 Manufacturers Yamaha Championships 1 2009 Championship position 1st Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 23 4 9 9 10 243

Calvin "Cal" Crutchlow (born October 29, 1985 in Coventry, England) is a professional motorcycle road racer. He is a former British Supersport champion and British Superbike race winner, and the 2009 Supersport World Champion.

Career[link]

Early years[link]

Although his father Derek was a racer, he did not become interested in the sport himself until age 11. He now holds a motorcycle licence for the road.^[1] He had football trials with Coventry City and Aston Villa as a youth, but chose to concentrate on motorcycle racing.

Crutchlow won the UK Junior Challenge in 1999, and the Aprilia RS125 Challenge in 2001.^[2] He was runner-up in the 2003 Yamaha R6 Cup behind Tommy Hill, who earned a factory sponsored ride in the British Superbike series for this achievement.

He won the British Supersport Championship in 2006, after a 3 year stint in the series in which he finished 3rd in 2005.^[3]

British Superbike Championship (2007–2008)[link]

For 2007 he made his debut in the prestigious British Superbike Championship, with the Rizla Suzuki team alongside four-time runner-up Chris Walker. He took pole at Croft,^[4] and finished 9th overall after finishing the season with his first podium, third at Brands Hatch. For 2008 he moved to HM Plant Honda, sponsored by CIA Insurance.^[5] He took his first series win in race 2 at Thruxton.^[6][7] He took pole for round 3 at Oulton Park – he led race 1 before running wide in damp conditions,^[8] and crashed heavily out of 2nd place in race 2, injuring his ankle in the process.^[9] After initially having the better of team-mate Leon Haslam, Crutchlow was ultimately outpointed by him. He took two wins in the season, and finished 3rd overall in the championship, beating Tom Sykes by two points after the Yorkshireman had a late mechanical failure in the final round.

Supersport World Championship (2009)[link]

On 23 September 2008, it was confirmed that Crutchlow had signed a deal to ride for the Wilco Zeelenberg-managed Yamaha factory team in the 2009 World Supersport Championship.^[10] He finished in the top four at every race until a mechanical failure while leading at Brno, and found himself in a two-way championship dice with surprise package Eugene Laverty on a Parkalgar Honda. Crutchlow lead the championship easily until a gearbox failure while leading at Imola meant that Eugene Laverty moved to within 3 points.^[11] However, at Magny-Cours after an intense start it was Laverty's turn to have some bad luck, falling off, but picking his bike back up to leave him 19 points behind Crutchlow with 1 race at Portimão left.^[12] Laverty won in Portugal, but a fourth place by Crutchlow was enough to secure him the 2009 championship.

Superbike World Championship (2010)[link]

Crutchlow took his first World Superbike race wins at the Silverstone round in 2010.

On October 1, 2009 Yamaha announced that Crutchlow would make the move from World Supersport to the Superbike World Championship in 2010. His teammate is former world champion James Toseland, who rejoined the Superbike World Championship after losing his place in MotoGP.^[13] He took his first series pole at his second meeting, at Portimão, but did not win either race. He stoked controversy after the first race there by mentioning in an interview that he was well clear of Toseland when he crashed out, but insists that he is not arrogant.^[14] Toseland later pointed out that Crutchlow's tendency to speak his mind means that not everybody can get on with him.^[15] Crutchlow took his first two World Superbike wins at Silverstone, after battling with Ten Kate Racing rider Jonathan Rea, and as a result climbed from tenth to fifth in the standings.^[16]

MotoGP (2011-)[link]

It was officially announced on September 5, 2010 that Crutchlow would join Tech 3 for the 2011 MotoGP Championship.^[17] Crutchlow ended the season in 12th position in the championship, and sealed the Rookie of the Year Award after achieving his best result of the season – fourth place – in Valencia.

After a successful period in the winter testing for the 2012 season, Crutchlow got off to a good start. In Losail, Crutchlow secured 3rd position on the starting grid, and went on to achieve 4th place ahead of team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, matching his previous best finish in Valencia last year. Following his first front-row qualifying, his father lost a bet with Wilco Zeelenburg and had to shave off his 40-year old moustache.

Personal life[link]

Cal Crutchlow lives in Ramsey, Isle of Man. Crutchlow has ridden several exhibition laps around the world-famous Isle of Man TT Course.

Career statistics[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

All Time[link]

Yearly Breakdown[link]

British Supersport Championship[link]

Yr	Class	Team	SIL	BHI	SNE	OUL	MON	SNE	BHGP	KNO	MAL	CRO	CAD	OUL	DON	Pos	Pts	Ref
2004	BSS	Honda	7	Ret	Ret	5	5	15		7	7	9	Ret	7	7	10th	75

Yr	Class	Team	BHI	THR	MAL	OUL	MON	CRO	KNO	SNE	SIL	CAD	OUL	DON	BHGP	Pos	Pts	Ref
2005	BSS	Honda	Ret	7	4	2	4		8	3	3	1	1	Ret	3	3rd*	161

• Both Easton and Cal Crutchlow finished on 161 thus sharing 3rd place.

Yr	Class	Team	BHI	DON	THR	OUL	MON	MAL	SNE	KNO	OUL	CRO	CAD	SIL	BHGP	Pos	Pts	Ref
2006	BSS	Honda	2	1	3	2	Can	1	2	1	1	Ret	3	1	1	1st	242

British Superbike Championship[link]

World Supersport Championship[link]

World Superbike Championship[link]

Grand Prix motorcycle racing[link]

By season[link]

• * Season in progress.

By class[link]

Races by year[link]

(key)

• * Season in progress.

References[link]

External links[link]

v t e Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso (4) • Cal Crutchlow (35) Moto2 (Tech 3 Racing): Xavier Simeon (19) • Bradley Smith (38) Grand Prix motorcycles : Yamaha YZR-M1 (MotoGP) • Mistral 610 (Moto2)

Randy Mamola
Randy Mamola
Nationality	American
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1979 - 1992 First race 1979 250cc Venezuelan Grand Prix Last race 1992 500cc South African Grand Prix First win 1980 500cc Belgian Grand Prix Last win 1987 500cc San Marino Grand Prix Team(s) Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, Cagiva Championships 0 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 151 13 57 5 11 1050

Randy Mamola born (1959-11-10) November 10, 1959 (age 52) in San Jose, California is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is considered one of the most talented riders never to have won a world championship.

Career[link]

Randy Mamola in Barcelona (2006)

Mamola piloting the Doubleseater Ducati at Barcelona

Mamola's first 500cc motorcycle Grand Prix race was in Sweden in 1979, riding a Yamaha. His first victory in the 500cc class was at Belgium in 1980. He went on to win a total of 13 Grands Prix, and finished second in the championship four times: in 1980, 1981, 1984 and 1987.^[1] During his Grand Prix career he rode for Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and Cagiva.

Mamola was also well known for being a real crowd pleaser. For example, at the Dutch TT he crashed his bike during warm-up, only to return to the pits to get his spare bike, wheelying and showing off to the crowd during the main race. Another memorable moment occurred at the 1986 French GP while trailing race leader Eddie Lawson, who was too far ahead to catch: Mamola had built up a healthy lead over third place rider, Christian Sarron, and decided to pull an endo on the run-off area at the beginning of the pit straight before rejoining the race. The stunt went unnoticed by track marshals who were mere feet away but it was captured on film by photographer Don Morley. The following weekend, Morely presented Mamola with the photograph, who was thrilled it was caught on film, but Yamaha team manager, Kenny Roberts, was not. Roberts fired Mamola on the spot but eventually relented and reinstated him.^[2] After leaving the Roberts team, Mamola signed with Cagiva to help them develop their GP500 race bike. He stayed with the Italian team for three years, but lack of funds hampered the teams success. After sitting out the 1991 season, he returned in 1992 for one last year on a privately supported Yamaha. He has maintained his crowd pleasing manner, often wearing humorous wigs on camera during interviews with riders. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.

After retiring from racing Mamola did pit lane commentary work with British Eurosport before losing this role in 2009. He is also a mentor for Bradley Smith.^[3]

Charity work[link]

Mamola began raising money for Save the Children in 1986. On visits to Africa, he noticed that motorcycles being used to transport medical supplies to remote areas were breaking down and being abandoned due to poor training and maintenance. In 1996, he became one of the founders of Riders for Health, a charity which provides motorcycles and training to projects which give the population of rural Africa health and medical support. His fund-raising activities include giving passenger rides on a two-seater Ducati MotoGP bike.^[1]

[edit] Grand Prix career statistics ^[4]

Points system from 1969 to 1987:

Points system from 1988 to 1992:

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Randy Mamola

• History of Riders for Health
• Randy Mamola at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame