As I’m getting older I’m finding it increasingly difficult to kick my leg over the back of motorcycles, especially taller adventure bikes.
I’ve seen mounting examples from people stepping up on either the right or left peg. I feel more comfortable stepping on left peg (side stand side). But, is it better (safer) from the right peg. Is it simply a preference or are there pros and cons?
As a short rider on tall bikes, I always use the peg to get on the bike.
Recently I've started mounting on and off the right peg. I find that it's less stress on the kickstand having your weight on the opposite side. Also, sometimes it's easier on variable terrain to mount from the right, especially if the kickstand will sick into sand or soft dirt if you get on from the left.
A less common reason is if you're pulled over on the side of a busy highway or road and the shoulder is really narrow, it may be safer dismounting from the right side instead of waiting for traffic to subside to get off on the left. Especially if it's an emergency.
An even less common reason is, I lead a lot of group rides and when we park, sometimes the second rider parks very close to me on my left just so we can fit as many bikes in the space. As lead rider, more room for me to dismount if I do it from the right. Just a small Quality of Life thing...
On a lot of bikes, the kickstand is mounted on the frame which makes for a solid attachment point, but for other bikes using cradle-less frames, like my Hyper, the sidestand mounts to the engine case. Don't want to be $napping that off if you put too much weight on it...
I also make sure the kickstand is frame-mounted if I'm going to be doing the kickstand spin to turn a bike around.
But 90% of the time, I just use the cowboy mount/dismount.
