The Wind...???!!!

[DaveOTZ]

OK...
First fun trip on Tin Fizzy... Queen, NY to LObster Roll place in Connecticut
First off... Great ride nice twisty roads and lots of open highway (at least for someone who has learned to downshift and use his breaks while living and commuting in the city)
So the weather report yesterday was foggy and a lil windy, so I wasnt worried about rain...
On the way up got sprinkled a little and at high speeds it was chilly... nothing the gator, gauntlets and heated grips couldn't handle... Little windy but no problem... Lobster Rolls, cigar and great cup of mud later and my brother (in his jetta) and I are on our way to Frank Pepes for clam pizza (dont knock it till you try it)
Little windier, but some ducking just made it an invisible twisty...
Pizza in my gut shot of espresso... AWESOME day trip!!!

My brother goes to NJ I grab 95 straight home...
I caught wind that scared the living crap out of me (no not literally) when its from the front its an intimidating bully, from the side its like getting T-Boned by a Mack truck... I made it home without incident... I mostly leaned forward and watched my speed tried to draft behind trucks instead of passing them. My neck is a little sore today, my right hand is fine (got a little crampy from the throttle)

Any of you veteran riders have any suggestions on how to handle the wind??

 

[wrightme43]

Its a pain sometimes. The bike is pretty much self correcting for it though, just stay low and keep your arms loose and relaxed.

Not much else I know of.

 

[ozzieboy]

Its a pain sometimes. The bike is pretty much self correcting for it though, just stay low and keep your arms loose and relaxed.

Not much else I know of.

I've had a few long rides with cross winds and they aren't very nice. You can sometimes predict when things are about to gusty by what is on the side of the road as well. A building will obviously shelter you until you ride past it. Sometimes a gully or even a side street can funnel the wind. But take it easy and do as Wrightme43 describes and you should be fine. Getting down low can help too, but on a nekkid...not very much...lol.

Headwinds now, are a different animal. I road 550km/343miles into a 40knot headwind (80km/50 miles/h) at 110km/68 miles/hour. Add the two together and you get 190km/118miles/hour wind in the face....on a nekkid....OUCH!

My neck was trashed...lol. Laying on the tank is the only escape. A screen should help this.

Can't think of any other hint or tricks I've tried:thumbup:.

Hope I've helped.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Wolfman]

I hate riding in heavy wind of any sort...but if you cant escape it, which is often the case when touring, then i too, say, try and stay loose, in the arms, which can be litlle hard, whilst the wind trys to rip your helmet off!

Obviously try to ride into the wind a bit....hope that doesnt sound silly, but if it's pushing you left, try and ride with a slight angle against that, will help you stay in a straight line...that's my 2 cents.

It aint fun...in fact, i much prefer rain to wind!

:thumbup:

 

[Cali rider]

OK...
First fun trip on Tin Fizzy... Queen, NY to LObster Roll place in Connecticut
First off... Great ride nice twisty roads and lots of open highway (at least for someone who has learned to downshift and use his breaks while living and commuting in the city)
So the weather report yesterday was foggy and a lil windy, so I wasnt worried about rain...
On the way up got sprinkled a little and at high speeds it was chilly... nothing the gator, gauntlets and heated grips couldn't handle... Little windy but no problem... Lobster Rolls, cigar and great cup of mud later and my brother (in his jetta) and I are on our way to Frank Pepes for clam pizza (dont knock it till you try it)
Little windier, but some ducking just made it an invisible twisty...
Pizza in my gut shot of espresso... AWESOME day trip!!!

My brother goes to NJ I grab 95 straight home...
I caught wind that scared the living crap out of me (no not literally) when its from the front its an intimidating bully, from the side its like getting T-Boned by a Mack truck... I made it home without incident... I mostly leaned forward and watched my speed tried to draft behind trucks instead of passing them. My neck is a little sore today, my right hand is fine (got a little crampy from the throttle)

Any of you veteran riders have any suggestions on how to handle the wind??

This was a nice ride report, abbreviated but full of zest!

As far as riding in windy conditions, it's important to maintain you speed. The gyroscopic effect of the rotating wheels will aid in stability. Keep yourself centered in your lane so you have room to swing as the inevitable gusts move you from side to side. Be very aware of other vehicles as they will be having more difficulty maintaining their position than you will. Finally, as the bike moves around beneath you, try to maintain your body position as it will naturally counteract the bike and help bring things back to normal. IOW, if a blast hits you from the left, the bike will move right from the force of the wind. If you keep your torso under control you'll find yourself hanging off the left side a bit, forcing the bike to lean left back in to the wind gust and allowing your direction of travel to remain mostly straight.

Does that make sense? I don't know if I explained it correctly...but it works for me. I have ridden in our famous Santa Ana wind conditions here in SoCal where the wind speed can easily exceed 60 MPH. Its not difficult to control, but your focus must be 100%.

 

[dean2287]

I rode out to Banff a couple weekends ago, with a major Chinook wind blowing out of the mountains. It was mostly a head wind, but a couple of times when the road turned the cross wind nearly blew me off the bike! Once it actually blew so hard it moved me over to the left lane (divided highway thank God). Wind can be a definite hazard.

 

[steveindenmark]

I did about 200 miles today in lovely sunshine and 2 up. But s??t was the wind strong. One second it is trying to blow you across the road and the next second it seems to be sucking you the other way.

It is hard work but I will sleep well tonight.

Steve

 

[Cmayer31]

I hate the wind, especially when it's gusty. I just grip onto the bike a little tighter with by legs and try to remind myself to loosen my grip and relax my wrists. Ultimately I just try to have fun with it and play guess when the gust will blow me over, or visualize how stupid I must look leaned over while holding a straight line. I find the more I focus on the ride and things going on around me, the less I focus on hating the wind and being bothered by it.

 

[DaveOTZ]

Thanks everyone CR Wolfman wme, all makes tons of sense in the end sounds like the wind is something I just have to deal with... I did feel kinda weird with my chest on my tankbag but at least the air from the pizza had a clear exit

 

[VEGASRIDER]

This is topic that has been discussed in great depth, as many members have different opinions on what the proper thing to do. Whatever you decide works best for you, I consider the Wind as the most dangerous and hazardous situation for a motorcyclist just because the wind, especaily wind gusts are not predictable. You can't see it coming unlike the other hazards that we have been taught to look out for. And for those Southern California riders who have to ride through those Santa Ana Winds, you guys are freaking crazy. You ride through that, riding in any other windy conditions will be a walk in the park.

Here's the link.

http://www.600riders.com/forum/track-tech-riding-techniques/3652-wind-slow-fast.html

 

[tedrogers]

I'm a new rider and I got to say the wind scares the crap out of me.

I was on some narrow B road lanes in North West UK, open fields either side,no protection and 50mph gusts were throwing me all over the place.

The only thing I could do was slow down, but it felt stupid as the cars were virtually unaffected.

Best to be safe though.

 

[Boneman]

My suggestions for wind are:

1 - Anticipate it and 'push' back/lean into it a little
2- Get lower into the bike and squeeze the tank a little tighter with your legs. Basically reduce your size as much as possible.
3- Move more into the center of your lane so if the wind moves you about, you are not being pushed into another lane.

I agree in full with Vegasrider about the wind being one of the most dangerous hazards out there. Not much bothers me on the bike; rain, fog, even being caught in some minor snow. But add wind into any one of those situations and it raises the 'pucker factor' by 100!

 

[FazerNYC]

Do Not Panic. Do not allow you thoughts of doom begin to spiral. Remember the last time you rode in wind? It was even worse than this time. Did it knock you off the bike? No. You'll get through it by relaxing and physically managing the ride as you did the last time. But... don't be a hero - if that **** feels way more powerful than you can handle, park the bike and if you can, wait it out until you feel confident and safe.

 

[FazerNYC]

Do Not Panic. Do not allow thoughts of doom begin to spiral. Remember the last time you rode in wind? It was even worse than this time. Did it knock you off the bike? No. You'll get through it by relaxing and physically managing the ride as you did the last time. But... don't be a hero - if that **** feels way more powerful than you can handle, park the bike and if you can, wait it out until you feel confident and safe.

 

[RJ2112]

I'm a new rider and I got to say the wind scares the crap out of me.

I was on some narrow B road lanes in North West UK, open fields either side,no protection and 50mph gusts were throwing me all over the place.

The only thing I could do was slow down, but it felt stupid as the cars were virtually unaffected.

Best to be safe though.

I rode accross the replacement for this bridge every day for about 3 years..... gusty wind, I know somehting about riding in. The winds didn't change; the span design was modified so the gusts couldn't set up the harmonic oscillation that led to this one collapsing.

Everyone is saying stay loose on the bike; I agree with that. Let the bike roll along it's axis and keep it aimed at where you want to go. The key is to look as far ahead of you as possible, and keep your eyes on that point. You will go where you are looking....... if you are looking at the ground near your feet, the corrections you make will be too small, and you will drift in your lane.

If it's less than a mile in front of you, don't look at it in high wind conditions. All the close in stuff will be in your peripheral vision anyway, and you will track the lane correctly regardless. 'connect the dots' waaayyyyy in front of the bike.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw]YouTube - Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse "Gallopin' Gertie"[/ame]