wind!

[Water Warrior 2]

Picture this. Canadian prairies, 2 lane highway on a bright warm summer afternoon. Just farmers fields, no ushes or trees and no wind. The grass on the side of the road wasn't even moving. Instant gust moved me over 6 feet to the left into the oncoming lane. Pucker factor a 10 out of 10.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by music man

But yes for just the "wind" blowing, that will work fine, but not for those 10-15mph extra gusts.

Not withstanding WW's story.............
The best way to deal with that is the same as it is when driving any vehicle that has a high profile and tends to catch the wind........like a commercial delivery van.......and that is to train yourself to ***NOT*** react to the gusts of wind so quickly.

Reason being that by the time your "slow" computer (the one between your ears!) reacts to the gust, it is already over and you overcompensate and steer in the wrong direction. The second reason is that the majority of gusts will FEEL like it is pushing you off course a lot more than it really IS. The best course, then, is to not correct until you are sure you really need to.

Took me years of van driving to really "learn" this and that helped a bit with the bike but, although the same principles are in play, dealing with the wind on the bike has a higher pucker factor.......and the skill required is slightly different.

[mr. softie]

Try to keep a relaxed grip on the bars and keep your upper body relaxed and loose in gusty conditions and let the bike compensate. Because of the gyroscopic action of the wheels the bike will tend to self steer and run straight with little rider input. The bike will lean in a gust, and straighten up by itself. A rigid grip contributes to the swerve in gusts.

Poindexter

[BusyWeb]

Hello, there.
Yesterday, I read a post about accident (fatal-down and more... not want to tell here) by the wind.
I got scared after read it, and made mind not to speed on the gust area; "Wind or Gust" road signs.
I had some bad experience with wind about couple of months ago here Los Angeles.
Santa Ana Wind........

But I got stange experience too.
The wind's pushing (sailing bike) power is reduced,
if I give just little more speed to the bike when wind gust comes from side.
(with slow wind speed, not with high power gust ha ha ha)

Sometimes the bike breaks rules of physics of nature ???
Anyone has similar experiences??

[patrick_777]

Originally Posted by mr. softie

Try to keep a relaxed grip on the bars and keep your upper body relaxed and loose in gusty conditions and let the bike compensate. Because of the gyroscopic action of the wheels the bike will tend to self steer and run straight with little rider input. The bike will lean in a gust, and straighten up by itself. A rigid grip contributes to the swerve in gusts.

:plus1: :plus1: :plus1: :plus1: :plus1:

I can never stress this entire quoted post enough. It feels more dangerous that it is. But I barely touch my handlebars in a high crosswind...Thanks softie, great post there. :2tup:

Originally Posted by mr. softie

Poindexter

:techy:

[patrick_777]

Originally Posted by BusyWeb

Hello, there.
Yesterday, I read a post about accident (fatal-down and more... not want to tell here) by the wind.
I got scared after read it, and made mind not to speed on the gust area; "Wind or Gust" road signs.
I had some bad experience with wind about couple of months ago here Los Angeles.
Santa Ana Wind........

But I got stange experience too.
The wind's pushing (sailing bike) power is reduced,
if I give just little more speed to the bike when wind gust comes from side.
(with slow wind speed, not with high power gust ha ha ha)

Sometimes the bike breaks rules of physics of nature ???
Anyone has similar experiences??

Sorry, I didn't understand some of that, but you have to take into account the gyroscopic effect when a motorcycle is at speed. The physics of it all cause the bike to react faster and want to stay standing straight up, against the wind changes than any human could with active steering.

Originally Posted by mr. softie

Try to keep a relaxed grip on the bars and keep your upper body relaxed and loose in gusty conditions and let the bike compensate. Because of the gyroscopic action of the wheels the bike will tend to self steer and run straight with little rider input. The bike will lean in a gust, and straighten up by itself. A rigid grip contributes to the swerve in gusts.

Poindexter

It's funny - I read this post just after having had experience with what Mr. Softie is talking about. Picked up my bike from the shop (new tires, brake pads, fluid) yesterday and rode it the 20 miles home. Nice day for this time of year in Michigan, but gusty as hell. I found myself doing the death grip thing a couple of times and knew, partly from this site, that this was not what I wanted to be doing, even if such windy conditions. It turns out, especially in such windy conditions. I relaxed my grip and upper body, and lo and behold, things got better right away. The thing I kept telling myself was to trust the bike, it won't get blown over (15 - 20 mph wind gusts).

Keith

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by kmkindred

new tires, ........and rode it the 20 miles home. Nice day for this time of year in Michigan, but gusty as hell.

Glad you made it home OK.
New tires and adverse riding conditions are often NOT a good combination. :skull:
Take it easy for another hundred miles or so and weave a bit as conditions permit.

[patrick_777]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

Take it easy for another hundred miles or so and weave a bit as conditions permit.

...but only after your tires are warmed up from a few miles. :crutches:

[greenhorn]

Are some bikes less prone to being affected by wind & gusts? The heavier the bike the less you feel it?

GH