Riding in High Winds

I was supposed to be taking the bike out this morning to meet up with
someone (100 miles round trip mainly open countryside) but being a newbie
with no experience of riding in this weather I wimped out.

Looked out of the window at am, it was gusting at about 60mph (approx, I'm
not Michael Fish) and the weather report said maybe some snow showers...
well there were some ominous looking clouds about but it didn't happen.

So my question to the more experienced riders here (that's about everyone)
was it a good call to give it a miss or does that qualify me as a wuss?

Having never ridden in high winds I would appreciate some advice so I know
what to do next time.

Ta, David

 

Relax. Especially your grip on the bars. Arms need to be slightly bent so
they act like shock absorbers when your body gets caught by a gust. If your
arms are rigid then you will apply forces to the bars and/or open/close the
throttle.

Speed up - you get knocked around more at lower speeds IME.

Countersteer in crosswinds.

The GS is much more stable in windy weather if I take the top box off.

 

David Thomas secured a place in history by writing:

Probably, but we've all had the same concern at some time when we first
started riding.

It depends to an extent on the bike - a fully faired behemoth will get
affected a lot more than a naked bike. But crosswinds are not really a
problem as long as you stay relaxed and countersteer to counteract them.
On wet roads this can begin to steal some traction and can be more
problematic, but in the dry it's not really a problem.

If you're newbie enough to be not entirely happy with the concept of
countersteering, get your head round that first.

 

tut tut. How will you learn?

No. Yes.

Get out and ride the bike.

I went out for about an hour this morning and it was indeed very windy
in places and steps had to be taken to avoid being blown accross the
road. All that actiually entails, though, is countersteering into the
wind. Sort of like trying to take a corner to stay in a straight line.

The worse thing was the amount of road salt still around. Some of the
roads were almost pure white!

--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

I think that at the emd of the day, if you don't feel comfortable riding in
any given weather, then it's a good call not to ride in it. If anyone else
thinks you're a wuss, who gives a ****?

FWIW I decided to take the car today for a number of reasons, but the wind
was definitley a factor.

Relax your upper body and arms, or you will act as a sail and transmit
more force to the bars and thus the bike. You may want to grip the tank a
bit more firmly with your knees.

Be particularly aware when passing high sided vehicles. Odd things can
happen to wind flow around them.

Your confidence will increase as you ride more. Just don't ride beyond
what you are happy doing, or you'll die.

NP
--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l (Really) Sprint 1.7
Triumph Speed Triple: Black with extra black bits
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

I went from Milton Keynes to a little village by Bradford On Avon last
Saturday afternoon on the Bandit. The combination of driving rain, spray and
75mph winds (there were plenty of fence panels and objects of garden
furniture flying around!) saw me down to as little as 30mph on the M4 (and I
was still the fastest vehicle!), and only about 45-50mph on the A420. To say
that I pood myself for the entire journey would be an understatement. I'm
what you'd call a 'born again biker', and a 19st fat git on a Bandit 6
(jacked up) in strong winds is an unnerving combination.
Still, I didn't see and other mad/brave/foolish bikers for the entire
journey!
Dale

 

Well I went out in the end and gave it a go, bit scarry at first but soon
got used to it but had to keep the speed down a bit... probably due to lack
of confidence.... oh alright I was scared ok!

Thanks for the advice all, D

 

No more experience that you I believe (we passed at about the same
time), but I don't find the wind makes that much difference when your
moving along once you learn to relax.

First time I went in 'high' wind, I found myself gripping on for dear
life, and that actually made it much harder to ride, latterly, while I
still feel the odd gust, I don't find it actually alters my course.

That said, when stationary at traffic lights, the gusts DO try to push
me over (then again given my size, I do make a formidable target for
the wind to catch!)

 

Dr Ivan D. Reid wrote

Pseudo scientific bollox innit. You have got the right idea though but
for all the wrong reasons. It is more like shifting your CG over a bit
into the lean, rather like what you do going round a bend. Which is how
I treat a strong side wind.

 

David Thomas wrote

snip

Nah(ish) that's the right response to high winds anyway.

Your general wussness and lack of confidence might mean your speed for any
given set of conditions is only 50% that of the most experienced and fastest
riders - but even the most lunatic alter their speed according to the
conditions (well, the ones that don't aren't around to post for long).
Still, I *am* concerned your wussness might be slipping a bit ~ afterall you
went out and had a go at it.

On a comparatively practical note, some specific hazard things have been
pointed out and laughed at but the general rule about riding with your head
to go faster safer is more applicable the shiter conditions are - You will
react sooner and with least risk to being slammed by a sudden side-wind if
you anticipate it. So figure that coming out from behind shelter like a
high wall or a cutting or going over a hill might mean the wind is going to
give you a fkn big shove ...... Then when it does you ......... well there's
a few ways of doing it but like SA said they're about moving your centre of
gravity to the windward side or more simply chucking your weight at it as a
counter balance. This can have a massive effect on reducing how far you're
shoved off line.

Another dead obvious one is tuck in behind the tank more - you'll know when
you've got that bit right cos you'll feel it.

And the final dead obvious one is not forgetting you might suddenly find a
fck-off great big lump of tree or something blown in the road so anticipate
that too. Even a fairly small piece of branch can play fk with the handling
if you ride over it.

--
Nidge
ZX6R J2 Stunning in zit yellow. KX 125 MX 'I'm snot green -FLY ME'. A few
bits of CB500S in Norwegian Parrot blue. BOTAFOT#63

'Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand'.
Homer (Simpson).

 

To quote a poster on the wall of the place I was learning to fly, "It's
better to be down here wishing you were up there, than it is to be up
there wishing you were down here." It's trite, but it is true.

 

Well, yes

Well, yes again. Round here though it was gusting rather un-predictably....
--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l (Really) Sprint 1.7
Triumph Speed Triple: Black with extra black bits
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Rope wrote

I hit a cat last year with the VT. Hardly noticed it. It surprised me
how little effect it had. I'd do it again.

 

Maybe you should get some little black cat stckers with red crosses
through them?

 

That reminds me, I hit a cat going flat out (the bike not the cat) on a
DT175 when I were a lad, the moggy exploded on the razor sharp front number
plate and I arrive home looking like I had been pelted with a bucket of
liver.... had to hose myself off in the garden.

See I do have a history with bike after all, not a good one, but a history
;-)

D

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, David Thomas

Front number plate on a DT175?

You made that up, didn't you?

 

The DT175 was first sold in 1974 if I google correctly.

1975. Requirement for motorcycles to carry a front number
plate abolished.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Mark Olson

Blimey. I stand (and/or sit) corrected.

And I apologise to the incredibly aged David.

 

Passing HGVs in wind, I tend to pre-emptivley dive towards the bow-shock as
I come up to the front of them. Soon get the hang, and it's better than
being a victim.

 

No don't apologise, you may have a point, I didn't get my DT175 till 1977 so
this cat malarky may have been on my Puch VZ50.

D