Anyone else get caught in that tonight?

TekNinja81

TekNinja81

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
I've ridden in heavy rain without problems, I've ridden on windy days without much concern, and hell, I've even tried riding in snow (failed that one though.) But tonight, riding 40km home in what were apparently almost 70km/h gusts of wind on wet roads (it'd stopped raining by then), on a tall more top-heavy bike, was just about the scariest ride I've ever been on. Nothing like leaning hard against the wind, and still feeling like the wind is gonna throw you over anyway. Felt like a damn ragdoll out there, and got blown out of my lane more than once. I even tried hanging off the bike and counterbalancing it to keep it as upright as possible, which helped, but still had to fight against the wind.

Maybe I just need to get more experience with riding in high wind+wet road conditions, but despite the V-Strom's general "planted" feeling, I felt like the wind would either knock me over, or unsettle the bike enough to lose traction on the wet pavement. The gusts of wind on the Warden overpasses, and at red lights when stopping/first taking off, were particularly unsettling.

I tried to keep loose and calm, but tonight was the first time I've come home actually shaking because of how much the wind/conditions battered me around. I felt as if I had no control over the bike's direction at some points, especially as I got pushed sideways onto tar snakes and the road paint which felt very slippery. Thank god it wasn't freezing out at least.

Those of you that ride in such strong winds (especially paired with wet roads, and a bonus if on a taller bike such as the V-Strom, KLR etc) frequently, what methods do you use to keep calm and in control? Such advice would be of great help to me and many other riders reading this...
 
No offense but why are you riding your bike in weather like this to begin with?
Is it your only means of transportation?
 
Seriously though, massive wind gusts are the worst. I've ridden in the Santa Anna winds in California which are quite a bit stronger across the California landscape but at least you can set your angle to 45 degrees and go. Gusts brutalize you.
 
R1Style said:
No offense but why are you riding your bike in weather like this to begin with?
Is it your only means of transportation?
Click to expand...

He probably went out earlier when it was really nice and got caught out when it turned crap.
 
It does have leather... Dash, steering wheel, door panel... But the bastards chinced out and put in fabric seats :P

Just got home... That was one hell of a blowjob I tell ya :P


- Randy
 
I got caught in some crazy wind on the 427 monday and because there was very little traffic to buffet it, it was hitting me hard and blowing me across lanes. I was helpless and tried to go faster to keep from getting blown over. I was on my ninja 250 and it was pretty much topped out with me tucked in hanging off the side...best advice I'd say is pull over and get the hell off the highway. I've also ridden in just about every condition that would makes lots of others shy away but it was the first time in 3 years I was actually worried on my bike...
 
Silverbullet & I did a Niagara/US tour yesterday. All day it was a perfect day fot riding! Sweet roads, gun range, and awesome food from Diner's, Drive-ins, & Dives. But on our way back around 8ish, it started to come down. Slight rain at first, but as we crossed back into Canada and rode along the QEW, it turned into a ***** storm! Heavy rains, fog, intense wind gusts that almost pushed me under a truck...
It always seems I get the worst weather when I come back from Niagara...same thing happened on my last trip there=p
 
Yeah, I was out in that last night. It was pretty crazy so I rolled my windows up & turned on my heated seats lol. I did see a bike on the dvp though.
 
Question:
Whats the best way to combat strong side winds? I tried experimenting with a few techniques last night...

Situation: a huge wind gust hits you and you start to lean...do you:
1. Close/lessen the throttle to slow down your speed
2. Increse your speed and rip it thru the gust. (wud gyro effect help stabalize?)
3. Tuck in tight and ride the gust and keep speed constant.

What works best for you? Does the answer change depending on what bike you ride?
 
That is tough riding in those conditions. I have done this, but in the day time, and was heading home from S. Dakota. It was 2 days like that. You get better at it. First day my body was so tense, my shoulders and thighs were like rock. The second day, I decided to relax a bit, and since the bike was leaning to the right most of the time, I sat upright, with my butt on the edge of the left side of the seat. Of course when you went under a bridge or overpass, the wind would be blocked and you had to react fast to stand the bike back up. I found this riding position was better and I was less tense and fatigued. I used to ride until dark, but the wind gave me a beating and by 5 or 6 I was done for the day. I tried different speeds, and it didn't seem to help going faster or slower than the speed limit. I was on the Interstate trying to chew up miles to head home. After those few days, the wind no longer bothers me, but it was one hell of a learning curve.
Glad you got home safely.
 
Dayao12 said:
Question:
Whats the best way to combat strong side winds? I tried experimenting with a few techniques last night...

Situation: a huge wind gust hits you and you start to lean...do you:
1. Close/lessen the throttle to slow down your speed
2. Increse your speed and rip it thru the gust. (wud gyro effect help stabalize?)
3. Tuck in tight and ride the gust and keep speed constant.

What works best for you? Does the answer change depending on what bike you ride?
Click to expand...

Slowing down definitely doesn't help, as I was getting tossed around much worse whenever I lowered my speed last night to slow down/stop for a red light. That was actually when I had the hardest time keeping the bike upright/balanced, I got shoved into the next lane by the wind when this happened.

As the bike will of course want to stand up/go more straight when at speed, maintaining your speed and/or accelerating definitely will help to resist the wind, but also leaning into the wind with your bike and/or body seems to help counter it. That said, with some of the gusts that I got hit by last night, it almost felt like my nearly 500lb bike would get thrown off its wheels if I had any less of a contact patch with the ground; so I was trying to hang my body off the bike but use my outer footpeg to keep it upright as much as possible.


And indeed, as suggested above, I had gone out during the daytime while the weather was awesome. Went to a friend's place to visit for a while before the rain hit, wasn't aware the wind was supposed to hit so hard last night (I thought it was supposed to be today only) so that was definitely an unpleasant surprise on the return trip. I think it would've been fine if the roads weren't wet though, at least I wouldn't be worried about sliding across the road.
 
Merkid said:
A good basic question
Click to expand...

Lol, yeah, I frequently get the "are you nuts?" talk from my friends... my buddy's mom last night was practically yelling at me when I was gearing up to leave.

Scary as it can be (and yes it is indeed my only vehicle), every day I arrive home alive I appreciate the risks involved, and it just makes me love riding that much more.
 
I headed home when the wind just started cause of course id keep an eye on the weather forecast as a new rider
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom