Surviving the wind? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Surviving the wind?

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zameer23

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So I'm a new rider on a 2011 Honda CBR125. Today I took my bike out on the Allen road and got up to about 80 kph, at which point I felt the the wind was going to steer me into the guard-rail/oncoming lane at any point. I was literally praying and trying not to lose my cool then entire way until I got off at Eglinton. I can't even imagine how I'm going to manage the 401 :/. Anyone have some pointers on how to deal with the wind? Is it possible to get thrown off by the wind if I keep a steady grip or am I just over reacting the feeling?
 
relax and lean into the wind.

you wont get thrown into the guard rail or off the bike. you'll be fine
 
What Matthew said, plus experience. Gusty winds will always give you a hard time but experience will tell you to relax; it's much harder to steer the bike when you're stiff as a board.
 
Get out of the city and ride some quiet roads. You'll get used to it in no time. Like Matthew said, "relax and lean into the wind." The wind can be a huge stimulus, get earplugs, they cut back the noise and make it easier to relax and focus.


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Depends on how strong and constant the wind is, sometimes I will actually counter steer into the wind. Worst comes to worst just slow her down a little. On the highway I find there to be more head wind than anything. I've had a few close calls where the wind would blow me into the opposite lane, but I just let off the throttle a bit and was fine.
 
Make sure to grip the tank using your knees. Balls of your feet should be on the pegs. Relax your grip on the handlebars once your knees are holding the tank as tugging and jerking introduces instability and try to avoid looking at the rail. The bike will move at what you look at.
 
Oh, and be in the correct tire track. Left track of right lane. Don't be in the right track of right lane or left track of left lane.
 
Went over the Burlington Skyway a couple weeks ago, (cold bridge + high gusts) I literally thought "This is how I die"

Took lift bridge back :p
 
Duude first time on the highway today. Was going northbound on dvp from lakeshore to don mills and I fealt the exact same way. I got up to about 120 but the wind was sketchyy

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Haha, wait til your first highway ride at 100 with semi trucks blowing by you. Keep your head down (hard with that small windscreen)
I remember my first time, also 26km/h head winds. I could barely get over 100km/h just keep on it and don't get nervous.
Go tail wind and you can get close to 150 with enough time and open lane.
 
I rode at (what felt like) a 45 degree angle all the way from Ottawa to Kingston or Kingston Ottawa a few times. The places where there's open fields either side of the highway are worse. I do my best to stay away from stretches of road like this on gusty days if I can.
 
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Everyone starts just like you

Then one day you will be riding in crazy wind and you wont even realize.

Experience is the most important thing.. Time on the bike and confidence.

Try not to hold the bars tight even though you will be tempted.

Grip the tank with your legs., the less input you give to the bars the better... just sit and enjoy the wind!

How u feel scared right now is totally normal
 
A couple of gusts really had me worried today too. Coming up highway 6 from Hamilton was brutal. I just gripped with my legs and tried to keep the bike stable. When the gust died down, had to correct for leaning into the wind! Sure made me more aware today, but I loved it too!!!


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Another thing to point out is that wind feels worse on certain bikes, e.g. narrow sail-like bikes or bikes that are lightweight. Lucky you!

My personal worst bike for this was a '86 Honda VF500F. I definitely used caution passing semis!
 
Transport trucks are tricky I find. At 90km they can blow you to hell or make the wind calm down for a second or 2.

Otherwise op you will get used to wind. I'm s new rider as well with only 1500km under my belt. Counter leaning/ steering becomes serving second nature. And today kind of sucked with the west to east wind.

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Ive been gusted into places I didnt want to be before. Once coming back from Niagara Falls on that big bridge the the weather was really getting aggressive and I was blown totally against my control from the center to the right lane. 2 up too. I was riding behind another guy that was also having problems. Luckily the traffic was observant and sympathetic. That was sort of atypical though. I can see why the wind would be intimidating on a 125.
 
Stay low, and stay loose. Number one cause of most handling problems is too tight on the handlebars.
 
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