Dealing with the wind, Advise?

[Hltoppr]

Rob nailed it. After long trips with lots of wind, my windward side shoulder is sore from pushing that handlebar into the wind, (steering the bike into the wind as well).

You really need to ride conservatively, and be ready to react to a gust that, as others have said, can easily push you into oncoming lanes of traffic.

...and a bigger bike helps. My 1150GS is nowhere near as prone to being blown around as my XR650 was.

-H-

 

[goodtimes]

...and a bigger bike helps. My 1150GS is more likely to blow a semi off the road than the other way around.

-H-

Fixed that for ya --

:snorkel:

 

[earthmuffin]

True... but feeling the front wheel skitter across two lanes of road as the wind tries to blow you off causes some serious pucker.

Oh don't get me wrong, it can get really concerning, really fast, but following the advise above by pushing into it, reading terrain ahead for problem areas, and letting the bike waffle around a little helps alot.

 

[grahamfitter]

How come nobody has yet mentioned learning to steer the bike with the handlebars, intstead of leaning?

<snip>

At speed, push the bars to the left gently, and the bike will lean right.

The MSF learn-to-ride class I took a couple of years ago taught that method of steering. Push on right handlebar => bike leans right => bike turns right.

At faster speeds you lean with the bike. At slower speeds you let the bike lean under you to keep the weight balanced.

Anyway I find it quite uncomfortable to pass a gust of wind while I'm seated on the bike so I tend to stand up on the pegs. :sombrero:

Cheers,
Graham

 

[RHINO]

riding a street legal dirt bike can be real fun in crosswinds, like rob said handlebar action is a skill i learned early on, and now when i encounter sidewinds i hardly notice it because my brain and body just know what to do w/o me even thinking about it really. its an odd feeling being pushed and leaning when your going straight, but your body really does know what to do, just learn some basics and trust yourself.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

At faster speeds you lean with the bike. At slower speeds you let the bike lean under you to keep the weight balanced.

Also very true. That was the other part that was hard for me to learn. At low speeds, you throw the bike to the side, put all your weight on the peg in the direction you want to turn, stand straight up, while the bike leans under you, and turn the bars in the direction you want to go.

At high speeds, you push the bars in the opposite direction, stay on the seat, and lean with the bike, maybe more than the bike is.

riding a street legal dirt bike can be real fun in crosswinds, like rob said handlebar action is a skill i learned early on, and now when i encounter sidewinds i hardly notice it because my brain and body just know what to do w/o me even thinking about it really. its an odd feeling being pushed and leaning when your going straight, but your body really does know what to do, just learn some basics and trust yourself.

Yeah, I think, after dodging trees at 30 mph... wind just isn't a big deal anymore. Not to mention, my 250lb bike changes flicks really fast, which is the counter to it being blown around eaier.