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Wind!!

4K views 36 replies 27 participants last post by  racklefratz 
#1 ·
Ok, maybe it's just cause I'm new to the touring style of riding, but whats up with the wind. I was going home yesterday in what felt like 100 mph wind. I was being led off the pavement and had to strain to keep it on the road? I pulled over off the highway and the wind seemed to be blowing no more than about 15-20 mph. Is it just the mass of the RG that makes it act like a sail in cross winds? I've never seemed to notice the wind that much on any other bike? Any info. or suggestions wouod be appreciated.

Thanx, Mo:hmmm:
 
#27 ·
chrt396 said:
I don't care what bike you have...if there is a 20 mph wind...it's going to blow you around a little, Now..if you are not used to crosswinds..it's going to feel as if a hurricane is hitting you. I've been there before. That feeling will go away cuz' it just feels normal after a while.
I just want to make sure we're on the same page here. I rode through Tropical Storm Bonnie in August of '04 on my Road King. I rode through the incredible cluster of tornadoes that hit Southern Mississippi in Spring '05, before Katrina, also on my Road King. I've ridden through all kinds of wind conditions, never being one to turn back for bad weather. It's not that I didn't know what it's like to ride in the wind. I'm talking about a difference of night and day between a bike with a large frame mounted fairing, and a bike with a windshield, in crosswinds.

Edit for clarification: I didn't ride THROUGH the tornadoes, but actually in between them. They were springing up all around me as I was riding the corridor of I-10 between Mobile and New Orleans, then South along the coast through Biloxi and Gulfport. It was pouring rain and torrential winds and severe flooding. I chugged along at about 30-40 mph, and I'll always remember how most of the cars had even pulled over because the conditions were so bad. It's not really a death wish I have, but I find it makes me feel very very alive to ride through severe weather. We had tornado warnings in Birmingham just this past summer, amidst a severe thunderstorm, when it was time for me to ride home from work. Everybody said oh man, you need to wait for this system to pass. I just couldn't help this big smile from spreading across my face, because I couldn't wait to get out in it. (from the school of "to each his own")
 
#29 ·
Ride Report - Wind

Clear skies, temps in the mid-60s, winds 20-30 mph sustained with gusts to 45. Sounded like today would be a good day for some data collection, and it was.

The bike and rider - '03 RG with TourPak, Road Zeppelin seat, 18" Clearview shield with recurve, SE 2-n-1 pipes with SE muffler, Dunlop Elite III tires front and rear. I'm 6'4" and with the Zep in touring mode I tend to look 4 to 6" over the top of the shield. I wear a 3/4 helmet with face shield and full leathers.

The route - all 2 lane black top with speed limits ranging from 35 to 60 mph. Most of it being 55 mph. It's a 72 mile loop mostly exposed with some stretches in the trees. Equal parts downwind, cross wind and into the wind. Sometimes quartering from the front or rear as the road turned. Traffic was light.

The ride - mid-morning, took just over an hour. I generally ran 5 to 10 mph over the posted limit. Top speed was 75 mph downwind, 70 into the wind. My speed in the cross winds was generally around 60 mph.

Results - the bike was stable at all speeds and in all wind conditions. I've ridden in similar conditions quite a bit this year (just got the bike in Jan and put over 7000 miles on it since). This time I was really paying attention to the bike. Stable. I did lean it into the cross wind a bit but it was a natural move and the bike tracked smooth and straight. What I did notice was the wind tried to blow me off the bike. That may be what others are experiencing. Gusts hitting you in the side and head do push you around the bike, but the bike stays stable under you. It's something you get used to.

Did I notice the wind? Yes, in all directions. Downwind was the smoothest as you'd expect. Into the wind was a bit choppy. 70 mph into a 30 mph wind adds up to 100 mph with gusts. Hence the chop. Surprisingly no helmet buzz even though I'm looking so far over the screen. Gotta like that recurve. I did have a hard time hearing my pipes today. Had the tunes cranked up (helmet speakers) and that with the wind noise drowned them out.

Would I want to ride 100s of miles in a 30 mph cross wind? No. Not on this bike or any other bike. While the bike is stable the wind trying to push me off it gets old.

Is the RG more stable in the wind than other touring bikes? I can't say. The only other touring bike I've ridden in similar conditions is an '05 RK Custom with wind screen. The RG is definitely more stable than the RK in all wind conditions.

Bottom line - the RG is stable in all wind conditions for riders with time on the bike. Go out and ride!!

-Bill
 
#30 ·
Wind effects every bike I ever been on differently. The more area the wind has to hit the more effect it has. And it does take a while to get used to how it effects your bike and how to counter react it. My classic has done things to me that no other bike has but it is the nature of the beast. The worst I have ever experenced was a few years back on the lowrider I had at the time. The wife and I were on a trip we were a block from the ocean it was raining so hard you could not see. We were only a couple of blocks from our hotel and I risked going there in the conditions. I hit a red light and lost all the protection from the buildings from the ocean winds, with both feet down holding the bike with all I could the wind blew us across 3 lanes while sitting still. To this day I do not know how I held the bike up. This was the after effects of a hurricane that came threw the day before. I was happy it was raing so bad cause I did not take the time to pull over and pull down my pants after that one LOL LOL
 
#33 ·
How to ride in Wind

Here's my .02
In the past 45+ years of riding, here's what I've found to work best when riding in the wind.
If the wind is blowing in from either side, simply relax your grip on the bars a little, sit up straight (center yourself with the bike) then turn your knee sideways a little in the direction that the wind is coming from.
This causing the wind rushing at you head on to creat kinda an eddy effect of turbulance around your knee area that will counter the wind coming in from the side....the result: The bike will stand almost straight up!
I've used this techniqe with everything from scooters to Goldwings, from BMW's to Sportsters, and on my Loaded down Roadking Classic with passenger. People think I'm completely out of my mind when I tell 'em to ride like this....until they try it:woohoo:
I've had dozens of folks come back and thank me, after riding for "years" and being blown all over the road.
Just try it for yourselves, it really works.
I've used this method over really high bridges, gusty wind stretches down I-5, through the windy stretches in Martinez California to Seaside in Monterey.
On really windy gusts, it helps to have your passenger stick her knee out too.
Just one word of caution.....BE CAREFULL, BECAUSE THE BIKE REALLY WILL STRAIGHTEN UP AND RIGHT ITSELF. So for those of you that may not believe in this method, you've been warned.
Now go try for yourself, and ride safe y'all.
2'cool
 
#34 ·
People think I'm completely out of my mind when I tell 'em to ride like this....until they try it:woohoo:
2'cool
I'll give it a try. Thanks for the tip.

For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.
Here's what may be going on (or not).
When the knee is pointed into the wind your body subtly turns in the opposite direction unconsiously introducing just enough countersteering to lean the bike into the wind.
To counteract a side wind the bike has to lean into it. To do this the tire contact patch, relative to the mass center of the bike, has to move downwind resulting in the bike leaning into the wind. This is achieved by countersteering, either consiously or unconsiously.
 
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