General Harley Davidson Chat Forum to discuss general Harley Davidson issues, topics, and experiences.
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

Man I Hate Head Winds

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
  #1  
Old 05-01-2014, 12:25 AM
patrickd's Avatar
patrickd
patrickd is offline
Elite HDF Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Nebraska
Posts: 3,910
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default Man I Hate Head Winds

Took off out of Omaha on Friday, headed to Ft Worth TX to support a poker run for veterans. Typical this time of year winds out of the south so expected the head wind. Pretty steady 20-25 mph until Texas. Cut the gas mileage from normal 42 to under 35. Five gallon tank and instead of filling up every 200 miles or so down to 150. Made for a long *** ride. Looked forward to the assist from the wind on the ride home on Tuesday. Right.

Tuesday take off out of Ft Worth and the wind is out of the Northwest 20 gusting to 35 through Texas, OK and Kansas. Calms down a bit by the time we hit Nebraska. Ran into off and on rain from Wichita KS all the way home. Temps when we left TX was 65. Steady drop in temps all the way home to 39 when I pulled into the driveway.

All told over 1700 miles in four days of riding. The two days in Texas we were a little windy but temps in the 90's. Totally worth every windy, freezing mile we rode.
 
  #2  
Old 05-01-2014, 12:37 AM
upflying's Avatar
upflying
upflying is online now
Seasoned HDF Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Post Falls, ID
Posts: 34,065
Received 26,159 Likes on 11,104 Posts
Default

Windshield or fairing helps with headwinds.
Headwinds in airplanes also suck, except when landing.
 
  #3  
Old 05-01-2014, 12:43 AM
Helrazor's Avatar
Helrazor
Helrazor is offline
Cruiser
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: 62301
Posts: 228
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

I had some crazy wind this week end too. through the ozarks and ark. not quite 1700 miles but like you said, it was worth every mile
 
  #4  
Old 05-01-2014, 03:55 AM
NoCoLoco's Avatar
NoCoLoco
NoCoLoco is offline
Road Warrior
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Northern Colorado
Posts: 1,979
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Default

Try riding north or south along the Colorado/Wyoming front range this time of year, 50 mph cross winds aren't very pleasant either!
 
  #5  
Old 05-01-2014, 04:04 AM
mikelikesbikes's Avatar
mikelikesbikes
mikelikesbikes is offline
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Socialist Republic of the USA
Posts: 11,232
Likes: 0
Received 16 Likes on 13 Posts
Default

Love that Breakout ya got but as mentioned, a fairing/shield helps a lot. Have a fairing and backrest on both of my bikes but a removable Memphis Shades on the Road King. Occasionally I take the fairing off but usually not for very long. Kinda spoiled...
 
  #6  
Old 05-01-2014, 05:57 AM
baka1969's Avatar
baka1969
baka1969 is offline
Extreme HDF Member

Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: NE Philly
Posts: 12,986
Received 703 Likes on 466 Posts
Default

I was in Chicago a couple of weeks back. All through Indiana I had swirling cross winds that weren't exactly a load of fun. Last year I was riding towards Toronto around the London area and had 100 miles of 40 mph cross winds to deal with.

As far as gas mileage is concerned I get horrible mileage on the slab. 35 mpg is about my average. That's with my 3.3 gal tank. 100 miles and I'm riding on fumes.
 
  #7  
Old 05-01-2014, 06:41 AM
Antonio Balls's Avatar
Antonio Balls
Antonio Balls is offline
Stellar HDF Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NY, Land of Taxes
Posts: 3,140
Received 1,638 Likes on 784 Posts
Default

I used to ride a bicycle long distances seemed to always have a headwind in both directions. On a motorcycle it's an inconvenience. When you are using leg power it's painful.
 
  #8  
Old 05-01-2014, 07:05 AM
searay40dad's Avatar
searay40dad
searay40dad is offline
Advanced
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: indiana
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

so, you'll keep the Breakout then, huh? did you do anything special to set-up for the ride? with my lower back, I think I'd be in traction for a week if I covered that many miles on this bike as is.

great looking bike, btw...
 
  #9  
Old 05-01-2014, 07:29 AM
sporty63's Avatar
sporty63
sporty63 is offline
Tourer
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: NJ
Posts: 264
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by searay40dad
so, you'll keep the Breakout then, huh? did you do anything special to set-up for the ride? with my lower back, I think I'd be in traction for a week if I covered that many miles on this bike as is.

great looking bike, btw...

love the look of the CVO....nothing better! I don't know why the MOCO didn't offer it with mini apes. This sure would make it a whole lot more comfortable to ride.
 
  #10  
Old 05-01-2014, 07:39 AM
Great White's Avatar
Great White
Great White is offline
Intermediate
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: OKC
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

I've pretty much given up on the idea of light wind in the spring time here. It's either ***** cold or windy as hell until it gets hot so I've gotten pretty used to riding in the wind. I don't have a windshield on my bike yet so I try to keep off the interstate if I'm going into the wind. My Honda Shadow was a pain in the *** to ride in anything over 25mph winds. I guess because it was so light. Now on my street bob the only thing blowing all over the place is my skinny ***.
 


Quick Reply: Man I Hate Head Winds



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:14 PM.