How much wind is too much wind?
Thread Starter
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,410
Likes: 143
From: Palm Desert,CA
Yeah, I got off a couple of times for a break but I was on a timeline and dodging some weather so basically spent most of it on 81. Once I got to a point where 11 essentially paralleled the interstate I got off and did the last 30 miles on it. I think that was important for both my sanity as well as reminding myself how much I enjoyed being on the bike lol!
Thanks everyone for the advice (and funny pics I needed that!). Good for me to know that I needn't be worried about the bike coming out from under me. That will probably help me relax in the future too.
Thanks everyone for the advice (and funny pics I needed that!). Good for me to know that I needn't be worried about the bike coming out from under me. That will probably help me relax in the future too.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,036
Likes: 19
From: Savage, MN
Winds suck we have been really windy around here lately and it takes the fun out of riding real quick. I normally try to avoid riding on crazy windy days and if I must ride I try to stay off major roads like freeways/interstates.
Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 578
Likes: 0
From: Apache Junction
Robby - It's too much wind when you have to ask about it Lol. Get a JD's T-sport. They offer a TON more wind protection then the Ness! I couldn't be happier with the jump I made from my Ness to the T-sport, but I do a lot of long rides making it worth every penny. Also, your bike will not come out from under you. Some good advice already been put out there but again, just be ready to counter steer into it and try and get into a reasonably relaxed position (don't go fallen off now lol) and just be prepared for the gusts. If you're sore from it then more than likely you're fighting it too hard.
Exactly. The wheels will generate more force straight up and down on their axis (rolling mass/gyro effect) the faster you go if you're not afraid of it. A well shaped fairing will also start to throw more wind out of the way the faster you ride as well. Not that it's "less windy) it just starts to keep the bike riding straighter. The Ness however is much to small for that effect. 60mph bats me around far more than 80mph in cross winds. I do the same in rain. Roll it on and blow the water over me. It works.
Exactly. The wheels will generate more force straight up and down on their axis (rolling mass/gyro effect) the faster you go if you're not afraid of it. A well shaped fairing will also start to throw more wind out of the way the faster you ride as well. Not that it's "less windy) it just starts to keep the bike riding straighter. The Ness however is much to small for that effect. 60mph bats me around far more than 80mph in cross winds. I do the same in rain. Roll it on and blow the water over me. It works.
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,988
Likes: 17
From: Between Fort Worth and Wichita Falls Texas
Personally I think when the wind makes you feel like you are riding at a 45ş angle all day because of crosswinds, that's too much. All across Arizona coming into Phoenix. From 7:00am to 5:00pm from Cali. One rough day. I probably should have just stayed in the motel for a day but time wasn't on my side. Turned south finally and it was such a relief having the same wind as a head wind. Who would have thunk.
Thread Starter
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,410
Likes: 143
From: Palm Desert,CA
Robby - It's too much wind when you have to ask about it Lol. Get a JD's T-sport. They offer a TON more wind protection then the Ness! I couldn't be happier with the jump I made from my Ness to the T-sport, but I do a lot of long rides making it worth every penny. Also, your bike will not come out from under you. Some good advice already been put out there but again, just be ready to counter steer into it and try and get into a reasonably relaxed position (don't go fallen off now lol) and just be prepared for the gusts. If you're sore from it then more than likely you're fighting it too hard.
Exactly. The wheels will generate more force straight up and down on their axis (rolling mass/gyro effect) the faster you go if you're not afraid of it. A well shaped fairing will also start to throw more wind out of the way the faster you ride as well. Not that it's "less windy) it just starts to keep the bike riding straighter. The Ness however is much to small for that effect. 60mph bats me around far more than 80mph in cross winds. I do the same in rain. Roll it on and blow the water over me. It works.
Exactly. The wheels will generate more force straight up and down on their axis (rolling mass/gyro effect) the faster you go if you're not afraid of it. A well shaped fairing will also start to throw more wind out of the way the faster you ride as well. Not that it's "less windy) it just starts to keep the bike riding straighter. The Ness however is much to small for that effect. 60mph bats me around far more than 80mph in cross winds. I do the same in rain. Roll it on and blow the water over me. It works.
Still would the differently shaped fairing help with a side wind, wouldn't it be more "push-able"? I was actually thinking that I was better off with this fairing than my original QD windshield. I'm definitely better for this, being sore was a combination of pucker factor, along with the most riding I've done in a single day along with the rest of the riding over previous days. I got out on my bicycle today for a quick 15 mile training loop (I've been really undisciplined this winter) and got rocked pretty well with my deep sectioned racing wheels. I can still feel the effects of yesterday and the rest though. But I'm back to my carefree love of being on the MC and looking forward to my next ride!
Personally I think when the wind makes you feel like you are riding at a 45ş angle all day because of crosswinds, that's too much. All across Arizona coming into Phoenix. From 7:00am to 5:00pm from Cali. One rough day. I probably should have just stayed in the motel for a day but time wasn't on my side. Turned south finally and it was such a relief having the same wind as a head wind. Who would have thunk.
I was thinking that maybe I should just stop at some point, but thankful I didn't since today is pretty cold and windy again!
What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, I'm a half full kind of person.
Thanks again to everyone for the great advice.
Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 578
Likes: 0
From: Apache Junction
Man you hit it right on the head. The T-sport fairing pushes my bike around a lot more in cross winds now (just did a few hundred miles last weekend in these conditions) where as the Ness cuts through it. Difference is the wind is pushing the bike not the rider and I'm relaxed and not getting all the wind to my face and upperbody which makes it much less fatiguing. But, yes between my bags and the fairing moving so much air, cross winds bat me around like a cat with a ball of yarn lol BUT i'm relaxed and not hanging on for dear life either (as you mentioned earlier "BUTT PUCKER"). Aerodynamics changes things so much. Ride a Roadglide sometime. HUGE fairing on those buses... Cut right through the wind though.
Thread Starter
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,410
Likes: 143
From: Palm Desert,CA
Lol I knew you were screwing with me. The big baggers must also be heavy enough to cut right through. Heck at this point I'm ready to get back out there just to practice!
Wind and fairings
Fairings of any sort can help rider fatigue etc with steady winds, but can make things worse in cross winds or blustery winds. No fairing is perfect, most are trade-offs.
I used a Memphis Shades Slim on a cross-Australia trip recently, and it worked great (quiet, smooth air all around, 12-hour days at times) even with blustery cross winds,
But it couldn't deal well with I'd pull up behind a big rig or a road train (a fifty yard-long three (or more)-trailer behemoth, and overtake it. Regular big rigs are bad enough, road trains are worse. They practically create their own weather - wind coming off them eddies and vortexes and grabs the fairing and shake it (and, in turn, the 'bars it's attached to) like a rag doll.
One way to improve things is (like a couple of my old bikes), use frame-mounted fairings. Ugly and can't typically be quick-detached, but they do help isolate the 'bars from unintended inputs from rider or wind...
I used a Memphis Shades Slim on a cross-Australia trip recently, and it worked great (quiet, smooth air all around, 12-hour days at times) even with blustery cross winds,
But it couldn't deal well with I'd pull up behind a big rig or a road train (a fifty yard-long three (or more)-trailer behemoth, and overtake it. Regular big rigs are bad enough, road trains are worse. They practically create their own weather - wind coming off them eddies and vortexes and grabs the fairing and shake it (and, in turn, the 'bars it's attached to) like a rag doll.
One way to improve things is (like a couple of my old bikes), use frame-mounted fairings. Ugly and can't typically be quick-detached, but they do help isolate the 'bars from unintended inputs from rider or wind...
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Thread Starter
|
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,410
Likes: 143
From: Palm Desert,CA
Fairings of any sort can help rider fatigue etc with steady winds, but can make things worse in cross winds or blustery winds. No fairing is perfect, most are trade-offs.
I used a Memphis Shades Slim on a cross-Australia trip recently, and it worked great (quiet, smooth air all around, 12-hour days at times) even with blustery cross winds,
But it couldn't deal well with I'd pull up behind a big rig or a road train (a fifty yard-long three (or more)-trailer behemoth, and overtake it. Regular big rigs are bad enough, road trains are worse. They practically create their own weather - wind coming off them eddies and vortexes and grabs the fairing and shake it (and, in turn, the 'bars it's attached to) like a rag doll.
One way to improve things is (like a couple of my old bikes), use frame-mounted fairings. Ugly and can't typically be quick-detached, but they do help isolate the 'bars from unintended inputs from rider or wind...
The biggest, longest trucks in the world Road trains in the Australian Outback - YouTube
I used a Memphis Shades Slim on a cross-Australia trip recently, and it worked great (quiet, smooth air all around, 12-hour days at times) even with blustery cross winds,
But it couldn't deal well with I'd pull up behind a big rig or a road train (a fifty yard-long three (or more)-trailer behemoth, and overtake it. Regular big rigs are bad enough, road trains are worse. They practically create their own weather - wind coming off them eddies and vortexes and grabs the fairing and shake it (and, in turn, the 'bars it's attached to) like a rag doll.
One way to improve things is (like a couple of my old bikes), use frame-mounted fairings. Ugly and can't typically be quick-detached, but they do help isolate the 'bars from unintended inputs from rider or wind...
The biggest, longest trucks in the world Road trains in the Australian Outback - YouTube
Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 187
Likes: 6
From: Phoenix Arizona
So I had to ride back from Tucson to phx on weds.. Man it was windy as heck, there were times it would blow me line to centerline, I wasn't going over the speed limit at all because for some reason and I'm not joking there were tons of highway patrol, not even joking from Tucson to Eloy I counted 17 and the was just on side heading into phx, pulling everything over lol. Anyway with the crosswinds using your legs does help. Stick a knee out a little at a time until if offsets the wind and doesn't rip your leg off the bike, almost like the road race guys do going into a corner.. It will help offset the wind. Now a blowing gust is a different story, I've just always kinda leaned into it and throttle into it a little more... Just if you know your gonna be getting blown all over the road Be smart and ride safe and be ready for it..