Bad Wind!

[FREESTYLER]

Had an interesting ride from Grantham to Cheltenham at the weekend on the 1150gsa, now I’m not usually worried by a bit of wind – pardon me! But this was totally 90 degrees sideways on the M1/M69 sending the bike from one side of the lane to the other – probably the worst I’ve experienced, I know it obviously didn’t help that I had the panniers on, but as it’s usually so well planted it was a bit of a surprise! Now the good bit – filled up and thought I’d get a bit of extra weight on board, wow what a difference – so if it’s a windy day, definitely worth while topping the tanks up.

Anyone else got any tips for riding in strong cross winds?

 

[piggyp]

side wind

relax your grip on the bars the bike will do the rest.

 

[qwertme]

Had the same problem Sunday before last comming back from Germany.

The only solution I found was riding fast, the faster I was going the less I felt the crosswind (maybe due to the gyroscope effect of the wheels??). When I got off the motorway onto small roads the wind almost knocked me over.

Anyway, I didn't die.

 

[elevensies]

phew, i thought the post was about something else

 

[nunesaf]

phew, i thought the post was about something else

I had the most horrendous side winds in Dover (after having crossed a third of France with moderate winds). That day I got 45 mph side winds and I believe i got wind gusts of over 70 (checked on windguru.cz website - advise you to bookmark this)!

I didn't fall for pure luck. When leaving Dover, there's those round-abouts that you have to slow down. I felt like a sheet of paper...

 

[vilguy]

ive got bad wind at the moment....

aaahhhh better

 

[Paul Young]

I used to commute along the M6 from Preston to Lancaster & there were a couple of very exposed sections that were terrible for crosswinds. I learnt 2 things:

1. Wagons can make very good windbreaks but, if they get caught then they can move across 2 lanes very quickly & it's not healthy to be alongside them.

2. Counter steering is by far the best way to counteract the gusts that want to kick you over.