Crosswinds

[Tamsin]

So i'm beginning to get a hang of this two wheel malarky. Trip to and from town today was probably my best run to date all told.

Still a bit nervous of speed - not gone above 35 yet (but aside from one short 40mph stretch) its all 30/20 limits. Today though I had a new experience - a very strong crosswind gust which threw me for a minute - what is the best way to deal with them?

[hedgehugger]

Relax.
If you fight them, it just makes it harder to control.

[wr6133]

Pitch the mainsail and make use of the wind.

[Teflon-Mike]

[CaNsA]

Lean into crosswinds.

[mentalboy]

As above but tailor it to the type of sidewind.
If you're only getting blown about passing gateways in hedges then move away from the middle of the road when you see a gate and let it blow you more towards the middle. For long stretches you'll need to brace against it a bit more however on stuff like motorways it can just be a pain in the butt - lean into the gust quite happily and then shit bricks when the wind suddenly dies back and leaves you bracing against nothing or let it blow you into the other carriageways, Hobson's choice!
All part of the 'fun' of biking
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Make mine a Corona.

[Mumrah]

[Christoffee]

Great advice above. The wind scared the life out of me and everything above is solid noob advice.

It's like everything. Just keep practicing. Don't put off a ride because it's windy. Just crack on. It was a really windy winter and now I don't mind the wind at all. Just like I don't mind the rain. Of going flat out! I hit 70 once!
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Bike: CBF125

[Christoffee]

Great advice above. The wind scared the life out of me and everything above is solid noob advice.

It's like everything. Just keep practicing. Don't put off a ride because it's windy. Just crack on. It was a really windy winter and now I don't mind the wind at all. Just like I don't mind the rain. Of going flat out! I hit 70 once!
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Bike: CBF125

[Tamsin]

Cheers. I am gaining in confidence and experience daily but still have a lot to learn and its good to ask these questions

[Quornholio]

[Ben90]

I hit a crosswind today as well, I found that I was leaning into it to stay in a straight line - a strange experience as you feel as if you should be turning!
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Yamaha FZ6 S2

[gavbriggs]

Pass your test and then get a massive bike and use brute force, works for me.

I do remember however when I was 16 and on a Simpson 50 'magpie' (I shit you not!) a stretch of 40mph road is open to the pennines in the distance and not a deal between. Wind gusts a fair bit and as I cleared the houses and hit the exposed stretch I was almost horizontal trying to counter the wind at full throttle and could only have been doing 20mph.

I did shit my self a bit but it taught me to ride the wind!

[Pigeon]

Can't add anything useful to what everyone has said.

But just that being calm is 80% of the battle won......except battle's the wrong word, you're not in a fight, you're just outside


On my 125 I actually really liked the wind, the crazier the better. Found the whole being blown about exhilarating.
The 70-80mph winds we had last winter were well above the top speed of my bike. Started off by leaning into the wind, then a knee out, then hanging off a bit, then leg+arse+upper body all off the side.
At the same time I had the scene from Willy Wonka with the boat running through my head.

There's no earthly way of knowing, which direction we are going...


mmm, this probably isn't helping.

[covent.gardens]

Learn about conscious countersteering. When you encounter a gust that blows you to the right you can simply move the left bar forward and you're back on course again almost instantly. Once you're used to it you will automatically respond to unintentional changes of course by countersteering and you'll find you stay in a relatively straight line. It's far more responsive and precise than leaning.

[ScaredyCat]

[covent.gardens]

It is not wrong, and you are pathetically looking for any excuse to continue to rate me down after the Hetzer thread.

"Recently" got used to countersteering? Try two and a half years ago...

I did not say "Fight it". You can relax on the bike and make subtle adjustments to the bars (countersteer) to stay straight. This avoids the problem mentalboy stated:

[ScaredyCat]

[covent.gardens]

Sure it has nothing to do with it, you just so happen to have given me redundant ratings all day when you never have in the past 2 years.

Conscious counter-steering is hardly rocket science, and should NOT be thought of as an advanced technique, and I couldn't disagree more, it should be taught at an early stage, preferably at least mentioned during CBT, so beginners know methods exist to exercise more precise and immediate control over the bike. As for it being dangerous to merely mention its existence to a newbie... *Sigh*

[ScaredyCat]

[covent.gardens]

[pinkyfloyd]

Crosswinds, meh. I was blown from the middle lane after overtaking a car on the motorway onto the hard shoulder in one of those storms we had a few weeks ago.

That was a scary moment.

But advice above is sound, you get used to the winds and leaning into them helps.
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illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[dydey90]

My worst experience in a crosswind is travelling along a road that's slightly higher than the open country around it, with a perfect 90° wind hitting me, my arse hanging over the right side of the bike to stay straight and the car behind me getting pissed off, attempting to drive down my exhaust thinking "But why is he only going at the speed limit".

Still, steady winds are easy enough to deal with. It's the blustery gales that seem to change speed and direction at random that cause intense sphincter activity.
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This post is probably not serious and shouldn't be taken literally.
Past: CBR125,ER6f NINJA 650, ZZR600 Current: VFR750

[Bendy]

Wing down into wind and opposite rudder to counteract the yaw. Land on one wheel and ease it onto the other. Keep the stick into wind so you don't get blown over when taxying.


Oh you mean on a bike? Go faster. More momentum Or is it inertia? Never sure which is which. Don't pop wheelies.

[Teflon-Mike]

Dont try 'counter-steering' on a tiddler.

Keith Code has made a fortune selling this one technique to numpties who cant be bothered to learn to ride a motorbike properly, but want a quick fix to go kwik... mostly in america... where it tends to works as they treat 750's as learner-bikes.

Its not particularly appropriate and its not necessary on a 125, as a method of gaining a sort of 'servo steering effect' to help make faster direction changes, which can be useful on a faster, heavier machine, but even there, not really in anyway appropriate to reacting the sustained 'yaw' pressure of a cross-wind on a lightweight.

If you wish to study Keith Code 'lore' I suggest you go to source, rather than oft repetatition distorted re-iterations offered by others; and read his books, rather than the videos, as they too rather pander to the impatient too, while the books, DO actually give some more enlightenment of why, where, and how his suggested techniques MIGHT be helpful... but don't take it as the absolute and only truth, a LOT of it is dummed down for Americans, and a lot of his 'theory' is more promoting his religion of 'scientology' than explaining actual 'science' of motorcycles. (Also worth noting he's essentially a motorcycle journalist who has exploited the media and publicity far more successful than he ever has a motorcycle. Even his 'super-bike-school' wasn't even his idea!)

But, for UK Learner; I would recommend DSA's 'Official Motorcycling' as a far better starting point, and if you want a heads up on 'advanced riding', the follow on book, "Motorcycling The Essential Skills" which could as easily be titled 'Road-Craft for Beginners', and concentrates on basic technique and discipline, good practice, common sense and thinking for yourself, rather than mantras and marketing, that wrongly applied can get you into trouble more easily than they can help you ride 'better'.
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