Has the wind ever made any one go down before. On my daily commute I ride through this super windy part of Hwy 680 and the freakin wind pushes me around all kinds. When there is a super strong gust it feels like the rear wheel shakes sharply and frankly it bothers the **** out of me. I was scarred of this **** for the first week or two, but now its just supper annoying.. I ****** HATE IT. I looked online and the wind is at its worst at about 930-10 pm, just the time I ride home from work. It doesn't sound like a lot but a 25 MPH gust is the worst way to disturb an otherwise pleasant ride home. Now that I realize that this has been a total bitch about the wind session I probbably should have posted this in the RANT section. Anyways, anybody go down from wind? Just wondering.

 

Its mostly in your mind (like most things on a bike) Make sure to NOT tense up and clench the bars. Kinda like a tankslapper. Keep looking where you want to go;you will go where you look.RELAX. The bike was meant to lean so let it lean. I rode a 75 mile commute home one day in the tail winds of a hurricane with gusts @ 70-75mph. I had little choice so I kept going. It started raining at the end. Unpleasant but doable. Flying debris was the only real danger.

 

My wife and I rode FL-CA-FL last year (I was on my 1200GS, not my SH, she on her VFR) and on US 50 in Nevada we had 45 mph crosswinds. Kind of scary, but manageable. It was the first time she had ever ridden in winds that strong, but didn't take long to learn to counter-lean into them. At one point we were riding on the wrong side of the road, as the gusts kept blowing us over a lane. Took us abut 60 miles to get out of the worst of it...

 

Being from Mountain home Idaho the wind here is terrible. Riding at a 45 degree angle is not uncommon. with goo tires you should not have a problem the shaking you feel may be a direct reflection of your tires. You may have not leaned that far in the past and not rounded them off. just my thoughts sometimes running in 45 mph wind im sitting at a 45 and the tires feels like it is going to slip. just slow down and see if it goes away if nothing else check your pressure.

 

i was almost pushed in front of a semi on the highway once because of the damn wind. i just lean into the wind just a little bit, but not to the point where if there's a sudden gust that it would throw me down.

 

Rad: 50...The loneliest road in America.

Vega, Get the fear out of your head immediately. You know how to ride so just let your riding instincts take over. Stay loose and flexible to change.

I say this because one time driving down Aviation in Los Angeles ( This street runs right at the tail of the runway at LAX where the planes start their take off ) when A 747 was just taking off. THey have wind barriers of course but there is slight spaces in between them. Well this plane just thottled up when I was passing one of the gaps and it blew me across all lanes of traffic almost into the curb on the opposite side of the street AGAINST traffic. People this was one of those miracle moments that you hear people talk about. There were no cars coming in the opposite direction or I surely would have been killed. It is a 45 mph st so people drive it at 60 at least. Now LAX during the day is always packed but on this day the street was empty this moment. Anyway the moral of the story is as long as your rubber keeps traction and you counterweight you will be fine.

Grooves in the road used to scare me now I hit them on purposes just to practice riding thru them.

 

Thanks for all the replys. I do just look where I want to go and have been fine so far. Its comforting knowing that Im not the only one that has problems with the wind. Ill just keep going with the rubber side down.

 

jserio: Yeh, our first time riding it. Spent the night in Ely, NV, then rode west to Tahoe. It was an AWESOME ride across 50, even with the wind at one point. Some of the most desolate, yet gorgeous scenery ever! You just don't want to miss a gas stop...