I'd like to hear from some of the more experienced riders on strategies for handling windy conditions. Today while riding home from work I encountered significant cross winds, head winds, tail winds, swirling winds, etc. Since I have a heavy bike, I don't so much worry about being blown over but it occured to me on the trip home that surely there is wisdom out there on dealing with these sorts of conditions.
For instance, sitting at a stop light with inconsistent cross winds, I found myself thinking it would be better to stay in gear so that I would not have to take my feet off the ground to shift into first and risk instability. For long lights I like to give my clutch hand a break and go to neutral. Do other's think of these things?
Also, what about lane placement on the highway with wind pushing you towards the shoulder or the cars in the other lane?
Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom.
Miles By Motorcycle
established 11 years ago
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At a stoplight, I prefer to have both feet on the ground- an off side strong gust can surprise you.
For the most part, it has to be a *really* strong gust to actually make a difference- there is probably more movement due to your own startle reflex than from the wind itself, usually.
As to other traffic and lane placement- remember that wind affects everyone on the road. Do your best to minimize the dangers- a car going roughly the same speed and direction as you on the highway is a lot less dangerous than riding off into a soft shoulder (unless you have a lot of experience offroading a heavy bike on [effectively] bald tires at high speeds).
Abrupt motions on a motorcycle very often have bad consequences- they make parts of the motorcycle not work as designed (tires locking, frames, and forks flexing). At highway speeds, the physics of a motorcycle very much want to keep it going in a straight line. Too much tension in your arms can be counterproductive and force unstable motions. I've found the "firm but relaxed grip" concept, as oxymoronic as it sounds, to be very effective. Let the motorcycle have its way a bit, but too strong a control leads to overcorrection.
For the most part, it has to be a *really* strong gust to actually make a difference- there is probably more movement due to your own startle reflex than from the wind itself, usually.
As to other traffic and lane placement- remember that wind affects everyone on the road. Do your best to minimize the dangers- a car going roughly the same speed and direction as you on the highway is a lot less dangerous than riding off into a soft shoulder (unless you have a lot of experience offroading a heavy bike on [effectively] bald tires at high speeds).
Abrupt motions on a motorcycle very often have bad consequences- they make parts of the motorcycle not work as designed (tires locking, frames, and forks flexing). At highway speeds, the physics of a motorcycle very much want to keep it going in a straight line. Too much tension in your arms can be counterproductive and force unstable motions. I've found the "firm but relaxed grip" concept, as oxymoronic as it sounds, to be very effective. Let the motorcycle have its way a bit, but too strong a control leads to overcorrection.
I concur with Matt. At a stoplight it's best to have both of your feet down in heavy wind. The duration where you're on one foot as you shift into gear is so short you can time it.
The biggest problem I have in heavy wind has to do with objects. When you're in a heavy wind, like I was in Wyoming on the way to Yellowstone where it was blowing at around 70mph consistently with much higher gusts, you'll end up leaning into the wind as you travel a straight line. As you pass by any wind block, such as a bridge or tractor trailer, the transition from being in heavy wind leaning to suddenly being in calm air can catch you off guard because you'll have the tendency to turn in abruptly. The opposite effect happens when you transition back into the wind.
So as I'm about to leave the wind I travel to the outside of the lane relative to the wind and blocking object. That way when the bike turns in abruptly I have some time to correct. I do the opposite when transitioning back out.
The biggest problem I have in heavy wind has to do with objects. When you're in a heavy wind, like I was in Wyoming on the way to Yellowstone where it was blowing at around 70mph consistently with much higher gusts, you'll end up leaning into the wind as you travel a straight line. As you pass by any wind block, such as a bridge or tractor trailer, the transition from being in heavy wind leaning to suddenly being in calm air can catch you off guard because you'll have the tendency to turn in abruptly. The opposite effect happens when you transition back into the wind.
So as I'm about to leave the wind I travel to the outside of the lane relative to the wind and blocking object. That way when the bike turns in abruptly I have some time to correct. I do the opposite when transitioning back out.
My apologies to Matt. Being too tired, I accidentally hit the administrators Edit link when intending to reply to this post. Oops. Sorry Mat. 
-- Yermo
Matt wrote:
Holy crap! With winds that high (hurricane force), I'd figure they would close the highway. That is getting into tractor trailer toppling territory.
Yea. I may be exaggerating how hard the wind was blowing. When I stopped on the side of the road I put the bike on the side stand leaning away from the wind and thought it was going to topple over. I heard later gusts were around 80mph, but it may have been less. This was out on a plain southeast of Yellowstone. It was an impressive storm
Matt wrote:
In that case, I figure the best course of action would be to stop and find shelter. If you survive winds that high, you're badass. However the transition from badass to "Darwin Award Candidate" is short, sharp, and steep.
Yea. Maybe the wind was less than I thought. It was enough that I was getting blown around impressively requiring me to lean into the wind a good bit. There were only a couple tractor trailers and they were not able to keep a straight line but I didn't see any start tipping over.
The problem was there was no place to hide. It was out in the absolute middle of nowhere.
I heard later that there was a tornado or two in the center of the storm which would make sense given the amount of wind.
-- Yermo
Matt wrote:
Holy crap! With winds that high (hurricane force), I'd figure they would close the highway. That is getting into tractor trailer toppling territory.
Yea. I may be exaggerating how hard the wind was blowing. When I stopped on the side of the road I put the bike on the side stand leaning away from the wind and thought it was going to topple over. I heard later gusts were around 80mph, but it may have been less. This was out on a plain southeast of Yellowstone. It was an impressive storm
Matt wrote:
In that case, I figure the best course of action would be to stop and find shelter. If you survive winds that high, you're badass. However the transition from badass to "Darwin Award Candidate" is short, sharp, and steep.
Yea. Maybe the wind was less than I thought. It was enough that I was getting blown around impressively requiring me to lean into the wind a good bit. There were only a couple tractor trailers and they were not able to keep a straight line but I didn't see any start tipping over.
The problem was there was no place to hide. It was out in the absolute middle of nowhere.
I heard later that there was a tornado or two in the center of the storm which would make sense given the amount of wind.
Ok that's an interesting bug I've never seen before ... I'll have to track that one down. The previous post was obviously by me and not Matt. Some issue having to do with quoting I guess ...