All right, I admit it, I hate the wind!

[moto-rama]

I thought it would be a nice day to head over the Bay Bridge to the Ebay and ride Grizzly, Skyline, Redwood etc. So I did.

Everything was fine, except on the bridge I noticed it was getting a little breezy. By the time I got home 4 hours later, my neck was twisted up in knots.

It's one thing to be rolling along at 70something an hour while the breeze blows through your helmet and all, but when I am getting yanked around like a chihuaha on a short leash, with my head getting punched this way, then that, and my neck is like turning to mush, I do not like it. You can fight it, and lose, or go with the flow and get the same basic result. And if you crack your visor to get some air, shit gets in your eyes.

I hate the wind. It's invisible, too. Very clever how it does that.

I know, everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it.

 

[WWWobble]

Everything was fine, except on the bridge I noticed it was getting a little breezy. By the time I got home 4 hours later, my neck was twisted up in knots.

Yeah, I've wondered about this as well. I've ridden thru fairly strong wind that is just semi annoying, but it wasn't cold or raining or anything. Stay loose, no problems.

But a COLD hard wind.... That's a "neck twisted up in knots" kind of deal.

 

[mean dad]

I occasionally get angry at the wind because it makes it unpleasant to ride.

Then I laugh at myself for being stupid.

 

[budman]

Well written Jim...

I remember being pretty nervous about the wind... less so after riding at an angle and making quick adjustments so many times.

 

[dravnx]

Some helmets are better then others about whipping your head around in the wind.

 

[Whammy]

I don't know what one can do except to just drive a car.
But we don't ride because we care about neck knots or cold we ride because it makes us Smile

I have a new balaclava I'm going to try out.
The mask goes into my jacket, leaving the cold air from biting so hard when doing 70
It incorporates a mask.
Like this.....

https://www.amazon.com/Balaclava-Ac...=8-4&keywords=balaclava+face+mask+with+filter


This all sucks I know, but what can you really do aside from just drive? Nawwwwwww riding is much more fun

 

[bikeama]

Sounds like you are getting old enough for a good Sport Tour bike with a good fairing and adjustable windshield.

 

[duck_rider]

Sounds like you are getting old enough for a good Sport Tour bike with a good fairing and adjustable windshield.

Hah. I never understood the need for fairings when I started riding. 5 years later and I'm finding myself annoyed at a strong head or crosswind.

 

[CDONA]

Hunching my shoulders against the cold would give me all that.
Warm dry desert winds, just buffeting.

 

[Junkie]

Sounds like you are getting old enough for a good Sport Tour bike with a good fairing and adjustable windshield.

I find more bodywork means that the bike itself gets moved around more in the wind

 

[davidji]

I find more bodywork means that the bike itself gets moved around more in the wind

Yeah, I'd rather feel the wind on me than have it pushing the bike around.

 

[WWWobble]

I find more bodywork means that the bike itself gets moved around more in the wind

Yeah, I'd rather feel the wind on me than have it pushing the bike around.

I used to think that too until I spent a windy afternoon on a friends Monster. Man, that thing was being blown around but good, way more than what I get on the FJR with all its bodywork.

So, I'm thinking things like weight, wheel base, rake and trail, all that geometric stuff, etc. has a bit to do with it as well.

 

[Kurosaki]

For sure I find wind more bothersome than rain.

 

[redtail]

So, I'm thinking things like weight, wheel base, rake and trail, all that geometric stuff, etc. has a bit to do with it as well.

This.

All motorcycles will feel the effects of the wind, the inherent stability of the bike is more of a factor of how confident the rider feels in high winds than bodywork.

 

[hophead]

Sounds like you are getting old enough for a good Sport Tour bike with a good fairing and adjustable windshield.

True but he passed on the RS and went with the R. The RS is superb in all conditions, in fact none more steady in a gusting cross wind except a Harley Davidson.

 

[bikeama]

Side note when riding in the wind. If your bike has an electronic suspension switch to the sport setting. A friend told me this. I first tried it on I-5 on my K1600, made a big difference on the bike moving around.

 

[WLaryDavis]

I like wind more than rain.

 

[moto-rama]

Well written Jim...

I remember being pretty nervous about the wind... less so after riding at an angle and making quick adjustments so many times.

yeah, I crossed Wyoming once with a cyclone thing following me, on a VF1000R that functioned like a giant plastic sail in the 60-80 mph cross winds. There was literally nowhere to take cover so we just twisted the grip and raced ahead of what looked like a black wedge of death. Tumbleweeds flying across the road, fleeing jackrabbits, uprooted sage bushes.

Later that night in Montpelier, Idaho relief was 6 Advil, half-pint of Irish, and 2 hours in the bathtub with a wet towel wrapped around my neck. The next day we heard on radio that several twisters had touched down east of where we'd been.

 

[moto-rama]

Side note when riding in the wind. If your bike has an electronic suspension switch to the sport setting. A friend told me this. I first tried it on I-5 on my K1600, made a big difference on the bike moving around.

My new bike has 4 settings. Rain, Road, Dynamic, and User. User is still on the default setup, but can be dialed in to a special recipe. Once I figure it out of course! The R12 is very well mannered, and it doesn't really react much to cross winds. It's me that gets knocked around a little.
So I am OK as far as riding in strong winds, I just hate what it does to my neck. I am normally very loose on the bars and don't make myself in to a 2x4 or anything, but that also means I don't put up a fight when my helmet gets buffeted.

I've found that if I tense up and try to lean in to it too much, it's not an improvement. What I really need is a new set of intervertebral (sp?) disks in my spine. Maybe if I live long enough they'll have a way to fix them.

 

[Junkie]

I used to think that too until I spent a windy afternoon on a friends Monster. Man, that thing was being blown around but good, way more than what I get on the FJR with all its bodywork.

So, I'm thinking things like weight, wheel base, rake and trail, all that geometric stuff, etc. has a bit to do with it as well.

my NC700X is longer, heavier, and lazier geometry vs my naked SV1000, and yet I still think it gets blown around a little more. Sure, I get blown around more on the SV, but the bike doesn't move as much.