My VFR 800 (08) Is "SCARY"to ride in strong side winds

dude, all motorcycles get blown around. one of the questions on the written test for an mc license was "which is more dangerous? rain, wind, gravel etc." the answer is wind. the others can be dealt with. slow down , get a trailer, or ride the bus. (just kidding) learn to deal with it. ride your own ride, don't let anyone intimidate you into a dangerous situation or riding faster than than you are comfortable.

 

I'm with you on this. It's exciting to ride in windy conditions. I also like flying in the worst turbulence possible. It gives me a rush. Like a roller coaster, but with beer.

 

STEERING DAMPERS >Some of my older bikes had adjustable steering dampers. (<1968) I grew up on these. They did a great job in stabilizing the bike in strong winds. I remember as a teenager being very scared riding one stormy night with the wind knocking me around. I tightened up that knob and it eliminated the bike from jumping around near as much. These knobs went down the steering stem and applied friction to keep the triple tree from moving so easily. Now I know they don't make this friction damper anymore, but Ohlins, Scott, Sprint, Honda, etc do make hydraulic dampers that reduce quick movements. I don't drive through strong side winds on a daily routine, but if I did, I may want to look into a hydraulic steering damper. I see Scott and Sprint both build dampers (dampners) for the VFR on EBAY. I also see they are added or come standard on some of the CBR bikes. Perhaps it could be adapted to the VFR front end?? Someone may have done this already and posted it on VFRworld too. TC

 

finally....another nucking futbar here!!!!

 

All this advice reminds me of breaking wind.

 

The wind

My experience with my 'busa out by Cabazon, CA was different. The 'busa's not as stable in the wind as a VFR I found out when I got the VFR and was running down I-25 in Colorado in fierce crosswinds. I passed a semi and almost got blown off the road on the VFR, but after I adjust my speed (down a bit, despite what everyone's saying here) and lowered my profile it was bearable. I would point the bike more into the wind when I was about to finish passing a semi, and so was prepared for the gust that comes when you get past the semi.
Had cross winds from below Denver all the way to I-40. Nasty trip. My Hayabusa on the other hand taught me to slow down with crosswinds. I thought that I should go faster and found out that the bike was leaning more with the wind the faster I went. As soon as I slowed down, I felt a lot more comfortable and was closer to vertical. Strange feeling riding down the freeway with a permanent lean!

 

Thanks guys The feeling I get that its a Faired bike thing Ive been belting around on unfaired bikes for years and i guess it will take sometime to adjust. The wind was pretty strong though passed a boat that had been blown off its trailer and down a gully so maybe i was being a little brave.
I run 38psi front 42 Rear and am going to drop the forks 15mm through the yokes to help quicken the steering as i find it tends to oversteer somewhat.
Thanks for your help. Kar raka

 

Maybe someday all the folks who build faired bikes will rent out the wind tunnel that Moto-Guzzi has, test the bikes sitting sideways and cure the problem.

One guy I know is working on a solution using 36 muffin fans epoxied to either side of his bike.

 

Sort of reminds me of Muffin Top Girls :smile: Got blown across one whole lane on a 93 Nighthawk a long time ago. That was about it for my cross wind follies. Slowing down on a Hayabusa for wind? It just seems wrong :smile: Braking wind, thats funny

 

If you ride the prairies, then wind is something you learn to deal with. When I first got my VFR, it was my first faird bike, I learned a few quick lessons on how wind can make a new stain on the seat. I got blown from one white line across to the other.

The advise about weighting the wind-side bar is good. I mostly lean the bike in to the wind myself.

 

So what is it, slow down or increase speed in strong side winds?? IT seems if you slow down it would be less stable. When in doubt "GAS IT".

 

It'll take 40 fans at least...then you become a mobile tornado, creating your own weather as you go. But if the wind dies, then your fans blow you over.

 

If the wind is shearing, by accelerating you are actually increasing the force pushing you to the side. That's what I found out in practice, that I was being pushed harder the more I accelerated. My first instinct was to gas it, and it got worse.

 

I suppose that the best way to answer the question is that when you are in high winds and must keep going that you find out for yourself and not just assume that someone else has the "right answer?" I assumed that going faster would fix the problem and found myself leaned over more by the wind. This was a steady-blowing wind, not a gusty one. Different wind conditions may require different coping methods. The "right answer" is the one that works when you are in the situation.

 

Where is Sockie Zen? He is sorrowly missed around these parts.

 

Sorry, I should have indicated that the 36 fans were /side. There are instances where eight more fans were epoxied to the inside of windscreens for garage rides.

 

I know this is an older thread, But I did a search on riding in the wind and have to say I feel more comfortable now that I have read through it. I live in Waikoloa, HI and it does get frequent wind here. Yesterday was one of my first experiences with riding in the wind with my 98 vfr800. Just got it a few days ago. Today I get up and notice the wind is blowing a little bit harder so I looked up the weather and it claims East 16mph winds with 29mph gusts. Seems like some of you guys have had to deal with situations far worse than that so I feel a lot better about it lol. Im a pretty logical thinker and I think I handled it well yesterday. Definitely slowing down some helped the situation a lot for me and just paying extra attention to it and holding on tight with some corrective leaning. Also I kind of stuck to lane position 3, just in case I had to lean towards the right into a short gust and end up merging to the right after the gust lets off. I would hate to end up in the lane of oncoming traffic. I am by no means an advanced rider - I wouldnt call myself a beginner either - but please let me know if any of these techniques Im using are dangerous lol

 

Many of the dudes here have ridden in winds exceeding 100mph and very high temperatures. Some might ever say thats a lot of hot air.

A fun one is crossing the Columbia River Gorge on any faired bike. The road changes direction as much as 90 degrees on both sides of the bridges. Windsurfers have been clocked at high rates of speed in the river. We get wind gusts of 100 mph in Winter here in Ogeron. My bike stays home then.

There are also a few dudes here who were swept up by tornadoes too. Some even think they were abducted by aliens.

 

Yeah I understand both sides of the discussion. I used to think that going faster would help with a wind that was pushing me over, but when I tried it in Cabazon, CA I found out that the faster I went, the more I was being pushed to one side. So I then had to figure out why the hell my theory didn't work. I realized that in many cases I was actually increasing the force, the shearing effect, that was pushing me to one side. Now that was how it worked when the wind was coming from one quarter, the dynamics may change when the wind is coming from the side and the rear direction.

 

Hey Joe, is that your sister ?????? When in doubt GAS IT MANNNNNNNNNN !!!!!!