Of course a 40-60 mph wind gust is going to knock you around a bit. What I'm talking about is strong, steady winds, the turbulence riding behind a semi and riding on grooved pavement. When I first got my Low Rider I had the misfortune to happen on some road construction and grooved pavement. I don't know that the bike would have wrecked but it was so squirelly that I slowed to about 20 mph and got over on the shoulder where it hadn't been grooved. On another day I rode about 50 miles east of here for lunch. Coming back I decided to take the interstate. The wind was blowing hard and between that and semi's the handling got so scary I took the first exit and crossed over to a back road where I could hold the speed down to 40 mph or so. That was when I decided to go with new Metzelers. I don't even slow now when I encounter grooved pavement and the bike feels more planted and solid in wind. For reasons unknown to me Dunlops work fine on some bikes and Metzelers not so well. Over the last few years having been on metric forums and this forum I've seen hundreds of posts detailing dramatic handling improvements when changing from Dunlops to Metzelers. All I can do is present my own experience for consideration.

 

I was in some crazy stuff this past weekend! 50mph side winds, but I didn't have a problem holding it together and keeping the shiny side up. I finally decided to pull over when I started to see chunks of tree hit the road. A town about 20 miles away from where I was riding had sustained gusts of over 80mph.

Definitely not fun tho!

 

I dont understand what the big deal is, rode from hill country Texas to northern west Texas on my Iron, man up quit being a puss!

 

And your point is................
See avatar.

 

If you live in a windy place like Kansas, you get use to riding in the wind or you don't ride. The neat part is going under highway overpasses where the wind stops abruptly and you have to straighten the bike up real fast. Then a few seconds later lean the bike way over again.
Tom

 

Just ride through the Dakotas every year. You will learn how to handle very strong side winds.

You need to anticipate where the worst winds will be. If it is open on both sides and a hill, grove of trees or maybe a barn is on the wind side be ready for the wind to diminish just as you are along side what ever it is that blocks some of the wind. When you get past it will hit you again. You will learn the timing needed to apply counter steering pressure on the bars.

In the open but going over an over pass the three foot side wall will put the wind over your head but the moment that you pass there will be an immediate wind shear line.

You do have some control over limiting the amount of drift that can happen.

Passing or being passed by a semi is another difficult time. Being behind a semi within 300 feet when there is strong side winds is a brutal area of buffeting. Stay way back.

 

One of the best things about upgrading from a Suzuki C50 (about 550 lbs) to the SG (750 lbs) is that side winds don't affect me nearly as much. It's just the nature of the beast and you get used to it as best you can. Gusts are much worse than steady winds.

 

I hate riding in the wind. If the forecast indicates extremely windy then I find something else to do with my time.

 

Geeze, motorcycles and wind ?????
when you get a few miles , you get the picture..
sorry the world aint perfect..someone oughta fix that....

 

Wind blows through spokes better than mags or say, like a fatboy wheel... just lean into it... windshield makes it worse.