Riding in high wind on WRR

Rode city streets 30 miles in 50 mph wind gusts and rain yesterday. If you do this plan to stay 3 feet away for everything! Was looking for oil patches hard. Did not want to be caught reacting to a gust where there was not any traction. If you are fleeing a hurricane or something you might not want to do in on the WRR.

I must say that my Wr stands in the wind better than my Dl650. At 50mph any motorcycle is vulnerable.

Might be my weak psych at work Dancamp.

Dang I thought I was in general general discussion not general maintenance discussions... when I got home I re-oiled my chain Sorry

+1 on the wind riding experience and the oiling of the chain yesterday. I got caught in a good storm while out riding in the desert and rode the last 20 miles on pavement in high crosswinds. I had tumbleweeds passing to my front, my rear and at times, literally through me. Anything over 30 MPH was simply out of the question. I was so glad get home from that ride! I have believed for some time that my WRR is more susceptible to crosswinds than other bikes that I have ridden in the past.

Chief_Lee_Visceral wrote:

Might be my weak psych at work Dancamp.

Dang I thought I was in general general discussion not general maintenance discussions... when I got home I re-oiled my chain Sorry

Sorry myself, I guess I didn't get your question right.

this is easily the worst bike I've owned in regards to riding in the wind due to being so much taller than the street bikes I've previously owned and I imagine the lighter weight doesn't help. It took me a while to get used to the wind and I'm glad I didn't learn to ride in the wind on this bike, doesn't really bother me too much now but certainly tense up a bit with really big gusts.

Allow me a bit of logic here....

If you are riding at 60 mph on a windless day you are still experiencing 60 mph winds.

If you are riding 50 mph on a one lane road, and a tractor-trailer coming the opposite direction passes you at 50 mph what's the wind gust that blasts you
as both vehicles momentarily meet and pass each other?

The wr is a very open bike. Compare the side profile to a sportbike that's covered in plastic fairings to the wr. You can see through the majority of the wr.

Sure, your center of gravity might be a bit higher, but in general the side wind resistance has to be lower on the wr than on something like a GSXR.

We've recently had a few days here where the wind was insane.

And yes, a sudden strong gust from the side can be a bit un-nerving.

But all in all I think the wr, with it's nice wide handlebars handles it just fine.

If the wind gusts are so strong that you struggle on the wr, I think you'd be struggling just as much, if not more on most other motorcycles as well.

Just my humble opinion here folks.

I'm only talking wind from the side motokid, not a head wind or a blast of wind from a semi truck, or percieved wind from you traveling thru the air yourself. I've owned a sportbike with full plastics, I've owned a naked sportbike that didn't have plastics, and I've owned a big heavy cruiser and in my own experience the WR is effected by a crosswind worse than any of those.

Motokid, My humble opinion is that you did not apply much logic to this discussion. Really? Riding 60 mph on a windless day equals 60 mph winds? Who'd thunk?

That wind blast that you get when you encounter on oncoming truck depends greatly on the amount of crosswind present at that time and more importantly, which direction the crosswind is coming from. The impact is greater if the truck breaks the crosswind momentarily... So if I am traveling north 60 mph and meet an oncoming truck going 60 mph and there is a steady 15 mph crosswind from the west, what is the impact? Don't know, but you better brace. If the crosswind is coming from the east, then no worries. I ride windy conditions almost daily during the non-winter months and always pay attention to the current wind direction when I head out.

I was not comparing my WRR to a sportbike. Never ridden one and don't care to. My WRR compared to other bikes that I "have" ridden is far more susceptible to crosswinds. This is due to this bike having a higher stance and being more "closed" than anything that I have ridden in the past. It is only relative to what experience that I have had. Not saying that there is anything wrong with the bike or its design. Just saying that high crosswinds are scary on my current ride.

Just my humble opinion.

Those first blasts the other day that move the bike sideways 2 feet were most shocking but you get more used to it and kind of deal with it. I doubt it is going to change my bike selection. It may well change my idea about days to ride or picking routes through some places though. I used to live in Hood River OR and we are going back there for the Black Dog ride in June. Maybe I will check the weather and pick a route that traverses the gorge instead of riding the length of it if the wind is up. We are dual sporting to the AMA event there and touring on a week after so will be loaded down with more wind catching gear and less optimal balance too.

Your Hell's Canyon/Snake River area would be another one ddvorak.