Passengers and motion sickness

[desertlizard]

My wife has recently begun experiencing what seems to be motion sickness the last couple of longer rides on twisty roads. This never seemed to be an issue when we rode Harley. I guess I ride a bit harder on the LT. She doesn't seem to really experience the symptoms until we get off the bike for the night and head for dinner. Then, nausea and a headache. Does anyone else's sweetie have this problem, and what have you done. Dramamine worked last time, but made her pretty sleepy. Our Christmas trip was fine, but that was straight roads into Mexico.

Dale White

[messenger13]

I have a young daughter that gets sick if she rides in a car for much longer than an hour. For long trips, we give her regular Dramamine which knocks her out quite nicely. (An added bonus!) ;) But for times when we don't want her to sleep, we give her the non-drowsy formula. Perhaps that would be a solution for your wife.

I too suffer from motion sickness . . . but only on the Tail of the Dragon. I guess 318 curves in 11 miles does me in. What I have found to work for me when riding the Dragon is:

Keep visor open and concentrate on deep breathing.
Stay hydrated.
Most importantly, keep head parallel with the ground.
http://home.alltel.net/paulsey_dsl/messenger13/the_gap1.jpg


I would agree that the more severe lean angles of an LT over what a Harley is capable of is what is causing the issues. Hope this helps. DaveDragon's sweetie (Sue) suffers from these same issues. You may want to PM him.

[Zotter]

What Joe said

and

Check your exhaust system. Almost sounds like maybe some leakage?

[motorman587]

My wife has recently begun experiencing what seems to be motion sickness the last couple of longer rides on twisty roads. This never seemed to be an issue when we rode Harley. I guess I ride a bit harder on the LT. She doesn't seem to really experience the symptoms until we get off the bike for the night and head for dinner. Then, nausea and a headache. Does anyone else's sweetie have this problem, and what have you done. Dramamine worked last time, but made her pretty sleepy. Our Christmas trip was fine, but that was straight roads into Mexico.

Dale White

My wife will not ride the Dragon with me. She has gotten sick twice there. So if she is on the back I have to take it easy.

[grifscoots]

In a back copy of Moto Consumer News, Dr. Flash Gordon wrote of a cure that involved laying the head over at an angle off the bed. I don't recall which issue, nor do I keep magazines after I read them.... the house would sink from the weight.

[bowlesj]

My wife has the opposite problem. She absolutely cannot handle switch backs in a cage. Same roads on a bike are no problem at all. She also get's sick in small aircraft, and near moving conveyors or assembly lines.

But, the bike is just fine for her.

[cfell]

If you are concerned about exhaust fumes might be accumulating in the helmet... So, there is a detector .. http://www.sportys.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&Product_ID=7926&DID=19

There are a couple types at that site...

My "guess" would be an enclose helmet or she can't see around you well enough, so encourage her to "look over the shoulder in direction of the turn".. If turning right, look over that shoulder...

My wife likes the "full" helmet but also had the "dizziness"...which she did not have as often with the open face...

[rmg08057]

My wife gets car-sick at the drop of a hat as does my daughter. On a bike they are perfectly OK with no motion sickness. I believe this is because in a car, corners have us sitting upright with a sideways/lateral pull on the body which upsets the natural state of both the inner ear and the stomach. The combination of the balance going skew-whiff and the stomach getting dragged left and right produces the car sickness in those sensitive to this type of thing. There is often a strong psychological element as well (seen with small children some of whom can be told not to be car sick).

On any bike, there are no side/lateral forces as the bike's lean ensures cornering forces operate vertically along the body's axis. This leaves the up and down motions. On a Harley, it may well be that the more sedate ride has kept your passenger below her natural limit for the up/down oscillations over road bumps/wallows and whoop-de-whoops. The generally faster speeds on the LT may be just crossing the boundary she has.

Overall, I'd assume therefore its not the cornering, its the up and down motion thats affecting your passenger. Recommendation....go fast in the corners, slower in the straights.

From my own direct experience, the longer you spend on the bike, the more you become subject to the vibatory effects of wind buffeting. On really long days, I sometimes get off the bike feeling a bit sick with a bit of a stare in the mirror of the motel looking a bit blurred for a few minutes. Maybe you are spending longer on the LT than the Harley and this means more limits being reached?

[hschisler]

...What I have found to work for me when riding the Dragon is:

Keep visor open and concentrate on deep breathing.
Stay hydrated.
Most importantly, keep head parallel with the ground.
http://home.alltel.net/paulsey_dsl/messenger13/the_gap1.jpgRegarding #3: Parallel with the ground, or level (as in, level with an artificial horizon)? In your pic you are showing the latter, aren't you? Your head is tilted to the left, not in a straight line with the bike and your spine.

[jsciullo]

You might want to adjust your shocks so they dont bounce up and down so much. I used to club rally race in my car and had the same problem until a stiffer shock fixed that problem. It appears that the up and down floating motion combined with the side to side G's made me sick. Everyone is different but I would give the shocks a try.
Jim

[kevincook]

I'm not familiar with motion sickness on a motorcycle but on boats I know that the victims will be sick while on the boat but most will feel better within a couple of minutes of stepping back on dry land. The symptoms you describe of being sick afterwards don't sound like motion sickness to me.

If your sure it is motion sickness there are several prescription drugs available without the side effects. Just see you physician and they can get you set up. My wife gets sick on the boat and the prescription drugs work well for her.

Good Luck,
Kevin

[desertlizard]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Just for some additional information. On the Harley, we never wore helmets, unless we were in a state that required them. We have been wearing helmets on the LT to take advantage of an intercom. Hers is a Shoei half helmet with a flip up visor. This may be a bit of the issue as she is a pretty small framed woman, 5'7" and 125 or so. Her neck gets a bit more sore and she attributes this to the weight of the helmet. That may be part of the issue with headaches. She does look over my shoulder in the curves, and leans with me. But we'll work on the keeping the head level. She does fall asleep far less now. : )

Also our choice, or my choice of routes has increasingly turned to twistier sections of road. The problems have shown in places like this: http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7158

This is a great road for anyone travelling out this way. I think its worth the extra time to do it. I shouldn't have sprung for the expensive steak at the end of the day though. She could have not eaten McDonalds for much cheaper.

I didn't know there was a non drowsy version of Dramamine. We'll check that out. Or I've heard Ginger works.

Dale White

[fas]

My wife has recently begun experiencing what seems to be motion sickness the last couple of longer rides on twisty roads. This never seemed to be an issue when we rode Harley. I guess I ride a bit harder on the LT. She doesn't seem to really experience the symptoms until we get off the bike for the night and head for dinner. Then, nausea and a headache. Does anyone else's sweetie have this problem, and what have you done. Dramamine worked last time, but made her pretty sleepy. Our Christmas trip was fine, but that was straight roads into Mexico.

Dale White

Dale,
Is she wearing a full face with the shield closed? In Yoga they teach breath in with you nose, deeply, and exhale via your mouth. Shallow breathing is a BAD habit of inactive humans. Sitting on the back there is not much to do. How well vented is her hat? Get her more clean air. Not drugs. The drugs will slow her breathing.

[Steve_R]

Regarding #3: Parallel with the ground, or level (as in, level with an artificial horizon)? In your pic you are showing the latter, aren't you? Your head is tilted to the left, not in a straight line with the bike and your spine.You are correct, in the fact Joe's head and eyes are in same plane as when riding on a flat surface going straight. But also notice that the bike is leaned over in a right hand curve with his eyes looking farther to the right scanning around the curve ahead of him to see where he wants the bike to go. This is the correct position for his head. If the head were in a line straight up from the bike through the spine, he would not be able to look around the curve correctly.

[hschisler]

You are correct, in the fact Joe's head and eyes are in same plane as when riding on a flat surface going straight. But also notice that the bike is leaned over in a right hand curve with his eyes looking farther to the right scanning around the curve ahead of him to see where he wants the bike to go. This is the correct position for his head. If the head were in a line straight up from the bike through the spine, he would not be able to look around the curve correctly.Gotcha Steve, but not quite what I was asking. What I was getting at is this: In his point #3, Joe says to keep the head "level with the ground". I just wanted to clarify:

Level with the artificial horizon? (which is what he is nearly doing, what they teach in MSF, etc.).
Or level with the ground? -- which, at the moment in time shown in the picture, is slanted?

You describe the latter, which is what I was taught to do; I was trying to clarify that for the original question.

[Steve_R]

I think that was what he was trying to say too, but you know Joe. ;) :D

[hschisler]

I think that was what he was trying to say too, but you know Joe. ;) :DWell sir, I hope to be able to ask him tomorrow... in person.

[BMWphreak]

My wife occasionally complains of motion sickness in switchbacks as well and she feels that it is due to the obstruction of my head in her line of sight. This is consistent with what some others have said here. Slowing down eleminates the problem for her.

I also suffer from motion sickness and since I travel at least 50,000 miles a year in airplanes for business, I have to use a scopolamine patch. This works MUCH better than dramimine, but it is by perscription only. If anyone is normally unable to travel in planes or boats, the "transderm scop" patch is a life saver.

[gulfxray]

In a back copy of Moto Consumer News, Dr. Flash Gordon wrote of a cure that involved laying the head over at an angle off the bed. I don't recall which issue, nor do I keep magazines after I read them.... the house would sink from the weight.

Just in case someone is still looking for it, it was in the April 2005 issue and titled "The Balancing Act". What is detailed int he article that Grif briefly described above is a remedy for Benign Positional Vertigo (BPV)...

[deputy5211]

I also suffer from motion sickness and since I travel at least 50,000 miles a year in airplanes for business, I have to use a scopolamine patch. This works MUCH better than dramimine, but it is by perscription only. If anyone is normally unable to travel in planes or boats, the "transderm scop" patch is a life saver.

I never had motion sickness until one time in Australia. I was so ill for three days and had gotten so dehydrated and weak that they almost had to medevac me ashore. I crossed paths with a scopolamine patch, applied it and took a nap. I few hours later, I awoke feeling seriously not sick, ate some food, drank a whole lot of water, juice, anything, and was back to normal by the end of the day.

It might be worth a trip to the doctor to see if she would support you wife using the Transderm Scop patch. More info can he bound here at the scopolamine page (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a682509.html) at the NLM/NIH site.

[pkpr1998]

The wife and I took a spirited ride the the Dragon one night and she was sarting to get sick (this was on a Kawasaki Nomad), she recovered at the CROT.

She has not gotten "the feeling" while on the back of the LT!

[ibbones]

My wife gets a bad feeling in the car in stop and go traffic. She has not really complained on the bike unless I hit a corner kinda hard.