Windy Day Parking

[tyroneteeth]

At breakfast this AM, two friends and I tried to decide whether to use the side stand or the center stand parking the bike on flat hard ground or pavement when the wind is blowing hard.

I read some of the posts on unfortunate blowover out west and was trying to figure which one I would have used, the side or center, and whether it would have made any difference.

We generally don't have the kind of windy situations in GA that occur out west, so its not a great problem here. But, I do travel sometimes and end up going west.

[Big_E]

I would use the side stand, it forms a large tripod instead of the narrow footprint of the center stand.

[RonKMiller]

I would not be surprised to see a thunderstorm micro burst knock an LT (or any other scooter) over in your neck of the woods.... I think the most important thing is to park it into the prevailing wind, but that is tough to figure out when you're running for cover from golf ball sized hail! :eek:

What I can't still figure out is even though the LT is a "wing" with all the tupperware surface it still handles wind reasonably well while under steam - probably has to do with aerodynamics, gyroscopic forces and inertia...:think: :abduct:

Y'all stay dry this weekend.....:( we're going to be 101F with wind gusts expected over 40 mph and blowing dust. It's a dry heat. ;)

[BecketMa]

Can't say I've ever worried about parking a bike on it's side stand, even when its windy.

But, the smallest bike I've ridden was a 74 inch HD.

Bob

[yaklt]

Ahh, I miss Tucson (go Wildcats!).

I think from a simply mathematical perspective, the side stand is choice for sailing stability.

The way to think of this is under worst conditions:

If a gust blows from side X of your bike, which way is the center of gravity of the bike lower (and therefore its resistence to "going over") --- SIDE.

Also - if force is away from the stand, you'll get suspension compression (which may help resisting fallover - a little compression == a little lower CG for that instant), but the wind will tend to get 'trapped' by the side of the body (wanting to lift it).

If you get force pushing INTO the stand - the force has to overcome more of the mass of the bike (it would have to LIFT the bike over the stand), and the windward side of the bike would encourage the wind to go around, as opposed to get trapped.

Your best luck would probably be sidestand & nose "wedged" towards the predominent source of wind (assuming flat ground, and solid footing for sidestand).

BTW - it's raining and blowing pretty hard here right now!

[tyroneteeth]

The center of gravity point is well made. Should have thought of it that way, but the bagels and coffee and nova must have gotten in the way. Its more the CG than it is the 3 points of contact with the side or 2+ points with the center stand.

I shouldn't have asked the question, just put some more thought in it. Sorry for the bandwidth.

[markb]

I do not know about the K1200LT but when I had my K1100LT, it blew over twice while parked on the side stand. I figured the same as everyone here that the bigger tripod on the side stand would be more stable. After the second time, I discovered that while on the side stand, it would start to bounce on the suspension in high winds (California high desert) and would be then easily go over on the "high" side. After that, I always parked it on the center stand with no more problems.

[JPSpen]

Just park the bike with the side stand facing downwind if you can..

I was sitting on mine at a Sonic one day on the side stand and the wind still tried to blow us over. Had I not been sitting on the bike and in a position to catch it it would have blown over...

Just park on the other side. Turn around or whatever you have to do to keep the wind off the side stand side of the bike.

John.

[yaklt]

as Markb points out, it's a dynamic - CG has to cross one of the "tripod" points (for center stand, assume one of the wheels).

If you hung a weight from CG and the string crosses one of the tripod points, over it goes.

In the case of the "side-stand" side, the wind-catching (scoop) effect and bouncing on suspension Mark describes shows that CG alone is not enough to get stability. But lowering CG contributes to stability.

The center stand is narrow;
a cover will catch more wind (more tipovers);
an RT is lighter and suspension softer (less mass 'bounces' easier - how about a suspension 'lock' for parking???);
a HD presumably has more open spaces in the frame to let wind-power "leak through"; an LT has NO open spaces from a side profile (save the wheels).

A "really wide" bike cover (like a lean-to tent - imagine 5x the length of your bike in all directions) would deflect most wind energy (convert it into a downward force on the bike), but some things are neiter practical nor needed most of the time.

It's either: make the bike more stable (CG, etc.), or re-direct the energy (wind) to control it's effect.

I like the idea of a suspension-lock. Anyone w/ Ohlins or Wilburs know if that is possible to do when parked? That on the sidestand would be pretty good for stability.

About bandwidth - hope not too many of you mind; thinking about this is _fun_!

[yaklt]

Just park the bike with the side stand facing downwind if you can..

This is an interesting because fo thie times we're parked for a long time (work, theatre, the night camping, etc.)

[tyroneteeth]

Ok, I tried it both ways. While in the bike was in the garage, I left the garage door open and parked the bike from 2-4Pm with the center stand down. From 4-6PM I put the side stand down, and from 6-8 I put both down. The bike did not go over at any time from 2PM to 8PM- that included when F1 Monaco finished, the 500 finished and the Coke 600 finished and the Silverstone SBK finished. None of that stuff made that bike lie down.

Which proves it don't make no diff.

[FA50Flyr]

Yeah, sure. But after watching six hours of racing you probably consumed enough wobbly pops that you fell over sideways enroute to the garage, eliminating any objective data from the experiment!

[ksailor]

ARRRGH... Me bucko... point 'er into the eye o' da wind... get 'er in irons... slacken the main sheet... ease the jib... hike hard to windward till she points up... over da rail mate...

"T" storms and micro bursts can come from any direction so the best plan is to get her out of the weather or tie her down (hmmmm... images of bedroom frolick LT style) no no no... ;)