[PECCHI]

This week rode from S Or to Vegas via 395 to Lone Pine and through Death Valley and return.

I have never experienced wind like this before. This is my first K bike. Several times I wanted to stop but the effects are worse if you aren't moving forward, sideways or at the least making headway. Encountered several Road Glide/dressers in both directions and they did not appear to have the issues with the wind/gusts that I was having. Finally it rained and then began to snow as I was 50 miles from home. Still a great trip and the best bike I have ever ridden...

Have any of you experienced this windage problem with the LT? Quite a test.
If weather channel predicts high winds, stay home. I am way too smart to let a bit of wind stop me. Now I feel just lucky.

No more wining, just curious.

Thanks,
Bill
2000 K 1200LT "the other woman"

 

[sanjaun2]

I have been out in some pretty serious winds on my LT, I do not like them either. The LT is pretty good in the heavy winds. You just need to find the courage to loosen your grip on the bars and bend your elbows.

 

[mjordans2000]

There have been many posts on this subject. It can be a little unnerving but the big girl can take it. One thing that helps me is that old focus on the road a good two seconds ahead of you concept. The bike will move around but by concentrating on where you want to be, your corrections will be more subtle. Trying to make constant corrections just makes it worse. Another tip I picked up here is fold back the winglet on the windy side of the bike. It actually helps, I assume by directing air along the length of the bike to deflect the wind hitting you. Many feel keeping the speed up to as much as 80mph helps which it does seem to do but it is a little difficult to convince yourself to ride faster when you're just positive one more blast and it's all over.

 

[ArthurKnowles]

Wind can be a problem on any motorcycle. When I first started riding (a KZ-400) in Wyoming one day I was driving straight down the road, but tilted into the wind at 45 degrees. A bit unnerving to say the least. I also learned at that time that your speed (momentum) affects the lean angle required.

Steady wind like the above is easier than gusts. Gusts are random, but once again your momentum can aide you. That and remembering two things:

1) Keep a loose, but controlled grip on the handlebars.

2) Your motorcycle will go where you are looking. So make sure to keep your focus.

My daughter relearned this lesson on Thursday when we took her first (short) ride on the highway on her 250cc motorcycle. She took the MSF basic course as part of getting her license. They told her the same thing, but until she was on the highway she'd never applied the lesson. She relaxed and enjoyed the ride. At her celabratory sundae at Coldstone, she told me she also had changed her mind on a winshield (now she wants one).

 

[PECCHI]

Thanks for the comments/tips. I feel I was doing the right thing by pushing ahead. The bike was amazing and took me home again.

Later,
W. Pecchi, SOC

2000 K1200 maroon/red/wine?

 

[dmatson]

One problem is the LT is so agile for a big bike. When a gust of wind hits your shoulder first thing you do is to grab the grip on the bar and hang on so the bike is just responding to your pushing and pulling on the grips. I was in a wind event with gusts up to 50mph for about an hour and had time to expirement with things and found a few that would help. I found that with a side wind pull the winglet in next to the bike (windward) and put the other one out at a 90 degree this makes kind of a airplane wing but pulls the bike into the wind, also weight the peg on the windward side. Head on wind, keep the wind screen all the way down lean towards the screen and put more weight on the pegs with your thighs muscles and keep you hands light on the bars I use the CC to help here also. I also would keep the bike in a gear so that I could power through a gust or past a truck. Don't fight the bike, move with it and look down the road for signals of gusty areas or things that will blow into your path. Keep away from traffic that could be moved into you. I found that I could set the CC, lean forward onto my tank bag while also putting weight on the pegs and would only rest my hands on the top of the bars the bike would move with a gust but would come right back on line much easier than when I was sitting up straight and fighting the bike.

 

[BecketMa]

The first time I rode my LT in the WIND! I made the mistake of running the speed control.

A goldwing blew past us speed limit was 75. At the time I used the LT's speedo to indicate my true speed. My gut was telling me the front tire was being blown back and forth.

I dis-engaged the speed control and my gut was then fine.

When I learned the speedo was high by 10%, Goldwings stopped blowing by me.

Bob

 

[dwfindley]

I am so glad you asked this question. I have never felt the effects of wind gusts as I have on the LT. I have ridden Ultra HDs for years and never have I been moved about as I have on my new LT. I mention it to several local LT owners and they look at me like I am from Mars. Anyway it scares the *$#* out me. I feel the front tire is literally off the ground. I have pushed through some very high winds with the bat-mobile but never felt the push around like with the LT. I swear I almost lost her the other day.

Now I have to learn how to loosen my grip? YIKES.... I will try the winglet adjustments. The windshield position is apparently not an issue????? Anyway between gusts in the high country the ride is incredible. But really folks I am hanging on for dear life.

 

[BecketMa]

When I rode the panhandle of OK, I was on a HD, FXRS. I spent one day riding with a cross wind, S to N, and had to lean into it to go straight down the road.

I'd much rather be on my LT. It seems to be a lot harder to push around in the wind.

Bob

 

[sonnata]

I am so glad you asked this question. I have never felt the effects of wind gusts as I have on the LT. I have ridden Ultra HDs for years and never have I been moved about as I have on my new LT. I mention it to several local LT owners and they look at me like I am from Mars. Anyway it scares the *$#* out me. I feel the front tire is literally off the ground. I have pushed through some very high winds with the bat-mobile but never felt the push around like with the LT. I swear I almost lost her the other day.

Now I have to learn how to loosen my grip? YIKES.... I will try the winglet adjustments. The windshield position is apparently not an issue????? Anyway between gusts in the high country the ride is incredible. But really folks I am hanging on for dear life.

Relaxing your arms & letting the bike do it's thing in the wind is the key. I've never ridden a bike that handles so well in the wind. Perhaps because of the top heaviness, but when I get wind from the side, the bike just leans into it. If I keep my arms loose & relaxed it doesn't change the bikes path. No blowing from side to side.

Now I did go through some wind & rain on a new front tire that had not yet been scuffed in. Major pucker factor. I thought I could feel the front tire slipping with every 40 mpg gust.

 

[dmatson]

A while ago somebody explained why the LT is different than say a Harley in the wind and it had to do with the relationship of the crankshaft to the axels, very interesting if you can find it. Yes the LT feels funny at first but once you get relaxed on it and learn to trust it that all changes. Just think of this, the LT loves to turn a Harley does not (at speed) so when on the LT and you get hit with a gust you react and you turn the bike, it's doing what you are telling it to do! In the wind my LT feels like the front and rear wheels move sideways a foot when a gust of wind hits it like it is going to slip out from under me but what it is really doing is leaning over and then comes right back up like a sail boat, it rarely moves off line unless I react and make it.

 

[havnablast]

First time I rode in 40-50 mile gusts on the LT it felt a little uncomfortable. It's like anything if you do it enough it becomes second nature. I still have some trouble with ridng in the snow though.

 

[Buchnerb]

A while ago somebody explained why the LT is different than say a Harley in the wind and it had to do with the relationship of the crankshaft to the axels, very interesting if you can find it. Yes the LT feels funny at first but once you get relaxed on it and learn to trust it that all changes. Just think of this, the LT loves to turn a Harley does not (at speed) so when on the LT and you get hit with a gust you react and you turn the bike, it's doing what you are telling it to do! In the wind my LT feels like the front and rear wheels move sideways a foot when a gust of wind hits it like it is going to slip out from under me but what it is really doing is leaning over and then comes right back up like a sail boat, it rarely moves off line unless I react and make it.

My interpretation of what is happening is it pivots around the CG because even if it leans it stays on the track line. I have had it out in 50mph gusts with no problems that other bikes I would have been blown into the next lane. You don't want to know about trying to go the center stand at the moment a 50mph gust hits.

Bruce

 

[TomA]

Wind is spooky with 2-up. When we climbed Mt. Washington I thought the LT was turning into a kite, and we would be on our way to meet Dorothy and Toto.

To get through the roughest gusting - I lowered the windshield, crept closer to the tank, dropped a gear, and kept the revs higher. I also kept repeating to myself "There's no place like home...There's no place like home...There's no place like home..." and soon Aunty M was giving me warm kisses at the top.

 

[Bella8996]

This week rode from S Or to Vegas via 395 to Lone Pine and through Death Valley and return.

I have never experienced wind like this before. This is my first K bike. Several times I wanted to stop but the effects are worse if you aren't moving forward, sideways or at the least making headway. Encountered several Road Glide/dressers in both directions and they did not appear to have the issues with the wind/gusts that I was having. Finally it rained and then began to snow as I was 50 miles from home. Still a great trip and the best bike I have ever ridden...

Have any of you experienced this windage problem with the LT? Quite a test.
If weather channel predicts high winds, stay home. I am way too smart to let a bit of wind stop me. Now I feel just lucky.

No more wining, just curious.

Thanks,
Bill
2000 K 1200LT "the other woman"

What is difficult for me is being stopped at a red light and not tipping the bike when the massive gust hits me.

 

[jzeiler]

This is a 13 year old post BUT the LT is a beast in the wind, so I guess it is ok from a safety stand point.

 

[Wazza]

Yes it's an old thread but it's interesting. When I first started riding the LT I was a bit intimidated by the way it handled side gusts, it has a large cross section so the wind is always going to be a concern but I found it a lot better once I removed the top box. A funny thing happened one day. I had just replaced my wind shield with a smaller one and I was heading up the coast and there is a section where it always feels like you are being blown around by the wind coming off the traffic around you. This particular day it was really bad, I felt like I was all over the road. My first thought was the new wind shield so I tried it in all positions with no effect. I tried the winglets in various positions, both out, both in, one out, one in. No difference.
I finished the ride and for some reason decided to check my tire pressure. I had only 16 psi in the rear. I found a nail in it. It wasn't aerodynamics at all.
Another time I was coming back from a little township just near me and there are long stretches of open country road in between. It was a very windy day and I was riding at 100 kph with a side wind and was leaning into the wind but doing ok. I looked in the rear view mirrors at a Harley that had been behind me the whole way and he was just dropping further and further back. He was getting blown all over the place.