I was wondering what you all do when you're riding on the interstate. Riding north of 65mph you get pushed around a bunch by the wind. Do you pretty much stay upright when you ride and just deal with it? Do you lean forward a little, or do you lean forward a lot?

I'm more interested about cruising on the hwy 65-80mph rather than when you know you're being aggressive. :twisted:

I'm not really into adding any faring.

It's not like I try to lay on the tank or anything, just slide back on the seat, get my head down a bit and try to balance between putting weight on my arms and wind but not enough wind where I'm all buffeted around.

Fully naked, it's definitely not a bike for extended high speed cruising.

In general no issues up to about 80-85 MPH, after that it is a bit ridiculous and only do it for any extended period when I gotta get some place and the strait expressways are most convenient. After about 100-110 I find it a bit of a challenge to physically stay on the bike and find it best to get down low, my body wants to lift off like a wing...guess that would be a "lifting body" design by definition eh? :D

I do the same thing. I just slide back in my seat and lean into the pillow of air.

When noobs first hit the windblast it makes them more tense. They try to fight the wind so they get tired quicker. Instead work on relaxing and laying into it.

With earplugs (a must!) and a comfy aftermarket seat I can go for many hours only stopping for gas.

Ditto. On my old '83 Interceptor with a small bikini fairing i would occasionally lay over the tank and let the wind go above me, but on the fully naked 919 all you have to do is relax and lean into it a bit. And besides, the bars a little close to the rider to really be able to tuck in on top of the tank very well...

I find that really leaning forward is a bit of a challenge on the 599, even if I slide back on the seat. Makes me feel like I'm giving up control of the bike just to hide from the wind. So in general, a slight forward lean into the wind does the trick for me.

I guess as Jmd said, its important to relax the muscles while riding against the wind. Especially the elbow works like a shock absorber. So my idea of a lean is to have my forearm parallel to the ground and relax the elbow so that it can absorb the jerks and leave your body stable.

The other thing I make sure of is to have as much firm contact with the body of the motorcycle as possible. I tuck in my legs in a way so that there is no gap between my legs and the body of the bike. The more we stick to the frame the lesser the impact due to wind.

One thing that I'm working on is to relax my neck. It seems to be taking a lot of pounding while riding against the wind. I would love to take some tips so that I don't feel the stress on my neck while I finally get off the bike after a tiresome ride.

I find that really leaning forward is a bit of a challenge on the 599, even if I slide back on the seat. Makes me feel like I'm giving up control of the bike just to hide from the wind. So in general, a slight forward lean into the wind does the trick for me.

This is pretty much how I've felt. When I've leaned down over the tank I feel like I have very little steering ability because I'm so far forward that things feel unstable to me (even lane changes, etc). I'm sure some of that will improve with experience. I'll consider lower bars maybe this spring. My commute is only 10 miles, 8 of which are highway. I can deal with it for now.

From everyone's responses I pretty much fit in. I've tried the leaning into the wind and relaxing my arms as much as I can. I've been doing that anyway to combat numbness in my hands I usually get after about an hour of riding or so.

...One thing that I'm working on is to relax my neck. It seems to be taking a lot of pounding while riding against the wind. I would love to take some tips so that I don't feel the stress on my neck while I finally get off the bike after a tiresome ride.

Ahh dude, you got like 5 extra pounds strapped to your head (I hope)...gonna feel it after a while. Maybe a gym membership, work out them neck muscles by looking at the chicas (or chicos - whatever you like) walk by while doin’ cardio on the stair stepper...then over to the Thigh Master machine to work out those inner thighs so you can grip your bike better...? and never mind wind resistance , go for control by keeping yourself attached to the bike.

:lol: it's all good! Seriously, after a hard day of riding think most people feel it in their neck... those muscles are like any other, work them out and they can do more for longer.

I'm still learning to deal with it. But seems like everyone has pretty much covered it. Try a few different techniques and see which one is more comfortable for you. I thought I had my technique down before riding on a day with reported 40-60mph gusts. Made me change my whole style. Just be patient and slow down when you are not comfortable. Better to get there late than not at all.

One thing to remember too is to grip the tank with your knees. I have almost no weight on my hands when I'm moving because my legs and lower torso along with the wind's help are holding my body up. My hands used to get numb until I figured this one out. You don't need a death grip on it, but just enough to flex the muscles and provide support. Note that I'm not "standing" on the pegs as I'm still firmly planted on the seat, but just basically squeezing with my knees a little. It doesn't take much.

Some of my fellow riding group members (who are MSF instructors) pointed out "gripping the tank" and I haven't had a numb hand since. Then, since you aren't using your arms to hold yourself up, it's easy to stay upright or get down on the tank and control the amount of force you put into countersteering.

... riding on a day with reported 40-60mph gusts...
Wow, I'd park it and walk I think. At any sort of speed, 60mph cross wind gust would put me two lanes over! :shock:

I found that the flyscreen reduced the pressure on my chest significantly at 70 mph. It does raise the turbulence around your head a bit, but I feel that I get about 10-15 mph extra without that bothersome push-back.

I'm 5'10". (Well, 5'9" and 1/3, but I round it up so I feel more manly.) :wink:

Wow, I'd park it and walk I think. At any sort of speed, 60mph cross wind gust would put me two lanes over! :shock:
Yeah it was a short ride along that stretch. Me and the dude I was riding with turned around and headed back. That shit was too scary, felt like you were leaning into a turn just to go straight. And we did get blown out of our lanes on more than one occassion. We had to slow down to a crawl until we got out of there. Fortunately this didn't take that long as we didn't get too far along that road before we turned back. Had I bothered to check the weather (not just temp and rain but wind as well) before we rode instead of when I got back home, I definately wouldn't have gone that way. Lesson learned.

Fully naked, it's definitely not a bike for extended high speed cruising.
Not a bike for extended highway cruising!? I rode about 1300 miles last weekend. :)

I do want to get an after market seat to ease my butt a bit, but that and my right knee are the the only trouble I have with cruising 80-100 for 10-12 hours in a day.

My riding position is pretty neutral, just enough forward to keep from having to pull myself forward with the grips (so obviously more forward as speed increases).

I can definitely see where people would get tired about the head, neck and shoulders from riding in the wind for long distances. I second the suggestions to relax and also to hit the gym. I don't really have trouble with it, but I workout pretty often.[/quote]

It depends on how long of a slab ride it is. *Normally*, I'll lean into the wind. Sometimes I'll lean more. Sometimes I'll lie on my tank bag. Sometimes I'll do any of the above with my feet on the passenger pegs. Sometimes I'll do the second or third with my shins lying on the passenger pegs. :)

:lol: Ok, gang, 1510 miles in 35 hours! I actually was riding only 27 of those hours - my riding partner had gotten no sleep the night before the ride so she bonked at ten PM yesterday, just before we were about to head across Death Valley. So we shared a room in a motel in Beatty. Just as well, because Death Valley is gorgeous! (And so are the hills through Kern County . . . .) It would have been a shame to have ridden through all that at night.

Let no one say that a 599 can't be a comfortable bike for long distances. :)

It depends on how long of a slab ride it is. *Normally*, I'll lean into the wind. Sometimes I'll lean more. Sometimes I'll lie on my tank bag. Sometimes I'll do any of the above with my feet on the passenger pegs. Sometimes I'll do the second or third with my shins lying on the passenger pegs. :)

--snip--

Let no one say that a 599 can't be a comfortable bike for long distances. :)
Haha, yeah, I use all of those positions when I'm doing 10+ hour days in the saddle, plus the "feet up resting on the Motovation frame sliders" and when I'm feeling particularly goofy, the feet up on the bars :-D

Givi 305 works pretty good,up to about 65, without leaning into the wind, but using it to hold me up, before the windscreen it was about 60. At or above 75-80 I crouch over the tank, though the bars feel a tad way too out.

Hands get a bit numb/tingly still, at about 90 minutes, but not as bad as back in septemebr when my whole right forearm hurt. I bought one of those spring hand/forearm grip exerciseres and I think it helps.

anyways shooting for a ride on sunday, if the rain clears.

One thing that I'm working on is to relax my neck. It seems to be taking a lot of pounding while riding against the wind. I would love to take some tips so that I don't feel the stress on my neck while I finally get off the bike after a tiresome ride.

I learned a neck exercise that helps me when riding. While holding your head and shoulders in a normal manner, dip your chin like tying to tuck it into the juggler notch of the sternum. This will stretch the muscles in the back of the neck and shoulders.

Remember to keep your head back and tuck the chin. It can hurt when learning. A method to try is to stand straight against a wall and tuck the chin, you’ll then feel the back of you head come off the wall. Slightly press your head back to the wall while tucking the chin. Once learned, you can stretch the neck while riding. As neck posture improves this exercise is needed less and less

This method helps train the posture. It helps on a motorcycle because you spend some time leaning forward and tilting your head up to see forward. This shortens the back of the neck and sort of crimps it.

I tried this...ouch! And is it a bad sign that I heard lots of crunching going on? :lol:
Thanks for the tip Tom, I'll give it a try.

Yeah, I didn't mention that it might hurt a bit the first few times you stretch. Once the muscles learn to relax and stretch, the neck posture improves, you have almost no pain, just the normal sensation associated with any therapy stretching.

Hi,

Thanks for the tip, Tom, and RND for sending me looking for this post. I'll be sure to give it a try.

This past weekend on a little jaunt I felt a tightness in my left shoulder-blade after about 4 hours on the bike. I tried riding with one hand for a spell, but after another few hours the discomfort actually started to painful. I'm resting it up now, having my GF work on it like you would a knot, because I need it in good shape for the weekend. Any idea what might be causing this tightness in my shoulder? I'm figuring it's my newness to biking that has be tensed up and not relaxed. I'll try some of the positions recommended in this chain of posts, as well as the neck exercise, as my neck gets tense too.

Thanks again for the tips!
Garr

I like to lean back with one hand on the bars and legs splayed apart with about 6 inches of space between bike and knees. Very comfortable, and I can take short naps that way.

8)

I used to lean and use the drag to keep me from forcing my shoulders but, since I ride with the suit (and it's hump) the drag has been reduced. I still rest on the tank bag and keep my head low when cruising.

I'm also in the slight lean category.

BTW, I have commuted to San Francisco over the very windy Bay Bridge I found that a fairing had a very positive effect, using cars as a wind block also helped. Heres the GIVI fairing I used, not too obnoxious. The GIVI is taller and wider than the Honda bikini fairing. 8 miles each way at 65MPH, It may be worth looking into. The GIVI '06 version is actually nicer IMHO.


http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/815/3966240aa258aqf0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)