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First highway ride
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March 28, 2009 at 4:37 pm #2647NoobacycleParticipant
I took my first highway ride on my Versys yesterday. It was both Awesome and Terrifying at the same time. The thing that made me more nervous and wary than anything was the wind.
I’ve got two different jackets. I’ve got a thick leather jacket with inner liner and gel padding on the elbows and I’ve also got a Shift mesh jacket with leather plates on the elbows. I’ve noticed that the wind is rougher on the leather jacket and it seems I am fighting it more compared to the shift jacket. The leather is definately warmer though.
Any thoughts? Tips for highway riding? I plan on doing plenty of that.
March 28, 2009 at 5:12 pm #17381megaspazParticipantStay loose, look really far ahead, scan, keep a safe distance (i prefer safe distance ahead of everyone else), don’t get caught behind bigger/taller vehicles, and always head check when changing lanes. Almost the same thing as driving a car on the freeway.
March 29, 2009 at 12:10 am #17387MunchParticipantI do almost 90% of my riding at 75+ mph. Honestly even with my V500 I didn’t seem to see a problem with winds. Guess I am used to my jeep with the doors off and such. I was nervous the first time I hit the highway now I almost prefer it then on the back roads. Depends on my mood. The things I’ve learned alot are… 1) keep the 2 second rule in following. 18 wheelers and such go ahead and pass….left side everytime possible and don’t lolli gag doing it. 2) Some what contradictory to mega, but it may depend on bike type… I have started learning the drafts that come off different vehicles. Mini vans are absolutely horrid to be behind, pick up truck are easy. Station wagons for some reason are almost a dream to follow. Oh yea, summer time… lol… I look for the car that has alot of condensation coming down from the A/C drain tube… kinda my own lil cooling device. 3) definitely relax. Your all going the same direction… just watch for the cell phones and the map readers. Also stay ahead of the game when it comes to on ramps!
Other then that… its a cinch. Still not sure what the fuss is all about on the wind thing… but hey… it could be I just don’t know any better :^)March 29, 2009 at 2:06 am #17389megaspazParticipantDon’t know where you contradicted me, but I’m gonna contradict you a bit. On a motorcycle, if you’re forced to go the flow of traffic, keep at least a 3 second buffer. It takes slightly less than 2 seconds for your brain to just register something is happening. You don’t have the stability on a bike that you do with a car, such as emergency braking. Plus, the bigger the cushion you give, the more range of vision you have to look ahead all around you.
Although, I myself prefer being ahead of traffic, including splitting slower traffic, giving me complete range of vision… The downside is the greater possibility of tickets and whatever else can occur from splitting lanes. Decide for yourself. Just because other people do something, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. Weigh out the risks and decide on your own.
March 29, 2009 at 5:28 am #17392MunchParticipantYea I can agree with the 3 secs. 2 being minimum. Here you start outpacing traffic too much for too long… well your start being on a first name basis with LEO’s. Here we have to look out for State Troopers, County Sherrifs and the local law dawgs. They all like setting up on the highways. Its a triple threat you can’t escape alot.
Cagers here like to travel in “packs” I get nervous near those and usually burst speed to get ahead of the immediate pack then pace the one ahead of me to stay comfortably in between. And yes… I will follow a station wagon… puts a smile on my face to see the kids all lookin and dreaming after seeing you on your bike.March 29, 2009 at 6:24 am #17395Gary856ParticipantMy bike is a 2001 GS500 with a small Givi fly screen. I rode on surface streets for 10 days and about 300 miles before getting on the freeway for the first time. The surface streets included some sections of expressways where I would go about 60-65 mph which gave me some close-to-freeway speed experience. When I first got onto the freeway I got out at the next exit to make sure I felt ok. Then I re-enter the freeway and went for a few miles which felt mostly ok. You’re right that the first thing I noticed was the wind blast, the second was the wind roar. If you let the wind blow your body backward it tends to make you straight-armed which made turning difficult. At first I felt I was locked into a general path but had much less control on quick direction change compared to riding at lower speed. The I found out leaning forward a bit, unlock the elbows and loosen the arms and just relax made things smoother. You’d get used to the speed and become desensitized quickly. One section of the freeway I ride has grooves that made my bike wander and oscillate slightly, made me feel like the wheels were loose or something. Now I just relax and let the bike do its slight wander. Two weeks ago I was riding Hwy 1 (coastal highway) on a super windy day going about 70 mph. The wind was strong (something like 40mph gusts per weather report) and unpredictable as the road changed direction followed the coast line and as the terrain closed in and open up. My upper body was being blown around like a sail in all directions, it got so bad I was concerned about being blown off the bike and I struggled to held my knees against the tank. But I kept my hands steady and not let the body movements affect my steering input, and my bike remained very controllable. After about 30 mile of that I had enough and turned inland to get out of the wind exposure.
Riding on a calm day (light breeze) is certainly much more comfortable. Even then, the direction you go relative to the wind direction makes the big difference. Yesterday I went up to 100 mph (very briefly just to see what it’s like) then slowed down to about 90 in a south-east direction and thought, hey, the wind blast was not that bad at all. It felt gentle. Then I turned north and felt the wind blast was much stronger going 70 mph.
By the way I have a waterproof winter jacket and a mesh summer jacket. I didn’t feel the jacket made any difference when it came to wind blast.
March 29, 2009 at 9:33 am #17399MunchParticipantyea You should never ride with your elbows locked…ever. I will admit that wind “buffeting” takes some getting used to. The hardest thing for me to was turning/leaning then having a sudden gust try to help you out. LOL….that gets a lil disconcerting the first time out. I also ride somewhat unconventionally. MSF teaches you to push into the direction you want to go. However I am used to horseback riding and I truly ride my bike like a “steel horse”. Meaning I more or less plow rein it . I “pull/tug” with my opposite side to go into the turn. Not sure why its more comfortable for me, I chalk it up to the horse riding but it helps me better with fighting winds. The results are the same and if your not used to it I do not recommend you deviate from the “push” idea. I am still getting used to that floating feeling in a high speed turn though. Some of the super slab turns here are pretty sharp and to keep from getting run over need to be taken at speeds. DOT sux at keeping the grade level especially on overpasses and you feel every single dip and rise in that turn when your leaning aggressively. I still have to focus on relaxing when I go into it.
March 29, 2009 at 10:52 pm #17416eonParticipantI think I have got used to the sudden gusts that make riding difficult. It’s not fun in those conditions but I think can handle it ok. I was going over a bridge one windy day when I had a new experience. The 4 foot tall concrete wall along the side was deflecting the wind off the bike but I was not spared. Result was the sudden gusts would catch only me and it felt like I was being punched in the helmet. I certainly had a tight grip of the handlebars that day. Thankfully it only lasted while I crossed over a lake.
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