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Riding and Dealing with Cross-Winds -- An excercise in counter-steering
By David Dirig

Cross winds -- man they used to really scare me! Dori and I would be riding along and it would get gusty -- we'd slow down and ride it out -- weaving in our lane (mostly) and slowing down if it got too windy. That was no good -- traffic comes up behind us, we're not stable -- it just wasn't safe all around. I'm sure a number of people have felt the same. What do you do? Wait until the wind stops? If you're going cross-country, this isn't an option. If you wait for the wind to die down or for it to stop raining, you'll never make it out of California, let alone make it across the US! We had to come up with a solution before our big trip last summer or we'd never make it across the Southwestern states.

Riding in cross winds is simply another exercise in counter-steering. Slowing down never helped; it made a difference psychologically, but the wind still blows you all over the road. What we needed to do was find a way to counter the wind effects on the line the bike tracks down the road so as to maintain a straight line regardless of speed and wind direction. You can't 'lean' quick enough to make up for a gusting 20 mph wind, but you can push on the handlebars that quick. Counter-steering was the answer. We tooled across Oklahoma (ya know 'where the winds blow') with not a moment's hesitation. I think we spent more time in that state at a 45 degree angle then we did straight up. I wanted to make sure the tires weren't worn on one side once we got to St. Louis. It was quite exciting at times; pulling a trailer, passing an 18-wheeler highway speeds with a stiff and gusting right to left cross wind. I got a kick out of seeing Dori all canted over behind me on her GL1100. Quite a sight!

When the wind blows from the side, counter steer into it. In the same way that you push left to go left, if you have a cross wind from the left, you want to push on the left bar and counter-steer into the wind to maintain a straight line. This is not a sudden extreme 'push-push' as counter-steering to avoid an obstacle, but a continuous pressure on the handlebar that the wind is blowing from. This will lean you into the wind to counter the wind's push and maintain your straight line down the road. When the wind blows harder, it takes a little more pressure on the bar on the side that the wind is coming from. One key point is to worry about the path you're taking down the road, not the angle that the bike is at. Just let the bike lean and only worry about the path you're taking down the road and the amount of pressure on the handlebars to maintain that path. If the wind is gusty or you come under an underpass or pass an 18-wheeler on the lee side, that pressure will have to change with the wind conditions, so stay alert. With a little practice, you'll be sailing that bike down the road like the best of them.

Its not easy riding in a gusty cross wind, but it is not impossibly difficult either. It is simply a matter of knowledge, education, and experience. (what part of motorcycling is not?! ;-) So the next time the winds pick up, try a little counter-steering before you get off the gas and/or call it a day. For more information on riding in the wind, check out Motorcycle Consumer News, May 1999, Page 39. Feel free to contact Dori and I if you have further questions; remember the only bad question is the one that goes un-asked.

As always, Ride Safe and COAST (Concentrate On A Safe Trip)

David & Dori Dirig