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Riding in strong winds

3809 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  mecsw500, 
I
My wife and I are looking at the RT's. How to they handle in strong
crosswinds? The 2 wheels we have now were a little hairy in KS
last year.
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S
Strong winds

inspectsir said:
My wife and I are looking at the RT's. How to they handle in strong
crosswinds? The 2 wheels we have now were a little hairy in KS
last year.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum. I think you will enjoy the Can Am in the wind. My trip last year thru Kansas was a real pain, but then again I was ridding my two wheeler. The same trip on the Spyder, peace of cake. The Spyder will get pushed abit but nothing like a two wheeled bike under the same conditions.

To make the ride more stable make sure the tire pressures are up to spec.

Good Luck, Ride more, Worry less
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Living in West Texas it is not unusual to ride in strong crosswinds. I've done it on two-wheelers and on my Spyder. In my opinion the Spyder doesn't react as much as a two wheeler. As you probably have experienced, there is a back draft when passing behind a elevator (or similar object) that "sucks" you in the opposite direction. You have to be aware on either ride and compensate for the wind reversal. This can happen going over an overpass too. And it is not always comfortable. Once, riding parallel to the Sangre de Christo Mountains in New Mexico, I'm not completely sure that all three wheels were touching the pavement.
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J
I live on the Oregon Coast. Lots of wind here. The only issue I've found is a headwind. I believe that the extra width of the fairing makes the wind buffet the front around a bit more than a 2 wheeler. So I slowed down a bit.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
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I
Thanks everyone. Looks like just slow down a little. The bikes seem to be a little better in the wind than the 2 wheels.
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Paladin
I have been riding my Spyder for over 5 years and found that because of the large side area it is very susceptible to strong crosswinds

We cured 99% of this by installing the smallest windshield this seemed to cure the issue
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K
inspectsir said:
My wife and I are looking at the RT's. How to they handle in strong
crosswinds? The 2 wheels we have now were a little hairy in KS
last year.
Click to expand...
I am not associated with this company in any way but the Baja Ron’s anti-sway bar is a game-changer, in my opinion. I installed this on the Spyder f3 S and it made the ride much more manageable in the wind and around corners. Highly recommended. The only issue is that you need to lift the trike 24” to install it, so you’ll likely need to take it somewhere. If you can lift yours higher than 24”, let me know how!
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M
Out here in Utah in the high desert the wind blows, a lot. It comes from all directions. My 2021 RT LTD has the aerodynamics of a small house. I found that by making sure the tires were at the right pressure and by lowering the screen for crosswinds it's much better than my sports touring bikes used to be, two up. Of course I don't cruise the Spyder as fast as I used to on the bikes. It's better in heavy rain squalls too. So, all in all I think it handles wind a lot better. It seems less affected by passing or being passed by trucks. I find it helps if you keep out of the lane with the worst truck ruts. I have the stock sway bar and it seems OK to me, but that's probably a very personal taste issue. I don't mind a bit of roll on corners, I've gotten used to it. Mainly I just slow down a bit when the wind is really blowing as a front crosswind, but I'm in no hurry these days.
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IF......the winds REALLY are strong enough that you fear for your safety........you should NOT be riding at that time.
Seriously.

The biggest danger, unless maybe you are caught in a tornado, is the rider over-reacting to the wind hitting
the rider. It might FEEL like it will push your ride all over the road but highly likely that it will NOT unless you
panic and do the wrong thing.
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Easy Rider said:
IF......the winds REALLY are strong enough that you fear for your safety........you should NOT be riding at that time.
Seriously.

The biggest danger, unless maybe you are caught in a tornado, is the rider over-reacting to the wind hitting
the rider. It might FEEL like it will push your ride all over the road but highly likely that it will NOT unless you
panic and do the wrong thing.
Click to expand...
Oh yes, there's a time to park it up, have a meal, wait for the weather to clear.

We don't get many tornadoes up here in the high deserts and mountains, but sometimes the weather can get really nasty.

Getting caught out in the middle of nowhere though when that happens isn't fun, with no cover. Been there, done that. Just have to park up and wait it out.

I'm careful to not park right by the road as people get target fixation. "What's that strange looking bike?" - BANG!
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