120KMPH gale force winds

[KATWYN]

Who had to ride home in that gale yesterday?? waow.

That was one very interesting riding experience- I feel like I completed my bike riding apprenticeship with that "riding exam"!! The hardest part for
me wasn't so much getting saturated and dodging flying rubbish,tree branches, recycling bins and milk cases all across the road - it was when I would come to a stop to turn right into another road... a gust of wind would always come at me and nearly blow me and my bike over.....then trying to take off in the gust :sweatdrop

Even keeing far left and riding at about 80kmph I found myself being blown
into the right hand land all the time.

I think next time I will be catching a lift home with someone!!

Katie

[Calo]

Not me. I was tucked up inside thinking "those poor bastards who commute over the Harbour Bridge" and I wasn't surprised to learn that someone did bin it on the Harbour Bridge yesterday. :shit:

[Str8 Jacket]

Yep, almost an everyday occurence in Wgtn. Definately keeps you on your toes!

[MyGSXF]

was a lovely day here in sunny (well.. almost) :sunny: Nelson.... :whistle:

Lived in Island Bay for a while many years ago.. can remember the washing drying HORIZONTALLY!!! :yes:

Jen:rockon:

[slimjim]

yeah we too get the same soft breeze as the welly's do, gosh it makes riding fun,, "O" those breeze-list days yawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we lean on straight road's hahaha ,manawatu

[Morcs]

I had the ultimate test yesterday, lane splitting half the lenght of the North western in that weather :)

[hellnback]

I had the ultimate test yesterday, lane splitting half the lenght of the North western in that weather :)

Yeah mate, I had the same mission on the Northern.... made for some close calls :shutup:

[ManDownUnder]

North Western at 6:15 or so was gusty, but the only bad patch (visibility and wind) was on the causeway

Was ok but needed to keep extra space around me

[Bend-it]

You monkeys... ride smart and safe in that kinda weather!!

Wind gusts, reduced visibility and grip, erratic cage behaviour all contribute to too many unknowns! A bin while splitting usually means you end up under a cage. Not something we like to read about here on KB, so don't make us!

[gijoe1313]

Big ups to all those braved that weather! I didn't ride on the moronway, but I was blatting around the Hunuas and twisties out there last night. Bugger me, the amount of branches, leafy debris and stuff flying around made for interesting ride!

There were a few cagers nannying around and they must have thought I was mad blatting along past them! Interesting experience going quickly over a hill, then suddenly losing 20kph just from the wind force - as an experiment, I came up to an uphill right hander and didn't do anything, the wind made the turn for me!

Reminded me when I was in Welly - wait at the lights and the wind wants to blow you out into the intersection! Whee!

Be safe out there! :yes:

[Toast]

Crossed the Harbour Bridge yesterday at 5pm...no biggie if you know how. The most annoying this is the fact that all of the cages slow down and swerve around, meaning that you have to slow down to a speed where you have less lateral stability.

[Ixion]

I missed it! Best storm in ages and I was stuck in australia. Damn it, I love riding in storms, that would have been a real good one.

[Lord Derosso]

I have had it with this bloody wind. On my earlier thread someone said we have had the worse windest october on record, and its extended into November. Last Sunday I nearly got blown over so yesterday I went for two decent rides in the morning. It was beauiful down here but still gusty but at least I managed to get around the Oriental parade run without been stopped in my tracks by the wind like last weekend. then I took off around Island bay, around the bays to check out the new airport tunnel and back over the hill to the city. On the way I decided to go up to Southgate. Now that is one sweet little ride up to the top of the ridge, pass the national hockey stadium. I use to walk up there a lot but first time on a bike and didn't realise what a sweet little mini takas course I have at stones throw from home. The views up there were stunning. I must take the camera next time so members can appriecate the view of the Kaikoura range still with snow on them. If you do get caught up in wind one old trick is to move as far forward as you can, hug the tank and put weight on your foot pegs. It works for me though I suspect it just makes you hang onto the bike a bit more hence less likely to be blown off.

[KATWYN]

If you do get caught up in wind one old trick is to move as far forward as you can, hug the tank and put weight on your foot pegs. It works for me though I suspect it just makes you hang onto the bike a bit more hence less likely to be blown off.

Cheers I was hoping on the off chance there may be some riding tips on
what to do in this sort of wind.

Does anyone know how to take off on a right or left hand turn when the
wind is strong enough to blow you over ??? cos i'm suspecting to take off to slow could result in disaster??

....you Wellingtonians would be well rehearsed in this skill no doubt!!

[Hitcher]

120kmh winds? That's about our threshold for not riding. Anything over 90kmh usually means we give the Takas a miss, unless we have to get home from the Wairarapa. Mrs H and I were out briefly yesterday in what was a very blustery westerly -- an unusual wind direction for Wellington.

[Street Gerbil]

This #$##@#$$!!! wind blew my bike over in the parking lot. Minimal damage though. I had a few unpleasant seconds trying to figure out why the engine doesn't start. Turns out that when the bike fell, the kill switch somehow got switched on.
Ride home wasn't fun either. Had to take an evasive maneuver when attacked by a flying garbage can.

[sunhuntin]

rode to marton and then palmy yesterday, just to give the bike a run, and also to get used to things on the open road. all went sweet till i decided to come home!!
took me over an hour to get back....head wind the whole way. i had a headache when i woke up...by the time i got in the gate i wanted a new head! stopped at turakina to adjust the strap on my lid [was too loose] and to have a slight breather. i get hayfever, and didnt take a zyrtec yesterday, so had running eyes and nose to contend with.
woke up at 1am today with majorly itching inner ears and eyes, and a nose running for a gold medal. took a pill and back to bed.

ill be damn glad when this wind is gone, and i can happily toot around in my jeans and t shirt again.

[Lord Derosso]

ill be damn glad when this wind is gone, and i can happily toot around in my jeans and t shirt again.

Good on you but do check out that website someone was promoting a few weeks ago about what happens to you when you hit the road wearing only T shirts. I know its great, coming from the far north, but gravel rash is bad news. Almost as bad as the bee stings ! I see some riders around Wellington riding with no gloves as well. I would never ride without gloves. Its good however to read that a lot of new riders are prepared to spend money on good gear like quality helmets. Back in the 70's some of the lids we used were not of great use. Used more for stickers and heavy rock paintjobs. At least that message has got around.

As for the wind, I went out twice on Saturday just to give it the fingers because its a pain. Nice bike, I had the old XS250 version brand new when it came out back in the early 1980's, and a brand new XV500 later on.

[Morcs]

This #$##@#$$!!! wind blew my bike over in the parking lot. Minimal damage though. I had a few unpleasant seconds trying to figure out why the engine doesn't start. Turns out that when the bike fell, the kill switch somehow got switched on.
Ride home wasn't fun either. Had to take an evasive maneuver when attacked by a flying garbage can.

Whats the damage SG?, hope the my ol' Gilly is ok.

Killswitch is rather sensitive, i must have just knocked it once, and stripped the entire bike down, and spent 3 days troubleshooting the electrical system, then decided to get a shop to pick it up, they brought it back 5 mins later telling me it was the killswitch.

My bike got knocked over in the wind aswell, cracked stator cover, was leaking oil for 3 days until I epoxied it up..