Daily commute over the Harbour Bridge

[not2slow]

Thanks for the all the good advice. Rode today and thank god i can split lanes! the relaxed riding is the way to go as there was a few gusts today over the bridge to practice the relaxed style. the clipons are the place to be so i can take advantage of splitting and moving amongst the slow cagers. Cheers for the replies and the good advice!

[Latte]

Thanks for the all the good advice. Rode today and thank god i can split lanes! the relaxed riding is the way to go as there was a few gusts today over the bridge to practice the relaxed style. the clipons are the place to be so i can take advantage of splitting and moving amongst the slow cagers. Cheers for the replies and the good advice!

Nice

Pretty soon you'll be looking forward to the windy days as it'll give you something to break the monotony.

[matdaymon]

I've been riding over the bridge daily for a year or so now since I got by learners. Basically all the advice here is spot on. Personally I don't split lanes on the bridge but that's just my choice (I'd rather be late to uni but have a sweet view while I'm sitting there than cruise through and get to class early) I've not seen the bridge closed to bikes since I was a kid either but that was normally advertised on the radio, not the side of the bridge. Coming along the long stretches of motorway can be more windy and a bit frighting than the bridge itself for first timers.

[SPman]

Very rarely (if ever) will the bike actually be blown across the road.

...unless you're on a ZZR1100 and you're crowding on the pace.......

[swbarnett]

Very rarely (if ever) will the bike actually be blown across the road.

...unless you're on a ZZR1100 and you're crowding on the pace.......

I was once leaning in to the first bend off the bridge going south on my CB250N (back in the 80s) and was lifted off the ground by a rare, very strong, wind that aiming south exactly parrellel to the bridge. I only touched down again, after being moved clear accross my lane, as my speed dropped. I know I was off the groud because the engine raced as the rear wheel lost all resistance.

Best air bed I've ever had. Absolutely no sense of fear or panic because I felt very supported.

[not2slow]

I was once leaning in to the first bend off the bridge going south on my CB250N (back in the 80s) and was lifted off the ground by a rare, very strong, wind that aiming south exactly parrellel to the bridge. I only touched down again, after being moved clear accross my lane, as my speed dropped. I know I was off the groud because the engine raced as the rear wheel lost all resistance.

Best air bed I've ever had. Absolutely no sense of fear or panic because I felt very supported.

That sounds like fun! I scare myself with two wheels on the ground let alone having both them off the ground!
Over the last couple of days i have found the wind to be strongest at the bottom of the bridge (as noted above) just before the Onewa road offramp (heading north). However, employing the head down arse up, lie on the tank princlple with the loose grip techinque and a bit more throttle appears to overcome that, with a little side to side head movement and mirror scanning to make sure no are lurking!

[C.Linnell]

Yeah I do exactly the same - left lane southbound in the mornings, splitting where possible (watch out for the opportunistic lane-changers!).

Even if you're not splitting, use the leftmost lane no matter what; it's always faster, mostly because it has an offramp to Ponsonby, and because cars avoid it due to an annoying merge at the end that happens to be easy for a bike to navigate.

Wind? Sometimes excessive, but never more than I've been able to handle. Just loose-grip and duck down!

[Timmeh:P]

My 2cents...

I ride North to South heading into Town. If you are lane splitting on the outside lanes (left clip-on) as you reach the top of the bridge it is best to stop splitting and stick to the left or right lane. You get a LOT of drivers cutting across to the right lane as you come down towards Shelly Beach Road off ramp. The cagers are pushing in to avoid getting caught on the Bus lane.

[Hellzie]

My 2cents...

I ride North to South heading into Town. If you are lane splitting on the outside lanes (left clip-on) as you reach the top of the bridge it is best to stop splitting and stick to the left or right lane. You get a LOT of drivers cutting across to the right lane as you come down towards Shelly Beach Road off ramp. The cagers are pushing in to avoid getting caught on the Bus lane.

Plus the traffic is generally moving at a decent speed at this point so lane splitting for just a tiny little bit more speed is not worth the risk

[chasio]

Like many others, I take it as it comes whatever the conditions. The advice on here is spot on although I'm not sure anyone mentioned grip with the knees while loose on the arms? It works for me.

Also in strong wind, I like to make sure I have as space around me as I can find (i.e. no splitting) when clearing the main supports at the top of the bridge as there can be some pretty good swirly blasts that can feel uneasy. If I'm loose and on positive throttle, it's all good anyway but I like a bit of margin.

A guy I work with who has ridden Africa bottom to top offered me a good tip that I have been trying. If you have a stiff crosswind, stick the upwind knee out so it is pointing into the wind. It seems to work in reducing the push effects.

And it's not that far to ride, so splitting traffic that is doing over 50kmh is unnecessary; but it can get addictive, which is something I have to watch tempting me.

Cheers - Chasio

PS I used to have a Vespa GT200 and it was awesome in bad crosswinds!

[Latte]

I tend to keep splitting all the way over, usually only if I see a bus further up (as they're a pain to negotiate at the merge point). When I started communting in I seemed to get caught up with the cars changing back into L2 from L1, but now I don't seem to have that problem anymore.

[FROSTY:Me]

Just as you go from aproach road to bridge propper on the clipons heading north there used to be a metal plate. That sucker got plenty slippery when wet. Combine that with a gust of wind and you do a nice sideways shift and a chirp as you hit tarmac.
Its been three years since I was daily commuting over the bridge so I might be a bit out of date.

[Latte]

Just as you go from aproach road to bridge propper on the clipons heading north there used to be a metal plate. That sucker got plenty slippery when wet. Combine that with a gust of wind and you do a nice sideways shift and a chirp as you hit tarmac.
Its been three years since I was daily commuting over the bridge so I might be a bit out of date.

Don't remember having a problem with it in the last couple of years, but I have made the mistake of accelarating while changing lanes over one of the expansion plates in the wet going up the bridge. On the nsr I got a bit sideways and had a wee laugh. On the rsv I think I would have ended up on motorway patrol..