Bandit Alley
GENERAL MOTORCYCLE FORUMS => GENERAL MOTORCYCLE => Topic started by: erda on June 09, 2009, 09:19:12 PM
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Hi
Just wondering what your experiences are in riding the Bandit in crosswinds and gusty conditions. I am seriously looking at moving to a new Bandit from my V-Strom as it is NO FUN at all in gusty (50-70 km/h) conditions.
Thanks.
erda
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Somewhere in north Texas, while was doing my cross country trip, back in 07... I was on my B1250 and my brother in law was on his police BMW... the wind was so strong that we were leaning about 30-40 degrees from the vertical just to stay straight down the road. We were going about 70 mph. The bike is fine. No weird behaviors. Wind momentary "shuts off" and I shoot over the next lane, or two lanes, REAL FAST!!! Trick is to stay in the right most lane when the wind is coming from the left side.
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Hi
Just wondering what your experiences are in riding the Bandit in crosswinds and gusty conditions. I am seriously looking at moving to a new Bandit from my V-Strom as it is NO FUN at all in gusty (50-70 km/h) conditions.
Thanks.
erda
I can speak to this directly, just having traded my DL650 V-strom for a Bandit 1250 on Friday!
The Bandit is MUCH better in crosswinds than the V-Strom. I think it's the extra height of the side fairings, as well as the extra surface area, that makes them such sails in crosswinds. On my last long ride with the V-Strom, with severe crosswinds, I was leaning much further into the wind than anyone else on the trip. With the Bandit, passing semi's causes barely a little push/pull when crossing their "bow wake," as opposed to on the Strom, where it was much more pronounced.
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Thanks for that scubadvr.
It is pretty much what I have figured. You know, the crosswind issue is something I can deal with, but the gusts are a whole 'nother story.
I've been dealing on a Bandit and hope to pick it up the end of this week.
erda
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That's why I ride a sportbike! I just lay down on the tank and all's well!
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I find my Gen 1 Bandit to be pretty poor in sidewinds.
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I would recommend that any of you that think one bike has a distinct 'crosswind' advantage over another in all circumstances should ask a physics professor that question. :grin:
Certain bikes may have some immeasureably slight advantage over other bikes in certain crosswind situations, but it will probably have a disadvantage in other crosswind situations. "Laying down on the tank" diminishes the wind effects to some degree, but mostly just your perception of what the crosswinds effects are. Tire size is one thing that may perceptibly change the equation, but it would have to be a significant alteration to have an effect.
Head & tail winds is one thing, but from a structural viewpoint.... all motorcycles, including the most aerodynamic MotoGP bikes, have nearly identical "profiles".... and with a rider mounted they are all essentially "barn-doors in the breeze" when it comes to crosswinds.
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Ever ridden a V-Strom, Paul? :stickpoke: The fairings on those are like sails.
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Ever ridden a V-Strom, Paul? :stickpoke: The fairings on those are like sails.
Which would provide slightly more streamlined effect in a headwind, versus, say, a naked bike.
Obviously, the angle of the wind is the big component.
With wind coming directly perpindicular to the bike... every inch of lower surface area does make a difference in drag.... I'm just not aware of a bike that has a side surface area that would be signifcantly more impervious than any other in a strong crosswind.
Heck... my mid-sized SUV gets knocked around pretty good in a good crosswind. :grin:
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With wind coming directly perpindicular to the bike... every inch of lower surface area does make a difference in drag.... I'm just not aware of a bike that has a side surface area that would be signifcantly more impervious than any other in a strong crosswind.
I hear you on that, and totally agree. It might even be more related to overall weight and vehicle COG than the fairings. I think it's likely a combination of the Strom's high, flat side fairings, coupled with the low weight of the bike, and high COG, that contribute to its (felt) higher-than-average susceptibility to crosswinds.
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Well I'll definitely vouch that a naked bike can be tossed about pretty badly by cross winds. Last year about this time, I was off the bike for 2 months because of wind gusts and cross winds.
I managed to pull or strain/sprain my supraspinatus (sp?) in my rotator cuff, my bicep muscle, tricep muscle,... and the inflamation of all of that was pulling the ball out of the socket.
how? The winds that day were 50 gusting to something like 70mph. I was riding to work, on the 919, when suddenly it felt like someone grabbed my rear peg and shook the whole bike with it. The bike wobbled hard, but I managed to recover it and continued to work. As the day wore on, I started getting stiffer and stiffer. Thinking it was because I wasn't riding a lot at that point, I shrugged it off applied a little heat for the "sore muscles", and even rode to work the next day.
By the end of the next day, I couldn't lift my arm even to shoulder height anymore, and I could only manage an arc of about 120 degrees. I was a mess.
The winds were almost as bad, but I was riding with my right hand only for most of it (yes, stupid I know) because of the agony that the feel of the bars would do to me if I touched them.
Over the next few days, it felt like it was getting better, then about 5 days in, it got -way- worse. I left work mid afternoon for an impromptu chiropractor appointment
The chiropractor gave me my diagnosis, and "suggested" that I remain off the bikes for a few months while I healed and built up the strength in it again.
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Well, I did it. Rode my Wee Strom into Calgary and rode home on a new Bandit :grin:
I can definitely state that the Bandit handles cross winds significantly better than the Strom did. And did I mention the power. OH, MY!!!
erda
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Well, I did it. Rode my Wee Strom into Calgary and rode home on a new Bandit :grin:
I can definitely state that the Bandit handles cross winds significantly better than the Strom did. And did I mention the power. OH, MY!!!
erda
:congrats: We're gonna need some pics though..... :thumb:
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Well, I did it. Rode my Wee Strom into Calgary and rode home on a new Bandit :grin:
I can definitely state that the Bandit handles cross winds significantly better than the Strom did. And did I mention the power. OH, MY!!!
erda
It's a nice step up, isn't it, Erda? :thumb:
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Get with the times man, its the latest ubute sport, motorcycle sailing.. :motorsmile: :grin: :grin: :grin:
Sell the Bandit and get a fully faired sports bike twice as much fun. :bigok:
Then put a 66 litre courier tub on the back, and really enjoy the thrill :yikes:
Then sell that for a underpowered scooter and try towing a huge assed billboard trailer. :banghead:
Yes I'm silly, yes I've been there and done that. :trustme:
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I just rode the west coast and in Oregon the winds were so fierce we did the rest of our trip inland.
Had an incident where we got a bit of relief in a treed section. When we came across a cross road it was like the wind was waiting to punch us (5 bikes in the group at the time). It felt like getting hit with a medicine ball while on mud. The bikes were all over the road as we had all let our guard down for a second.
One way I found to keep steady in these cross winds is to transfer more weight to the foot pegs. Ride on as though you are almost trying to stand on the pegs and it lowers the mass keeping the bike from weaving as much. It gets a bit tiring but when you get hit with wind try the weight transfer.
Plan B is to pull over for a coffee .....for about a day!! :yikes:
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Me and my daughter rode through a storm on the way home recently. Cross-winds were fierce with debris also. The most concern I had was the low tread Shinko I had on at the time, now riding with PilotRoad2. Anyway, we were only 8 miles from home so we kept going. When we left Sonic we were 40 miles from home at bike-night, doing 90+ until the storm front hit. I stayed in my lane, and we were tucked in low to make less of a sail to be blown by. Ol' Silver never missed a beat and when we pulled into the garage we laughed because we soaking wet, anyway, my wife was upset we didn't call when we left town. The Bandit is a strong motorcycle :clap: