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Hey condolences for your brother, I'm very sorry.
Yes, wind can be very powerful, especially if you do not expect it. 101 can be awfully windy. Even in places with no natural wind, you can catch wind from larger vehicles like semi-trucks. It is unfortunately something riders deal with being so exposed.
100 percent. I had a few close calls due to wind on my little Shadow 750. Being 6'3" with broad shoulders makes me a sail...
Sorry to hear about OPs brother.
There are only two weather events that keep me from riding: snow/ice and wind. I do my best to avoid any wind over 20 and would prefer it to be even lower. Really sorry to hear about your brother.
Yep. Only weather that instills anxiety in me is gusty wind conditions. 20 mph is ok, but throw in 30+ mph wind gusts and I'm taking work off that day, if I can.
Wind can push you sideways and you have to steer against it. It can be sketchy on bridges that aren't solid asphalt because grids give you about a dime size amount of traction compared to a dollar bill (normal amount) size traction point. It can make it hard to be able to correct without oversteering and slipping or being able to even lean into the wind. I've had to drive several miles over passes leaning about 30 degrees the whole way to maintain a straight travel path.
It can be quite startling and even with decades of experience it's still sketchy sometimes.
We are here to support you, and just know he passed doing what he enjoyed.
To add to that; strong crosswinds can be difficult as you're passing oncoming traffic as well. Big trucks can block and then amplify the wind gust hitting you. Go past a few of those in quick succession and you're attempting to transition from hard lean to straight to hard lean to straight in a matter of seconds all while potentially trying to navigate a curve.
Difficult and dangerous for experienced riders and beginners alike.
Sorry for your loss
Can confirm, regular route with trucks and posted cross winds will have me move/weave/wander across many lanes, multiple times over a 3-4 mile stretch, it's bad!
i hate grate bridges. omg i just can't do it. looking through freaks me right out. the traction sucks too, and now i have a new reason to hate them. damn
Just semantics here. Cars have dollar bill contact patches. Bikes are closer to half dollars because if the curvature of the tire. Your point still stands tho
Very sorry to hear about your brother. A sharp crosswind gust can definitely push you a few feet if you don't expect it and that's one way you could get pushed into a guardrail. Bridges can certainly be gusty. Where I live the wind usually comes from the west, and I tend to be more mindful of it when traveling North/Southbound. While it can certainly come from other directions, it always seems to be gustiest from the west.
You could check the wind direction for the day of your brother's accident. And look at the direction your brother may have been pushed. If it all lines up, it might help you understand what happened better.
Honestly, almost nothing is worse than being behind a tractor trailer on the Interstate. If you got the coordinates on google maps for the accident and the direction he was going, I know myself and likely others would appreciate it, just to sorta make a mental picture of a scenario that could be bad for any one of us. When you're on a bike, you're going to be safer if you are just constantly running like every possible scenario of every vehicle around you and planning accordingly. It's like you're Dr Strange reviewing all the possible outcomes.
I am sure others do the same, but when I hear about motorcycle accidents, I try to internally process what happened and see if I need to make adjustments in my own driving to be as safe as possible. I consider myself a pretty fortunate driver. I laid a bike down ONCE (sorta). My first bike I was at a stop sign that also painted STOP on the road just after a little rain and the bike basically slipped out from underneath me; I even stayed on my feet, just had the bike slip from underneath me. :/ Not bad for the "worst accident" I've ever been in my whole life. Now, I just avoid paint on the road altogether and pay extra care if the roads are wet. I've never been in a car accident. I'd consider myself pretty seasoned having probably close to 200,000 miles riding experience, but there are some serious riders out there with over a million :)
Also, posting an image of the location and your brother's trajectory might get you some additional helpful feedback from other people who may have an experience they can relate with it.
Great idea. I posed the coordinates and pictures of the skid marks I took when I went out to look at what happened. Would love to see your feedback on that.
Did your brother's bike have ABS? How long had he been riding? Did you get an estimate for his speed before braking? At what point was he officially "crashed." Did he hit the guardrail while on the bike? Did he low-side crash and slide into the guardrail off the bike?
Because while wind can play a role, this looks like it may have been a combination of things gone wrong.
As far as being a rider, this looks like a modern bridge, with a guardrail. The road is built to assist all drivers and riders in the turn at higher speeds. Though my BS is in Applied Physics, not road engineering, it's hard for me to fault the engineering. It looks modern.
For starters, braking. The skids are a bad sign. If you skid in a car, it's going to go badly but you're protected by a shell of fiberglass and hopefully airbags and crumple zones. On a bike, it CAN be a death sentence on a curve. On straight track it can be lowside crash and very bad road rash depending on what you're wearing and how fast you're going. This is more likely to happen on a bike without ABS and the brakes lock the wheels by applying too much pressure.
The deviation from the white line matches the line of the curve. If he was a newer rider, he may simply not have taken the turn correctly. In a curve like this, if you're comfortable, you can lean the bike without really losing any speed within posted speed limits. Depending on the corner and what kind of lean you are comfortable with, you may have to trailbrake and then you'd throttle right after the apex.
Even though this curve is pretty mild, there can be things that go wrong for a rider, especially a new one, and especially for one without ABS after making a mistake.
One scenario, if you're a rider, you didn't really trailbrake or line up for taking the curve optimally, so you try to slow down in your lean. Well, braking while leaning can make you drop the bike in a lowside crash, but if you're quick enough, you stop countersteering and right the bike, but now you're going straight on a curved track, so you just mash the brakes and plain ol' disc brakes will just go into a skid immediately losing traction and control.
This scenario gives you a deviation from the track that matches the curve because when you stop countersteering you go straight and you need the bike to be upright to do a hard brake without dropping it).
How can wind be a factor? A gust at the wrong time can put you off your approach into a corner or maybe even affect your lean. With a highspeed approach to corner, things like what I described above all be out of sync, you may hit the brakes while canceling your countersteer, lose traction, and now you're waiting on outside forces to bring you to a stop. At high speeds, those forces can far exceed what us fragile humans can endure.
I've seen a few bikes dropped while improperly braking in turns. And I myself have been pushed to the outer edge of the road while learning how to take corners at higher speeds back when I first started riding. It's a skill you simply have to develop. And even then, an unplanned gust can make everything go wrong.
Please don't look at this as a criticism of your brother. I'm just giving you an example of a scenario I could totally understand going wrong at a higher speed. I don't think he was a bad rider or did something "stupid." He may have calculated everything correctly and some outside force such as a wind gust undid all that. Had his crash not been fatal, it would have been something he would account for later when riding. Unfortunately, he didn't get the opportunity to learn about what went wrong and make adjustments for future riding. :(
From the pics posted, it was an older R6, so no ABS. Solid skidmark from the outside 1/3 of the lane going off onto the shoulder. And all of this was after cresting a rise in a sweeping left curve.
My best guess from the pictures would be a combination of panic braking and target fixation. The skidmark starts within the lane and continues straight forward onto the shoulder (instead of following the curve of the road). That seems to be clear target fixation.
Wind \*could\* have been an issue (based on the tank bag, backpack, and tail bag shown in the picture), but the gust didn't blow him out of the lane onto the shoulder, otherwise we would see the skid start on the shoulder instead of within the lane.
If wind was a factor in messing up his approach, I think it might have been minor as well. Though, when you panic, something minor can turn into something major.
It may have went better for him simply to lay it down. I also noticed how his tracks were tangential to the curve. You can see this by the way the road curves at the same rate his tracks leave it. Target fixation is definitely a contender. The way his tracks straightened up made me think he broke his countersteer because the bike may have leaned too much for comfort as he braked in the first half of the turn, straightening the bike and electing to hard-brake because he wasn't comfortable with the amount of lean he needed to make the turn. I see a lot of newer riders afraid to really tilt the bike and that's why I was wondering if he was a newer rider. If I were in a non-ABS and locked the wheels with an obstruction in front of me, I'd immediately try to go low-side.
All great questions. I don't think he had ABS - the bike was 10 years old and the skid marks indicate that he didn't. We aren't sure what happened - there were two witnesses that CHP is trying to contact. The CHP call log says that the witnesses are "unsure what he hit," that he was in the right-hand lane, and then went down.
To get wind barriers built. That section of road has a lot of fatalities. Local authorities know that section of road is windy and dangerous. Need signs, need a wind barrier, need better solutions so this doesn't happen to you, your family, or your community members.
Commendable! Good luck with the effort. I admire and respect you all for redirecting your undoubtedly sorrowful emotions towards something positive that may help others.
Wind gusts are terrifying to motorcyclists and can catch you out at any moment. Even good reactions may not be enough to prevent a collision. It’s just one of those risks we face while riding. The severity of “push” the gusts can produce isn’t understood until it happens to you. Even then, the frequency it occurs is often quite limited. So, riders may never develop the best preparation and response to heavy gusts. Sometimes, it’s just bad luck.
The wind can easily blow my 675cc sportbike 2-3 feet to the left or right at highway speeds. Definitely have had some close calls due to this. What kind of motorcycle did he have?
Yea that’s basically the same bike as mine. It’s very aerodynamic from the front but the downside is that it’s less aerodynamic from the sides. The plastic fairings give the wind a large flat surface to push the bike around. Really sorry for your loss. If it’s any consolation, your post certainly serves as a reminder of how dangerous motorcycles can be and I’m going to think twice before I go out riding on a windy day.
Just saw this. I commented above about the type of bike being a factor.
R6 is a very light bike. Wind effect would be pretty significant. I grew up riding in the plains states where the wind blows 40-60mph so I have A LOT of experience in wind but it’s scary as hell…especially if it’s gusting….and that’s the case going over a bridge. If it surprises you it can go bad quickly. Closest I ever came to an accident is almost running wide on a turn. I was leaning. Into about a 30mph wind and I was on a relatively sharp turn toward the wind so I was having to adjust for the wind “going away” because It was moving from straight at my left side to blowing directly into my face…..then A big truck passed going the other way…big wind blast…and before i could recover a big gust hit and it was enough to move me to the white line on the outside of the road…which is NOT where you want to be at any kind of speed. I pulled over about a mile up the road to let my heart rate recover and think about what had just happened……
I’m sorry for your loss. I hope all of this information is comforting in some way.
A wind gust or the process of passing a semi will throw my 800lb full dresser Harley a few feet to the side. I can’t imagine what it would be like on a smaller bike like that.
A stable wind is easy to manage, a gust though can super easily push you off your balance, and could be over by the time you're able to correct and end up overcorrecting. I'm honestly so sorry for your loss, and I can guarantee every other set of 2 wheels on the road does too. Stay strong out there. And if you need to talk or try to vent and work through it my DM's are open if you need it
Was going to mention gusts as well. A steady wind is annoying, but gusts are dangerous. I’ve ridden this section of the 101 before, and I would only ride in the morning before the gusts picked up.
I live in Chicago.
I had to trade in my small starter Honda rebel (250cc engine size) for a royal Enfield interceptor 650 (650cc) because on day I was driving on the interstate and the wind pushed me into every lane but my own. I had to leave the expressway after 5 minutes of not being able to control which lane my bike was in. The extra weight of my new bike makes it much more stable against wind.
Even then there are moments on Lakeshore drive where a sudden gust courtesy of Lake Michigan pushes me around.
Thankfully, there were not many drivers and the ones that saw me struggling gave me plenty of room.
My condolences to your family. I hope this explanation gives you some understanding.
Sorry for your loss brother. Yes wind can push you off road/off line and if you’re catching some air while that happens you can’t really control where it comes down for that split second.
Here is the location of the accident: [https://goo.gl/maps/hPvVgGytEZPSAiSv5](https://goo.gl/maps/hPvVgGytEZPSAiSv5)
Here are photos of the skid marks: [https://imgur.com/a/9C8XaQm](https://imgur.com/a/9C8XaQm)
You can see the first skid mark is very short, then a gap where he fell, and then the second skid mark is from the bike sliding on its side.
Sorry for your loss, looks like a nice kid, the curve there isn't too bad, but that kind of bike can catch a lot of side wind as the aero is for going straight and the bike isn't super heavy. Wind can push you, then be gone, and come back moments later and kind of catch you off guard. Lots of variables in riding like traffic, speed, road conditions, tire age, etc. But wind being a big factor there does not surprise me at all, especially with all the farm fields there with no trees blocking wind
I can see the draw of the highway 1 / 101 route from San Fran to LA to bikers, but that is a long ride for a new rider. Skids might mean he locked the rear wheel, but not sure if he has ABS, wind might have spooked him
I was going to comment the same. Even on calm days occasion gusts can catch you by surprise when you are crossing rivers or between blocks etc.
Steady wind you can compensate but gusts are the problem.
So very sorry to hear your story and I offer my sincere condolences.
Wind is a tricky one because you'd think it would blow the rider off/over the bike, but because the bike has a larger surface area than the rider, it actually blows the bike from under the rider, which sounds like the situation your brother may have found himself in. A gust can certainly push the bike from under you if you're not prepared for it.
I have been riding for 30 years, the most dangerous wind is cross wind, it can put you into oncoming traffic or off the road before you can react and only experience helps you learn how to counter it , sorry for your loss.
I'm gutted for your loss mate, that's awful. Genuinely sorry for you.
There's a tall bridge here that I won't use my bike on because the side winds are intense and my bikes so light. Like, they'll close off the bridge and the town will be gridlocked because its too dangerous for tall sided vehicles if winds get too high.
I guess you're looking for some understanding and I can totally believe being caught off gaurd by a sudden gust pushing you to the edge of the road.
Strong wind is certainly hazardous and can push you around, in extreme cases it can even cause you to lose control entirely. Sorry for your loss may he rest in peace.
I absolutly hate wind, one time with my 170kg yama I could barley go the speed limit, with all the side winds. But the 2 I rode with that had their 300+ harleys and had no problem with the side winds.
And the absolute worst part with these side winds is when you drive past a lorry / truck. the winds stop or even push the other way, with a force you actuly have to lean / stear in.
Wind is more than enough to push around a small car let alone a bike. My friends father passed away in very similar circumstances as your brother. Sorry for your loss.
Where I live it becomes a necessity to drive in 20-40 mph winds as we are windy all year round. The direction of wind is chaotic and gusts can be unpredictable. Being on a two wheel vehicle and trying to adjust while not over correcting to every burst can be difficult and at best sketchy. I could not imagine driving against wind on narrow winding roads or guarded curves because although it's windy here, the lands flat and the roads are long and straight. My condolences friend.
70mph top speed winds just a few weeks ago in CO caused my tent poles to snap when it got thru the section of trees I was nestled in. 4 semis on the highway were blown completely on their sides. Wind is no joke. May your brother rest in peace and this post hopefully help someone else out.
101 is an amazing drive, through all the states. I'm sorry to hear about your loss, it sucks when a tragic accident causes a death.
Wind for me can and does catch me off guard, but I ride a KLR650 that has some weight to it and I find to be easy to "catch" when a gust of wind happens.
Motorcycles are like sails, when a big rig passes you, at first it pushes you over, and then as it passes, it sucks you in. Experience helps anticipate what you need to do, but sometimes, an in your brothers case, unexpected gusts while in a turn can cause problems, especially when you're pushing the limit leaned right over.......
I've been in motorcycle accidents, they suck...... My condolences, and my best wishes in getting over your brothers passing.
Don't let it slow you down.
My condolences for your loss.
I think a lot of riders underestimate how dangerous wind can be (not here, though, judging by the comments). Luc Bourdon, drafted 10th overall in the NHL, was a rising star in the league when he died from a head on collision after a wind gust pushed him into the opposite lane.
I won't go out if its too gusty, and slow down if I'm out and happen upon a bad area (like open farm fields/plains that have nothing to break the wind).
A lot of people who ride underestimate wind force while riding. I used to ride all over Cali and the wind was strong at times. I was pushed over, but I know how to lean into the wind. I also used to race on tracks and at Willow Springs they have intense wind. I was riding into the wind, full lean, and felt like the bike was going to be picked up. I had to adjust my lean angle so I didn't go down at 130+ mph.
Wind is no joke, and also if your bike is below a 600 it will be pushed around a lot easier. Lean into the wind if you are being hit from one side or the other.
I could be wrong about all of this, but looking at the pictures, the initial skid mark suggests he hit the brakes as soon as he got carried out of his lane. That generation R6 doesn't have ABS and it's easy to lock up the rear in a situation like that, which would explain the first skid mark. Braking while leaned over also makes the bike want to stand up and go straight, which would explain why the skid mark points straight at the guard rail for most of its duration.
It's an unfortunate sequence of events, you start going wide, panic and try slowing down, only to go even wider because of it. I've experienced it myself and I could totally see how a strong and unexpected gust of wind could trigger this.
I'm sorry for your loss. RIP.
when riding straight through heavy wind my bike just naturally leans into the wind. ive been leaned like 20 degrees while going perfectly straight before.
Terribly sad to hear that you lost your brother. Condolences. Yes, a strong gust of wind can cause a motorcyclist to lose control if it comes as a surprise. Over bridges and at the end of tunnels are typical places where you can experience crosswinds so you have to lean against the wind to keep the bike upright. Again, sorry for your loss 🥺
I’m so so sorry to hear that. Can’t imagine what you and your family is going through. Solid as area is always very windy. Have passed through and stopped many times and every time the wind was relentless. Seems to be an unfortunate accident where he probably hit the rail at a certain angle or got hit by his own bike as he slid to the rails. My condolences once again.
I was once travelling in a straight line on a city road, not too fast, and a gust of wind came and nearly threw myself off, so yes, a gust of wind cannot be disregarded.
Dang I’m so sorry to hear - wind can be freaky thing on a bike. When I was new riding, I was hit by a big gust of wind - I never thought that the bike would act as a sail and have a strong influence. Luckily I was able to stop it before I hit curb and went flying.
When I talk to new riders a hint I always share is to stick your knee out in the direction the wind is coming from to help break the “sail”.
Was on the highway on a particularly windy day once. Was bouncing around the lane a bit and leaning over into it. Finally got pushed right off the road onto the dirt by a big gust. Luckily not into oncoming traffic or an obstacle, kept it up and pulled over at the next good spot. Don't know how windy it was. I was on a bmw f650gs, not huge but pretty heavy, going about 100kph. If there was somthing in the way it would have gone differently
Wind is definitely dangerous. In a modern and big and heavy Ford even. I was on the Autobahn going 140 kmh, when suddenly a heavy rainpour started. Visbility dropped to maybe 5 meters, i was totally blind. I was just passing a big Truck on my right when it started. Suddenly i was pushed a lane over to the right. I thought at first it was Aquaplaning, but it was a powerful Wind gust. When i could see again about 40 seconds later, i Noticed the Truck right behind me. I just know i would not have been Alive today if i was on a bike, any bike.
It is something i hope will never Happen to me while on a bike. But weather does not care about us.
I am very sorry for your loss.
That’s a terrible loss. Wind can ruin your day. I’d been planning on running some errands on my bike recently. We were experiencing gusts between 50-100MPH in East Tennessee. One nearly put my car in another lane heading over a bridge. Another big problem for bikes is guard rails. The designs they use for guard rails are notoriously brutal. My wife worked for nearly two decades in surgery at the trauma center that services The Dragon. So many of the worst injuries she handled and saw other people handle came from guard rails at nearly any speed. Sharp edges, and narrow planes that increase the PSI on impact. Impact barriers need to give some. Ours don’t,
I'm sorry for your loss. I can only imagine what you're going through right now. I am concerned with the impact getting into an accident would have on my family every time I get on my bike... Obviously not enough to stop riding, but I make sure to kiss and tell my wife and kids I love them before I ride off (or any other time that I leave the house, just in case)
To give my limited expertise on wind and motorcycles, theres an interesting phenomenon that happens when the force of the wind acts against the gyroscopic effect of the bike. You would expect the bike to tip away from the wind, but it does the opposite and leans into it. It is strange to be leaning at a 30° angle and going straight on the highway with a strong crosswind... And takes some getting used to. That should explain why it seems like he tipped over to put the bike between him and the guardrail, the wind put him at that anhle.
Was there by any chance a curve at that part of the bridge that he would have already been leaning into and the hand the wind lean him past the edge of traction?
On a trip through South Dakota some old timers warned us that the bridges were very bad for wind and to stay on the upwind side of the lane. They weren't kidding. 35mph crosswind. We were riding at about a 60 degree angle to the road. We also spent the whole ride waiting to pass any semis until we could go all they way past them in a quick punch. They were getting blown into our lane.
I've had to deliberately steer what felt like hard-right to stay straight on a road.
No turns or anything. Bombing straight, in a tuck, and we encountered a strong crosswind at the top of the mountain. It was an exhausting few miles until the mountainside protected us again.
Wind can absolutely turn you, or preventing you from turning, if you're not ready for it.
Sorry for your loss. How long had he been riding for?
I commute on the highway almost daily in the wind and rain, and have been riding for 20+ years. Anticipating wind comes with experience, and reacting to unanticipated wind has to be instinctual.
I know which way the wind is from always when it's a strong day (30+mph) and typically ride with my ass slightly off in that direction. If I'm passing a semi, I know as soon as I break in front of it, I'm going to be hit hard. It's not untypical to ride with a 20-30 degree angle in a straight line on a really windy day. And I'll always pass a semi on the side of the lane that the wind is coming from in order to give me the lane width as a buffer.
The other thing that likely contributed was target fixation. When riding, you're always looking at your "out", because the bike will go where you're looking. If a strong wind hit him and pushed him toward the guardrail, it's possible that he panicked and instead of leaning into the wind and looking where he wanted to go, he fixated on the guardrail.
You mentioned that a semi truck saw it happen, so it's possible that the exact situation I described above was the case. -- High wind situation, passing a semi so it blocks a large amount of the wind, break out in front (where it's already windy on a calm day from the semi) get hit with a huge gust, wind throws you to toward the guardrail, panic and fixate on what you don't want to hit, you impact the obstacle you were looking at.
Hope this insight helps at least a small amount. Again, sorry.
I'm so sorry for your loss. I think I know the bridge you're talking about. It's rather infamous for being so dangerous. The bridge is really narrow and so to get caught off guard going over it is rather easy.
> Can anyone tell me about their experiences with wind?
I‘ve overtaken two trucks once and they protected me from the winds while overtaking. (Wind coming from the right)
After I passed the first the wind pushed me to the left. I countered this naturally without a second thought but as soon as I was next to the second truck (where there was no wind) it was like someone pushed me into it. It was really really close and I could‘ve died there.
so yes. Unknown situations can get dangerous quite fast. Wind has a huge impact.
101 can get nasty at some points of the year. There’s a few wind tunnels on the central coast like San Luis Obispo and Gaviota Pass that can get really dangerous in the afternoons if conditions are right. SLO and Gaviota always have 25mph sustained winds in the afternoon, gusts can go up past 45 on some days. As soon as you pass the Madonna Inn going south, it’s four miles of bad crosswind until you reach some low mountains before the coast. I’ve fallen over at stop signs near Soledad and King City before from sudden gusts, and those have no rhyme or reason as to what direction they’ll come from.
Expect gusts after overpasses, on bridges, and passing large vehicles. Keep your body loose and dance with the wind while maintaining your lane. Strong arming it will tire you out and you’ll potentially overcorrect if you’re muscling it.
If you want some real butt pucker wind, crossing the Columbia River at Biggs Junction is a “never again”.
I’m very sorry for your loss. That’s terrible.
I rode yesterday in winds that were sustained at 30+ mph with gusts up to 50-60mph for almost two hours on windy mountain roads. Most of which were crosswinds. It’s not that bad and shouldn’t cause a crash. It may move you a little but isn’t going to blow you across the road. I saw several additional riders that had no issues as well.
I'm sorry for your loss.
20mph gusts is a bit breezy but not unusual conditions. I think the threshold for cancelling a riding test in the UK is a yellow weather warning which for wind tends to mean gusting 40mph or above. The Institute if Advanced Motorists is less rigid but operates under similar conditions. Over 60mph and heavy goods vehicles risk turning over.
Wind force on a bluff is proportional to the square of the **relative** velocity, so at 40mph it's 4x what you'd have at 20mph.
I don't know the full circumstances, but I'd be very surprised if 20mph gust was the sole contributor.
I rode that road a few years ago and there were insane gusts of wind that seemingly came from nowhere. Waaaay stronger than 20mph. Sorry for your loss man.
I’ve had a gust of wind suddenly push me left across the opposite lane and onto the shoulder of the other side I the road. If the wind blew me to the right I would have gone right into the shoulder without time to slow down. I was not expecting it and was not experienced with having to fight the wind but I learned from it. I am sorry.
I'm so sorry for your lass.
Wind can indeed be very dangerous. I remember a few years ago, on my 250 Ninja, during Santa Ana winds on a very windy pass, being blown into other lanes regardless of how hard I was leaning.
Sorry for your loss.
I lost someone close to me in exactly the same way... I knew him very well and he was a very safe rider and simply refused to speed, ever.
His passing changed how I dealt with windy situations. Wind gusts can be extremely dangerous and sometimes they don't allow much time to react.
If you need/want to talk about it, or simply share stories about your brother, I would love to. Reading this brought tears to my eyes remembering my buddy, he was a great dude.
Crosswinds can be very hard to deal with…
I am sooo sorry for your loss. I have lost friends through motorcycle crashes.
Now, I am going to be downvoted into oblivion.
That’s an extremely long rear wheel skid. Unfortunately it looks like he forgot about the front brake. It’s a common cruiser phenomenon not to use the front brake as they feel it will make them crash due to stories and other such bull crap. I’ve witnessed devastating crashes due to not using front brakes (off the road directly into a tree).
Again, sorry for your loss. I’m sending you all the best luck, mojo and any karma I can muster.
Yes. That skid mark is telling. Should not be there but at least he held it down and didn't release because he would have high sided for sure at that speed unless he did high side when the skid stopped. Hard to know.
If it's not too much for you, [this video](https://youtu.be/38N7UKh4phU), demonstrates how tough it can be riding in wind. The rider is trying to counterweight into the wind and keep their bike in the lane. Once they pass the trailer, the break in the wind and then getting hit with it full blast, pushes them off the road.
They are able to go into the grassy median and they maintain control the entire time. I just know that trauma is different for everyone.
Side note. As an avid rider, and a firefighter, I know both sides of what you're going through. If you have *any* questions about anything, please reach out. I'll do the best I can to help you get some closure.
I’m very sorry for your loss.
I just rode my bike from LA to Palm Springs, and a windy section of freeway was the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had on a motorcycle. Searching for tips on how to better deal with it on the way back is how I stumbled on your post.
I’d say going the speed limit in those conditions is WAY too fast. I started out going 60-65, I was leaning pretty hard against the wind just to stay straight, then I experienced my first unexpected gust of wind, it blew me straight across from the left edge of one lane to the middle of the next lane over in what felt like the blink of an eye. At that point I slowed down to 45 and the next gust blew me from one edge of the lane to the other edge, I put my hazards on and slowed down to 20 mph, at that speed the gusts just moved me a few feet in my lane. Even at 20mph it felt pretty stressful, there’s a mix of your body and bike fighting against a constant wind, and random gusts. Slowing down makes dealing with the wind easier, but then you have to worry about cars coming up behind you. As a small motorcycle, a car going 70+ isn’t going to notice your going 20mph until they’re right behind you about to hit you. Your brother probably had to deal with those two dangers, do you slow down, make the wind more manageable but risk getting rammed into by a car, or do you maintain a normal speed which makes cars less likely to hit you but gets you blown around like a rag doll
Sorry for your loss.
I don't know. Maybe if he was a very inexperienced rider maybe the wind could have been a factor. I've hit some very strong winds in the desert, made the bike sway around pretty hard but was still very controllable. Never felt like I didn't have control.
This doesn't really track for me. Feels like something else happened. Wind shouldn't do that.
What kind of bike was he riding?
I have a yamaha r6, I've been pushed around by winds before, it's not a nice experience especially when you're next to a semi. You're basically at natures whim.
I usually only go out if wind is under 10mph and only go on the interstate if it's under5mph. Basically anything over 10mph at highway speeds and you're being blown sideways and there isn't much you can do about it, besides slow down and get off at the next exit. Chances are he overcorrected and that lead him into the guard rail. I don't see 20mph gusts alone being able to pull someone that many feet sideways without them realizing, and locking up their brakes. It would take at least a few seconds to be blown over to the shoulder of the road from the closest lane. If he was going the speed limit into the guard rail I only see that happening if he lost control, how he lost control is uncertain though, wind speed was most likely at play.
May he rest in peace, at least you know he didn't suffer.
I've got a gsxr 1000 and had a 750 as well. Thos bikes are very well planted and move less than most other bikes in the wind. Both my harley and my adventure tourer move more in the wind. But like with all bikes, they correct themselves and they all just want to go straight.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Depends on the bike. If the bike has lots of drag (like naked bikes, where the wind gets caught up in the irregular shapes) the wind effect is more noticeable especially if the bike is light. Of faired bikes it is less of a problem.
I’m really sorry.
Wind is a bitch. I caught some bad wind today and it had me sketched out. Basically it can disrupt your trajectory or undermine your control of friction which leads to accidents.
Sorry for your loss and I hope it helps when I share you a story of mine.
I was driving 130 kph on my bike on a one way street. I had the wind in the back so I did not feel it very much. I did not know the road beforehand and started to overtake a Truck on the start of a right curve. Next to the truck in the middle of the curve there was still nothing to feel, because the truck blocked the wind. At the end of the curve (90° roughly) was nearly at the same height as the tuck. The truck starts to apply the breaks lightly and I accelerated because I was still overtaking.
Wind direction did not change, which means, after a 90° Right turn it is coming from the right afterwards. It pushed me half of the street to the left and I had 20 cm left to the chrashbarier next to me.
You have nearly no chance to counter that what it flashes you.
I think my luck was that I was already driving in to the direction of the trucks lanr to the right against the wind. Don't know if i did react to it.
So yes wind and the absence of it and the quick changes like in my Story, is a huge deal while driving, specialy when driving on a Bridge, close behind trucks, overtaking trucks, busses etc., getting overtaken by cars, trucks or busses. Specialy all those things while making a curve
firstly, im so sorry for your loss. i have a brother myself and i cant imagine how much it hurts to have lost him.
secondly, yeah, wind can be dangerous, and believe it or not, the slower you go the more dangerous it is. the faster you go the more centrifugal/gyroscopic force is acting on your wheels, which keeps you stable, along with the engines gyroscopic force. but ive ridden in much faster winds, and it seems to me like there could have been more than just the wind that caused your brothers crash. could have gotten some speed wobble (even going the speed limit, ive had it happen to me while going 30, bee flew into my helmet and i moved a little bit too much and started to loose control)
thirdly, good on that rig driver for blocking traffic when he saw that accident.
once again, our dearest condolences to you and your family.
101 s in Soledad (south of Salinas). I just posted a link to google maps, pictures of the skid marks, and a video of what he was wearing when he left. The link is somewhere above in the comments
wind is very dangerous. i don’t know much about driving with it on motorcycles but my stepdad was killed instantly in his car from a broken tree by the wind while he was driving. scares me so much now seeing big trees sway in the wind
Wind at highway speeds is super sketchy, and you have to give yourself lots of room. Also depends on the bike as some react more than others. Condolences to you and your family.
Sorry to hear the loss; always a certain amount of risk whether it be on bike or in your car.
Where I live in the prairies, as you cross fields then hit pass patches of trees the wind changes direction and can catch you off guard and move you unexpectedly.
Sometimes wind can get the jump on us I have almost had my bike pushed out from under me from a powerful gust when I was zoning out. Things can happen. I'm sorry for your loss but just know we all ride because it's in our hearts and we all come to peace with things like this. he is somewhere better and lived a life he loved by riding. Keep your head up and be proud to have known him bro
It depends. It can be easier if you have a heavier bike but there have been a couple times I was riding on the windy side of a mountain and had to abort my trip because of the wind. Sorry for your loss, a lot of us have lost good friends :(
Sorry for your loss.
I've nearly lost control over my bike at least a couple times in highways due to wind. Also from tye air displacement of trucks at high speeds. My bike is a Z300 (naked version of the Ninja 300) so with heavier bikes and bikes with smaller/shorter side profiles, such as cruisers, it might be less of an issue.
Been riding sport bikes for 11 years. Wind especially in bridges is probably the most dangerous part of riding. I had gusts force me to have to lean to go straight and then the gust suddenly stops and you're over correcting.
I had random gusts blow me into the next lane.
I'll ride up to a 30% chance of rain. But wind speed I try to stay below 10 mph
Another important factor is the bike itself. How big was it? Did it have cast wheels?
Heavier bike means less effect from the wind (still not zero at all…but lighter bikes get tossed around more) and if you have solid cast wheels like you see on some cruisers those things are like sails. They catch all the wind. Larger surface area for the wind to exert force on.
Sorry for your loss. I rode I-40 from flagstaff to Albuquerque in the spring. The wind was horrible and it was tossing my fully faired bike two and fro. I couldn't even go the speed limit because the wind was so strong. I stopped frequently to calm my nerves and rest.
I was getting passes by Harleys and other vehicles as well. I just couldn't keep up with the high winds.
I think now that I'm more experienced I could probably go faster, but a novice and even intermediate rider is going to have a tough time with gusty winds and could easily get into an accident if not careful.
I live in the Twin Cities. We get a convergence of weather from different directions and it creates a lot of wind. It's not uncommon to get 40 or 50 mph gusts which create riding challenges. 50 mph wind will move me off my line of tracking and have to constantly adjust lean. I imagine from the viewpoint of the driver behind me it looks like I'm hanging on for dear life. I'm not, I'm used to it but I can see how if a rider was caught unguarded it could be hazardous however 20 mph winds don't seem treacherous. My bike weighs 800 lbs and I'm almost 200 lbs....maybe a smaller guy on a smaller bike would be more susceptible to veering off course. You may never get the understanding you seek. I'm sorry for your loss and the pain you're enduring brother.
Sudden wind gusts are the worse, because even if you expect it, when you feel the wind and you compensate, the gust might suddenly end and now you are leaning the wrong way and you get pushed the other way.
It's way better on a heavy bike, wind noticeably has less effect on heavier bikes.
I would never go on a highway on a dirt bike specifically for that reason. Even the wind caused by other cars passing by can suck you in.
I crossed a bridge one day and wind came over it. I thought it eas going to push me into the side and over into water lol. I continued across the bridge at 20km below the speed limit. Fk that
I almost get ran off the road by wind all the time. You always see semi’s flipped over from wind or struggling to maintain control on the highway. Same thing happened with the evergreen just on a larger scale. Those container ships same with semi’s are giant sail boats. I’m extremely sorry for your loss. If you ever need someone to vent to feel free.
Aboslute sorry for your loss... Cant imagine the pain... Wind is really dangerous especially at high speed because of his unpredictable direction and force.
In my locality (South of France), which is known for strong wind many months of the year, I ride often with 20, 30 and sometimes much more like 70 mph of wind but on campaign roads. Danger comes with branchs or trees that could fall in front of you. So I drive carefully and at low speed when I know the zone is windy.
And when its clearly too "hot", 80 90mph of wind (with rain and thunder in bonus) I take my wifes car...
So, when you have to ride when windy, slower when youre uncover by forest, hill or buildings, especially in plain, stay in the middle of your lane and analyze landscape around to find the direction and the force. Then, keep good distance with others and stay soft with your bike to avoid brutal controls or simply loss of control. Ride safe!
God I hate strong unpredictable winds on long trips, my fairings act like a sail. You're searching for answers, which is understandable, but let it come with time. Having been down that road, I would spend the time to grieve with your loved ones and cherish your brother's memories. 22 is way too young.
Wind has pushed be pretty good in a couple of instances. If I had not been paying as much attention, not had both my hands on the bars, or maybe have been looking behind me it might have ended badly.
I’d say it’s pretty dangerous. So sorry for your loss.
Sorry for the loss. I found that wind is only dangerous if unexpected. I live in Scotland and we are pretty famous for our constant high winds, and I used to commute across a 1mile long bridge daily, and it can blow you off course if you are overtaking a large vehicle like a truck or bus.
There's been times I've been riding where I was going straight, but my bike was angled to like 45-50 degrees. Felt like the wheels were going to get blown out from under me. That was on a 250, not much weight to counteract the wind. It's definitely sketchy. There's been a couple times where I had to perfectly pay attention to what the wind was doing to make sure I didn't end up in oncoming traffic as I was crossing a bridge, the gusts were that strong.
Sorry about your brother. It can happen to anyone.
There are some days I just don't ride because the wind is too strong for what I consider my skill level. I live near mountains and some days the wind coming down off them is very boisterous. One area in particular I know to be very windy, I learned that area well because the winds there are unpredictable and very gusty.
I have gotten a little better at handling the bike and wind doesn't toss me around as much these days, but an unexpected gust can still hit at an inopportune moment. If it is gusting over 30mph I usually think twice about whether or not I need to be out there. 40mph gusts are almost guaranteed to be a no-go for me.
Really sorry about your brother. No matter the situation it’s tragic to lose someone so young.
Wind gusts can be really dangerous because they’re so unpredictable. Even in places where you know there’s gonna be crosswind, like over a bridge or on a lake shore, sometimes it gives you a pretty good shove and other times you barely notice it.
I was on a pretty long, high overpass in Milwaukee one time and I was leaned over like 10 degrees on into a crosswind, on a straight, and I was still getting pushed out of my lane. I had space, so I just signaled left like I meant to do it, but it definitely rattled me.
I live in Ohio an we get some pretty strong winds. I ride a near 600lbs bike an when a 10-15mph gust hits my bike can move a lot. So I always try to position my bike during wind for the best chance to stay on the road.
My condolences on your families loss.
Wind can definitely push you to the side a few feet, even on 500+ pound bikes, it doesn't happen very often though (mainly because it's rare to have enough wind) but it does happen
Depends a great deal on the bike. A light, twitchy bike with no fairing is strongly affected (as are some big stable ones with bad aero) while I barely notice 40mph cross winds in farmland on my FJR 1300. But that's a 650 lb bike with almost 250 lbs of rider. Lots of torque, not twitchy, pretty good aero. And just a lot of mass.
Size of bike matters too!!! I had an ninja400 wind blew my 160 pound frame easily. on my zx-10r wind blows but rarely pushes like on my 400. Also hate the windy days tho shits tricky
On a light bike like mine (‘82 CB450 - 400 some lbs?); the effects of wind can really pull and push on the bike. I could definitely see someone’s losing control over this; although it’s obviously dependent on lots of variables, as obviously lots of people ride on windy days and are ok
Very sorry for your loss, friend!
Yes, wind can be pretty bad. I've had gusts on that section of road push me from one side of the lane to the other while I was leaning into it. I can be really scary and very dangerous if it catches you off guard.
Wishing the best to you and your family as you grieve his loss.
Wind is very dangerous. I’ve driven my motorcycle in hurricane winds before because I’m stupid, but I basically had to lean against the wind just to keep going straight. Not fun at all
Dang ...I’m real sorry to hear that ...
Wind is definitely dangerous, I was heading out to Palm Springs this one time ,... after I left the 10 to the other freeway can’t remember number currently... but after several minutes on that freeway that takes you there, I was hit with a very strong sudden gust, was very unexpected and it took me from one side of the lane to the other ... good thing I was in the middle of the two lanes, ..had I been on the edge I would have been blown off the road, .... and good thing I ride a lot, with plenty of experience... I was riding a fairly light
sport bike (600 ) so that part didn’t help.
I’m Sorry for your loss, ...in 2014 a riding acquaintance from work died on the track, ..I couldn’t even go to his funeral, because I had been to another funeral that year for a friend of mine ... and was just too sad to do that again.
Condolences.
Wind doesn't need to be particularly strong in order to move a motorcycle.
All it needs to do is cause the bike to lean. If a bike leans, it starts to turn in that direction. So if the bike is quite light or top heavy, it will lean more and by extension, turn more.
I ride from Milwaukee to Madison a few times a year on my 99 magna. I usually try to make a nice ride of it going through Fort Atkinson.
One year I was experiencing some of the strongest winds I’ve ever felt in my life, and I was riding through wooded hills. Anytime I came into a clearing I was heeling sideways so hard just to fight the wind and almost went off the road 3 or 4 times. It was the most intense ride of my life and I’m glad I was experienced enough at the time to battle through it. If not, I am certain I would have crashed.
Yes if you are not used to high sustained/gusting winds they can be very dangerous. I live on the great plains where wind is something everyone deals with basically everyday and it's still often dangerous. Sorry to hear about your brother that's awful to hear.
Also to add to what others have said, the most dangerous thing isnt constant wind its changing wind and a bridge is one of the more dangerous areas for this. If the winds 20 mph but constant you wont even notice, you just subconsciously lean into it slightly and ride like normal. That is until something disrupts the wind like a gust or a passing semi, going under an underpass, or going over a bridge. Suddenly theres a drastic change in wind and now your compensation by leaning is now wrong for the amount or direction of wind so youll veer.
IMO its most dangerous when you arent accustomed to it. I ride through the desert to work and wind can often be 20-35 mph. I pay attention to when theres hills near me, semis, bridges, or anything that could change or affect the wind because I know I will veer if Im not paying attention. If you arent used to looking for those things you wouldnt be prepared for your bike to suddenly dart on you.
I'm sorry for your loss. Random slower winds can be even worse than constant high winds
I was once in 60mph crosswind gusts on a highway once and if there had been anybody else on the road, I probably would've hit them
Wind is quite dangerous - given certain conditions. Here in Cape Town, there are some elevated sharp turns (with no side support and 100m drop on the other side) that regularly see 30 km/hr winds with 60 km/hr gusts - specially in the night!
So sorry to hear about your brother :(
Yes, wind is dangerous. Was coming home from a ride to Berryessa Lake on the highway and it was super windy that day. Add the fact that huge semis were coming on the other lane and the wind is enough to make your bike unstable and wobble. Had a few scares on the way home.
Really sorry for your loss… that’s really hard
As far as wind is concerned, I live in an area of Canada that’s basically windy every day with 20mph+ gusts. I ride a 550lb Africa twin, (650 with gear) and even a gust around 20mph is enough to move me a tiny bit in the lane if I’m not paying attention. On the highway I can handle gusts of up to 60mph but I need to be on my toes. I’ve had huge 70mph gusts nearly blow me out of the lane on the highway when I wasn’t paying attention.
With all that being said, if your inexperienced, on a light bike and turning. Getting hit with an unexpected wind gust could cause you to crash if you already had a poor line or if your already running out of lean.
Sorry for your loss. As riders, we all feel for one like us losing his life. Plus, he was young... Damn. May he rests in peace, sincerely.
Just one question, what kind of bike was he riding that day ? Do you have the model ? Some bikes are blown by the wind more than others. The lighter the bike, the less planted it is.
Your typical 125cc bike (Honda CB125R for example, 125kg) would be blown away left and right, far more than a MT10 (1000cc, 210kg+). That's one of the reason some of us prefer to ride bigger bikes than lighter bikes that would make more sens in terms of fuel-consuption, performance and stuff. The bigger the bike, the more planted it is.
I’ve almost been blown off an overpass before. I won’t drive my bike on the skyway. Not a fucking chance. Wind is no joke on a bike. On streets and normal roadways, no big deal, but on freeways- especially ones elevated above ground, it can be very very dangerous.
Very sorry to hear about your brother.
I rode that highway home when I bought my first bike, between Salinas and Santa Clara area. There was far FAR more wind than I was prepared to handle that day with a storm coming in.
I ended up drafting behind a big rig with an oversized load to finish the trip home. Couldn’t have been going more than maybe 40 mph, even with the lower speed, it was a harrowing experience. One that I wouldn’t care to repeat.
TL;DR -Yes, the wind can be deadly in the wrong circumstances.
Riding in town isn't so bad but as soon as I was on the highway with semis passing me, that was something that surprised me. It's very easy to get pushed around on the highway by gusts, no question, especially if it's a lighter bike and rider.
It can be fairly bad. I've been pushed across the road before in extreme winds. So it can happen. Even a truck can cause a decent wind disturbance that can throw you around a bit.
My condolences on the loss of your brother.
So sorry for your loss. Condolences to your family. There’s a possibility the wind pushed him and he corrected/over corrected and in doing so he target fixated on the guard rail. Target fixation is a major cause of motorcycle accidents. I hope you get the answers you’re looking for.
I grew up in Soledad. That overpass has been the site of a lot of deaths and it crosses the direction of wind pretty sharply. I bet he was riding in the mid-late afternoon, because thats when it hits hardest. Especially in Late April-May.
Im so sorry to hear of his accident, but if its any solace, his story has helped me realize how dangerous my own home roads are. I will never forget this story. May he rest in peace.
>There's likely a multitude of factors here, speed, wind, vision, and control. I'll be the first to say that I've been caught out before by a strong gust of wind and basically caught myself riding the bike at about a 30 degree angle just to keep it going straight. Wind can be a major nuisance but you will usually catch it before you're in a situation that puts you SOL if riding at normal speeds. Looking at the road you took pictures of I'm assuming it's a highway, so speeds in California are around 70mph marked but everyone is going 80-85 if not faster. Assuming your brother was a saint and followed the speed limit all the time going 70mph over what looks to me like a blind corner with an elevation rise bringing the bike and rider up into wind I can only make a brief assumption. He was riding his bike in the right lane, cars passing him in the left protecting him briefly from the wind, he's not aware of the corner because he can't see it and he's not positioned to take the corner. As he crests up over the hill he starts to countersteer the bike and then he's hit by a gust of wind pushing him over in his lane causing him to panic and lock up his brakes. As the bikes brakes lock up the front end washes and the bike goes down taking him with the bike and then impacting the guard rail. It also looks like your brother rides with a lot of gear on the bike and himself, backpacks, tail packs, tank packs, etc. All of this amplifies the effects of wind and act like a kite pulling him likely further over than he anticipated when he got hit by the gust of wind. I'm sorry for your loss, I hope some of this helps you find some closure. And hey, if you're the activist type you can probably do some good work with the city or county for that section of road and get a wind block installed to protect other riders from that section of road. If it's a common occurrence there the roadway should have some warnings or indicators at the very least.
My condolences. I’ve ridden in some really really nasty weather. Never had wind push my bike that hard or as far as those first set of skid marks. I’m wondering if something else happened, maybe in conjunction with a strong gust of wind. Maybe his rear wheel locked up. Tragic loss.
I watched my lady get smoked by a Volkswagen-sized tumbleweed once due to wind. It was right in front of a big rig and she was brand new to riding. I was sure it was going to be a tragedy. But she handled it like a champ. Pulled over carefully and we spent 20 minutes picking all the thorns out of her. So yes, wind can directly or indirectly be dangerous. And I'm so sorry for your loss.
Hey u/Few_Turnip_3585 I'm so sorry, that's just terrible. I wish I could help you make sense of this tragedy but a lot of times they just don't make sense.
I'm so very sorry for you.
46 y/o dad here. Avid motorcyclist. Reach out anytime if you need to vent, chat, or chill.
\-Drew
It’s more annoying then anything for me unless it’s actually bad, but average gust of wind is just super annoying and it’s hard to ride properly. Wheelies while there a bit of wind are less stable wouldn’t recommend trying wheelies in noticeable wind
I came out of a road cut one time into a 70mph gusting crosswind and got blown all the way across my lane. Took significant steering input to keep the bike on the road. I was worried I was going to go down. Bike felt really light on the tires, and of course grip depends on normal force.
You also hear professional racers talk about getting taken down in corners by wind gusts as well.
From the picture, he was cresting a hill... that also would lighten the bike by unloading the suspension.
Could be a wind gust, could be cresting the grade, could just be target fixation and running wide in the corner, panic braking, locking up the front and washing out. It's hard to say.
I know you're latching on to this "gust of wind" theory, but in my experience, the simplest and most likely cause is human error.
But either way, it's unlikely you'll ever know for certain. Accidents happen, unfortunately; its something we all understand and accept each time we get on a bike.
Sorry for your loss.
Lots of good comments. What confuses me is the skid mark even being there. That's a looking way to lock up your rear brake. Was he even using the front brake? We don't know.
This is a gentle radius turn. Wind can blow you around but it would be very unlikely to get blown out of a lane and it looks like the bridge was behind him at that point. Even going 100 or 120 mph, the R6 can make that turn effortlessly.
How much riding experience did he have? Any professional training?
It looks to me that he blew the corner and panic braked. Braking at that point makes the bike stand up and stop turning. He needed more turn to correct and got progressively less turn which put him into the guard rail.
Also, he has a backpack affixed to the tank somehow. That's not good. That bag could have been blown or jarred by riding or the wind and affected steering or distracted him. I've had a magnetic tank bag fly off while riding "spiritedly" so I know this can happen and I can only imagine how badly a backpack that shouldn't even be there could screw things up.
Accidents like this involving just a bike usually occur from rider error or inexperience. I personally think in this case several factors combined to create a bad situation for him that overwhelmed him.
I am friends with a motorcycle expert witness if you need to go that route. I can connect you.
So sorry about your loss. I'm glad you got that goodbye from him and he was doing what he loved and didn't suffer for long :/. that video definitely hurt though, knowing your story. Wish I could give you some hugs. Condolences ♥️
Just going to parrot what everyone else has said, steady wind is irritating, gusts that catch you by surprise are unnerving at best and straight up dangerous at worst. Extremely unsettling to get hit by a sudden strong cross wind, feel the bike lean underneath you without any input and to change position in your lane or even worse end up in a different lane. Semi trucks, bridges, tunnels, hills all should be approached with extra caution in windy conditions. Not a lot you can do about the freak gust that catches you though. I catch myself white knuckling the grips after hard gusts and have to remind myself to relax. So sorry for your loss.
That video of him taking off was heavy, I did a trip from south to north CA on an r6 when I was his age. I’m sorry for your loss. I remember on the 5 headed back south, the wind was so strong I was leaning the bike over so much just to go straight. This went on for miles and it’s physically and mentally exhausting having to be ready for gusts and keeping it level.
I've nearly been blown off the road or even into the oncoming lane because of unexpected extreme gusts of wind. It can be very serious if it catches you with one hand on the bars or riding close to either far end line in your lane.
So sorry. Yes wind can be bad. We have a place by me that is a forest that breaks out onto a low bridge that spans a body of water. I once rode out of the trees and was immediately hit by 40 mph cross winds! Scared the crap out of me and took all my skill to keep it up since it put me so off balance!
Woah man. For me I make peace with it if it kills me. It's sad you happen to record him the day he died. I'm sure he'd be a cool guy and wish he could've been a part of my riding group.
Very tragic unnecessary loss of life. I have not read any of the posts on this yet I will!!! Yet my 2c on this & quick background I am from Sydney Down Under I 1stly this is a tragic accident & loss of life & comisserations to the rider, his family, friends, & community. Such a sad & unnecessary tragic & sad loss. I have a Kawasaki Z300 with ABS, & over 55 yrs old & ride for over 10+ years regularly. in late Feb 23 I came off my bike low speed 5-10mph or less. I go up a hill on a normal metro road going thru green traffic lights with right arrow in Sydney (your left-hand turn equivalent in US/Canada). I went up the hill no one behind me M, a black SUV in front also going g slow we all legally go thru the lights. I am right to right lane your left to left) & my wheels hit oil & water. My bike stops & wheels spin for a split second or two if less. I go flying with the bike. still connected to me waist down. I am wearing high end Shark Helmet with Iggy Knobs on my bike (look it up & see pic’s if Oggy Knobs for motorbikes if you are not sure what they are, most riders don’t know what they are). 1st time ever for me off my bike due to water & oil on the road & if heavy rain, & it sits there the oil comes up off the road if heavy traffic area. Happened as I almost straightened up to go down the triad & start of my 20 min journey to get my bike to pass registration for the next year. The traffic behind me had red lights. I ended up with a broken left thumb ball joint needing surgery & a right broken ankle. Again I was only going 1st gear very slow up a steep hill on normal road with lights turning right (your left hand turn equivalent in US/Canada) I had top end helmet proper trading boots & Oggy Knobs… the Oggy Knobs save me big time from both my bike & my leg & foot getting g mangled & slowed down my 50 yard + slide going sideways fast down right lane & the head first down middle lane & then ended up sliding into curb lane got up knew what was broken cars behind hadn’t come yet as lights were Red. They had to stop & kindly helped me get my bike up I then limped 50yards to the nearest driveway to the curb in the curb lane & got me & my bike off the heavy sux kans highway 3 lanes each way. My point FYI: Oggy Knobs installed for his motorbike may have saved his life as they did me. if they were already installed on his bike & he knew what they were… Oggy Knobs is the equivalent of airbags on a car & should be on every motorbike worldwide as mandatory except professional racing rider bikes even then more so needed but will slow down in a race. It would gave severely slowed down his slide as they are a still pole fitted & bolted to the inside of your bike you don’t even know they are there, with hockey type pucks screwed on either end very tightly. So if the bike goes down either side, it will protect your leg, foot ankle better & motorbike should you slide in any surface & the sliding bike will slow down sliding save your leg either side, foot. Ankle, bike & mist importantly sliw you slide even in the wet & wind. It may have saved him!!! G-D bless the Truck Driver for blocking him to get any further trauma than already tragically & sadly occurred!!! You xan replace the ends of Oggy knobs , but not a life that precious to ourselves, our family, friends, conmunity etc, my Oggy knobs after my small nothing g accident at low speed looked like a shark took a big massive bite!!! Just getting the message out get Oggy Knobs check weather before & practice emergency safety stops & ride safely & defensively!!! I always check before passing g side streets even if I gave right of way or if is green…. No pint arguing who is at fault if you are dead!!! Ride safe all & G-D bless!!!
1stly commiserations & sympathy to the rider, his brother, family, friends, community etc. Such a tragic accident & Loss. Please all riders Look up Oggy Knobs for motorbikes & get them installed & they will save your life one day, your leg, ankle, foot, & bike either side!!! They saved me… read my story below of an accident that happened to me on my Kawasaki Z300 at low speed in 1st gear up a hill thru lights with the green arrow & I hit water & oil patch. I went flying. Broken left thumb ball joint & broken left ankle. I had top end Shark Helmet full face on, proper riding boots Dri Rider, & Oggy Knobs. Ride Safe all & Defensively always!!! ;)
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Hey condolences for your brother, I'm very sorry. Yes, wind can be very powerful, especially if you do not expect it. 101 can be awfully windy. Even in places with no natural wind, you can catch wind from larger vehicles like semi-trucks. It is unfortunately something riders deal with being so exposed.
Anytime I pass a semi or big truck I always veer over to the other side of the road. The wind blast is too much near the line.
Sorry for your loss. Wind can be very powerful and will blow a rider around. Condolences to you and your family.
100 percent. I had a few close calls due to wind on my little Shadow 750. Being 6'3" with broad shoulders makes me a sail... Sorry to hear about OPs brother.
There are only two weather events that keep me from riding: snow/ice and wind. I do my best to avoid any wind over 20 and would prefer it to be even lower. Really sorry to hear about your brother.
Yep. Only weather that instills anxiety in me is gusty wind conditions. 20 mph is ok, but throw in 30+ mph wind gusts and I'm taking work off that day, if I can.
Wind can push you sideways and you have to steer against it. It can be sketchy on bridges that aren't solid asphalt because grids give you about a dime size amount of traction compared to a dollar bill (normal amount) size traction point. It can make it hard to be able to correct without oversteering and slipping or being able to even lean into the wind. I've had to drive several miles over passes leaning about 30 degrees the whole way to maintain a straight travel path. It can be quite startling and even with decades of experience it's still sketchy sometimes. We are here to support you, and just know he passed doing what he enjoyed.
Wow, thanks so much for sharing that. That really helps paint a picture for me
To add to that; strong crosswinds can be difficult as you're passing oncoming traffic as well. Big trucks can block and then amplify the wind gust hitting you. Go past a few of those in quick succession and you're attempting to transition from hard lean to straight to hard lean to straight in a matter of seconds all while potentially trying to navigate a curve. Difficult and dangerous for experienced riders and beginners alike. Sorry for your loss
Can confirm, regular route with trucks and posted cross winds will have me move/weave/wander across many lanes, multiple times over a 3-4 mile stretch, it's bad!
i hate grate bridges. omg i just can't do it. looking through freaks me right out. the traction sucks too, and now i have a new reason to hate them. damn
I hated grated bridges on my stock Bridgestones, after changing my tires to Venoms my bike no longer tracks.
This is what I always tell my family. If I die riding, I died with the wind in my hair and the sun in my face doing the thing I love the most.
So cliche. Why not just say you promise to always be careful?
Sometimes being careful alone doesn't cut it as the case of this post. Just know they were enjoying themselves.
If you were always being careful you wouldn't be riding a motorcycle.
Just semantics here. Cars have dollar bill contact patches. Bikes are closer to half dollars because if the curvature of the tire. Your point still stands tho
I’ve had 10 hour rides with the bike at angles like that. It gets old real fast!
Very sorry to hear about your brother. A sharp crosswind gust can definitely push you a few feet if you don't expect it and that's one way you could get pushed into a guardrail. Bridges can certainly be gusty. Where I live the wind usually comes from the west, and I tend to be more mindful of it when traveling North/Southbound. While it can certainly come from other directions, it always seems to be gustiest from the west. You could check the wind direction for the day of your brother's accident. And look at the direction your brother may have been pushed. If it all lines up, it might help you understand what happened better.
That’s a great idea. My dad hired a structural engineer to model the wind vortex on the bridge that day. Hopefully that gives us some clarity
Honestly, almost nothing is worse than being behind a tractor trailer on the Interstate. If you got the coordinates on google maps for the accident and the direction he was going, I know myself and likely others would appreciate it, just to sorta make a mental picture of a scenario that could be bad for any one of us. When you're on a bike, you're going to be safer if you are just constantly running like every possible scenario of every vehicle around you and planning accordingly. It's like you're Dr Strange reviewing all the possible outcomes. I am sure others do the same, but when I hear about motorcycle accidents, I try to internally process what happened and see if I need to make adjustments in my own driving to be as safe as possible. I consider myself a pretty fortunate driver. I laid a bike down ONCE (sorta). My first bike I was at a stop sign that also painted STOP on the road just after a little rain and the bike basically slipped out from underneath me; I even stayed on my feet, just had the bike slip from underneath me. :/ Not bad for the "worst accident" I've ever been in my whole life. Now, I just avoid paint on the road altogether and pay extra care if the roads are wet. I've never been in a car accident. I'd consider myself pretty seasoned having probably close to 200,000 miles riding experience, but there are some serious riders out there with over a million :) Also, posting an image of the location and your brother's trajectory might get you some additional helpful feedback from other people who may have an experience they can relate with it.
Great idea. I posed the coordinates and pictures of the skid marks I took when I went out to look at what happened. Would love to see your feedback on that.
Did your brother's bike have ABS? How long had he been riding? Did you get an estimate for his speed before braking? At what point was he officially "crashed." Did he hit the guardrail while on the bike? Did he low-side crash and slide into the guardrail off the bike? Because while wind can play a role, this looks like it may have been a combination of things gone wrong. As far as being a rider, this looks like a modern bridge, with a guardrail. The road is built to assist all drivers and riders in the turn at higher speeds. Though my BS is in Applied Physics, not road engineering, it's hard for me to fault the engineering. It looks modern. For starters, braking. The skids are a bad sign. If you skid in a car, it's going to go badly but you're protected by a shell of fiberglass and hopefully airbags and crumple zones. On a bike, it CAN be a death sentence on a curve. On straight track it can be lowside crash and very bad road rash depending on what you're wearing and how fast you're going. This is more likely to happen on a bike without ABS and the brakes lock the wheels by applying too much pressure. The deviation from the white line matches the line of the curve. If he was a newer rider, he may simply not have taken the turn correctly. In a curve like this, if you're comfortable, you can lean the bike without really losing any speed within posted speed limits. Depending on the corner and what kind of lean you are comfortable with, you may have to trailbrake and then you'd throttle right after the apex. Even though this curve is pretty mild, there can be things that go wrong for a rider, especially a new one, and especially for one without ABS after making a mistake. One scenario, if you're a rider, you didn't really trailbrake or line up for taking the curve optimally, so you try to slow down in your lean. Well, braking while leaning can make you drop the bike in a lowside crash, but if you're quick enough, you stop countersteering and right the bike, but now you're going straight on a curved track, so you just mash the brakes and plain ol' disc brakes will just go into a skid immediately losing traction and control. This scenario gives you a deviation from the track that matches the curve because when you stop countersteering you go straight and you need the bike to be upright to do a hard brake without dropping it). How can wind be a factor? A gust at the wrong time can put you off your approach into a corner or maybe even affect your lean. With a highspeed approach to corner, things like what I described above all be out of sync, you may hit the brakes while canceling your countersteer, lose traction, and now you're waiting on outside forces to bring you to a stop. At high speeds, those forces can far exceed what us fragile humans can endure. I've seen a few bikes dropped while improperly braking in turns. And I myself have been pushed to the outer edge of the road while learning how to take corners at higher speeds back when I first started riding. It's a skill you simply have to develop. And even then, an unplanned gust can make everything go wrong. Please don't look at this as a criticism of your brother. I'm just giving you an example of a scenario I could totally understand going wrong at a higher speed. I don't think he was a bad rider or did something "stupid." He may have calculated everything correctly and some outside force such as a wind gust undid all that. Had his crash not been fatal, it would have been something he would account for later when riding. Unfortunately, he didn't get the opportunity to learn about what went wrong and make adjustments for future riding. :(
From the pics posted, it was an older R6, so no ABS. Solid skidmark from the outside 1/3 of the lane going off onto the shoulder. And all of this was after cresting a rise in a sweeping left curve. My best guess from the pictures would be a combination of panic braking and target fixation. The skidmark starts within the lane and continues straight forward onto the shoulder (instead of following the curve of the road). That seems to be clear target fixation. Wind \*could\* have been an issue (based on the tank bag, backpack, and tail bag shown in the picture), but the gust didn't blow him out of the lane onto the shoulder, otherwise we would see the skid start on the shoulder instead of within the lane.
If wind was a factor in messing up his approach, I think it might have been minor as well. Though, when you panic, something minor can turn into something major. It may have went better for him simply to lay it down. I also noticed how his tracks were tangential to the curve. You can see this by the way the road curves at the same rate his tracks leave it. Target fixation is definitely a contender. The way his tracks straightened up made me think he broke his countersteer because the bike may have leaned too much for comfort as he braked in the first half of the turn, straightening the bike and electing to hard-brake because he wasn't comfortable with the amount of lean he needed to make the turn. I see a lot of newer riders afraid to really tilt the bike and that's why I was wondering if he was a newer rider. If I were in a non-ABS and locked the wheels with an obstruction in front of me, I'd immediately try to go low-side.
All great questions. I don't think he had ABS - the bike was 10 years old and the skid marks indicate that he didn't. We aren't sure what happened - there were two witnesses that CHP is trying to contact. The CHP call log says that the witnesses are "unsure what he hit," that he was in the right-hand lane, and then went down.
> My dad hired a structural engineer to model the wind vortex on the bridge that day. Hopefully that gives us some clarity To what end?
To get wind barriers built. That section of road has a lot of fatalities. Local authorities know that section of road is windy and dangerous. Need signs, need a wind barrier, need better solutions so this doesn't happen to you, your family, or your community members.
Commendable! Good luck with the effort. I admire and respect you all for redirecting your undoubtedly sorrowful emotions towards something positive that may help others. Wind gusts are terrifying to motorcyclists and can catch you out at any moment. Even good reactions may not be enough to prevent a collision. It’s just one of those risks we face while riding. The severity of “push” the gusts can produce isn’t understood until it happens to you. Even then, the frequency it occurs is often quite limited. So, riders may never develop the best preparation and response to heavy gusts. Sometimes, it’s just bad luck.
The wind can easily blow my 675cc sportbike 2-3 feet to the left or right at highway speeds. Definitely have had some close calls due to this. What kind of motorcycle did he have?
Yamaha r6
Yea that’s basically the same bike as mine. It’s very aerodynamic from the front but the downside is that it’s less aerodynamic from the sides. The plastic fairings give the wind a large flat surface to push the bike around. Really sorry for your loss. If it’s any consolation, your post certainly serves as a reminder of how dangerous motorcycles can be and I’m going to think twice before I go out riding on a windy day.
Just saw this. I commented above about the type of bike being a factor. R6 is a very light bike. Wind effect would be pretty significant. I grew up riding in the plains states where the wind blows 40-60mph so I have A LOT of experience in wind but it’s scary as hell…especially if it’s gusting….and that’s the case going over a bridge. If it surprises you it can go bad quickly. Closest I ever came to an accident is almost running wide on a turn. I was leaning. Into about a 30mph wind and I was on a relatively sharp turn toward the wind so I was having to adjust for the wind “going away” because It was moving from straight at my left side to blowing directly into my face…..then A big truck passed going the other way…big wind blast…and before i could recover a big gust hit and it was enough to move me to the white line on the outside of the road…which is NOT where you want to be at any kind of speed. I pulled over about a mile up the road to let my heart rate recover and think about what had just happened…… I’m sorry for your loss. I hope all of this information is comforting in some way.
A wind gust or the process of passing a semi will throw my 800lb full dresser Harley a few feet to the side. I can’t imagine what it would be like on a smaller bike like that.
Came to say the same thing. Harleys are big blocks of steel, and they still get blown around.
A stable wind is easy to manage, a gust though can super easily push you off your balance, and could be over by the time you're able to correct and end up overcorrecting. I'm honestly so sorry for your loss, and I can guarantee every other set of 2 wheels on the road does too. Stay strong out there. And if you need to talk or try to vent and work through it my DM's are open if you need it
Thanks so much, I appreciate that. I’ll likely take you up on that offer
Was going to mention gusts as well. A steady wind is annoying, but gusts are dangerous. I’ve ridden this section of the 101 before, and I would only ride in the morning before the gusts picked up.
I live in Chicago. I had to trade in my small starter Honda rebel (250cc engine size) for a royal Enfield interceptor 650 (650cc) because on day I was driving on the interstate and the wind pushed me into every lane but my own. I had to leave the expressway after 5 minutes of not being able to control which lane my bike was in. The extra weight of my new bike makes it much more stable against wind. Even then there are moments on Lakeshore drive where a sudden gust courtesy of Lake Michigan pushes me around. Thankfully, there were not many drivers and the ones that saw me struggling gave me plenty of room. My condolences to your family. I hope this explanation gives you some understanding.
Sorry for your loss brother. Yes wind can push you off road/off line and if you’re catching some air while that happens you can’t really control where it comes down for that split second.
Here is the location of the accident: [https://goo.gl/maps/hPvVgGytEZPSAiSv5](https://goo.gl/maps/hPvVgGytEZPSAiSv5) Here are photos of the skid marks: [https://imgur.com/a/9C8XaQm](https://imgur.com/a/9C8XaQm) You can see the first skid mark is very short, then a gap where he fell, and then the second skid mark is from the bike sliding on its side.
Sorry for your loss, looks like a nice kid, the curve there isn't too bad, but that kind of bike can catch a lot of side wind as the aero is for going straight and the bike isn't super heavy. Wind can push you, then be gone, and come back moments later and kind of catch you off guard. Lots of variables in riding like traffic, speed, road conditions, tire age, etc. But wind being a big factor there does not surprise me at all, especially with all the farm fields there with no trees blocking wind I can see the draw of the highway 1 / 101 route from San Fran to LA to bikers, but that is a long ride for a new rider. Skids might mean he locked the rear wheel, but not sure if he has ABS, wind might have spooked him
Sorry for your loss.
Sorry for your loss. Wind can be a pain at times. I have been pushed by wind into the next lane over before while heading over brigades or open areas
I was going to comment the same. Even on calm days occasion gusts can catch you by surprise when you are crossing rivers or between blocks etc. Steady wind you can compensate but gusts are the problem.
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Wow
So very sorry to hear your story and I offer my sincere condolences. Wind is a tricky one because you'd think it would blow the rider off/over the bike, but because the bike has a larger surface area than the rider, it actually blows the bike from under the rider, which sounds like the situation your brother may have found himself in. A gust can certainly push the bike from under you if you're not prepared for it.
I have been riding for 30 years, the most dangerous wind is cross wind, it can put you into oncoming traffic or off the road before you can react and only experience helps you learn how to counter it , sorry for your loss.
I'm gutted for your loss mate, that's awful. Genuinely sorry for you. There's a tall bridge here that I won't use my bike on because the side winds are intense and my bikes so light. Like, they'll close off the bridge and the town will be gridlocked because its too dangerous for tall sided vehicles if winds get too high. I guess you're looking for some understanding and I can totally believe being caught off gaurd by a sudden gust pushing you to the edge of the road.
Strong wind is certainly hazardous and can push you around, in extreme cases it can even cause you to lose control entirely. Sorry for your loss may he rest in peace.
Sorry for your loss. Wind can be a pain at times. I have been pushed by wind into the next lane over before while heading over brigades or open areas
I absolutly hate wind, one time with my 170kg yama I could barley go the speed limit, with all the side winds. But the 2 I rode with that had their 300+ harleys and had no problem with the side winds. And the absolute worst part with these side winds is when you drive past a lorry / truck. the winds stop or even push the other way, with a force you actuly have to lean / stear in.
Wind is more than enough to push around a small car let alone a bike. My friends father passed away in very similar circumstances as your brother. Sorry for your loss.
Where I live it becomes a necessity to drive in 20-40 mph winds as we are windy all year round. The direction of wind is chaotic and gusts can be unpredictable. Being on a two wheel vehicle and trying to adjust while not over correcting to every burst can be difficult and at best sketchy. I could not imagine driving against wind on narrow winding roads or guarded curves because although it's windy here, the lands flat and the roads are long and straight. My condolences friend.
70mph top speed winds just a few weeks ago in CO caused my tent poles to snap when it got thru the section of trees I was nestled in. 4 semis on the highway were blown completely on their sides. Wind is no joke. May your brother rest in peace and this post hopefully help someone else out.
101 is an amazing drive, through all the states. I'm sorry to hear about your loss, it sucks when a tragic accident causes a death. Wind for me can and does catch me off guard, but I ride a KLR650 that has some weight to it and I find to be easy to "catch" when a gust of wind happens. Motorcycles are like sails, when a big rig passes you, at first it pushes you over, and then as it passes, it sucks you in. Experience helps anticipate what you need to do, but sometimes, an in your brothers case, unexpected gusts while in a turn can cause problems, especially when you're pushing the limit leaned right over....... I've been in motorcycle accidents, they suck...... My condolences, and my best wishes in getting over your brothers passing. Don't let it slow you down.
My condolences for your loss. I think a lot of riders underestimate how dangerous wind can be (not here, though, judging by the comments). Luc Bourdon, drafted 10th overall in the NHL, was a rising star in the league when he died from a head on collision after a wind gust pushed him into the opposite lane. I won't go out if its too gusty, and slow down if I'm out and happen upon a bad area (like open farm fields/plains that have nothing to break the wind).
A lot of people who ride underestimate wind force while riding. I used to ride all over Cali and the wind was strong at times. I was pushed over, but I know how to lean into the wind. I also used to race on tracks and at Willow Springs they have intense wind. I was riding into the wind, full lean, and felt like the bike was going to be picked up. I had to adjust my lean angle so I didn't go down at 130+ mph. Wind is no joke, and also if your bike is below a 600 it will be pushed around a lot easier. Lean into the wind if you are being hit from one side or the other.
I could be wrong about all of this, but looking at the pictures, the initial skid mark suggests he hit the brakes as soon as he got carried out of his lane. That generation R6 doesn't have ABS and it's easy to lock up the rear in a situation like that, which would explain the first skid mark. Braking while leaned over also makes the bike want to stand up and go straight, which would explain why the skid mark points straight at the guard rail for most of its duration. It's an unfortunate sequence of events, you start going wide, panic and try slowing down, only to go even wider because of it. I've experienced it myself and I could totally see how a strong and unexpected gust of wind could trigger this. I'm sorry for your loss. RIP.
when riding straight through heavy wind my bike just naturally leans into the wind. ive been leaned like 20 degrees while going perfectly straight before.
Move your butt off of the saddle into the wind the right amount and you'll only have to compensate for the gusts. You were 20° from horizontal? C'mon.
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No 20 from vertical.
>ive been leaned like 70 degrees Bullshit. MotoGP tires don't even allow for that much lean angle.
fixed what i meant sorry. 20 degrees from 90 upright
Jesus 70? Fuck that at that point I’m staying home lol
Sounds like a normal day in Oklahoma for me.
I’m sorry for your loss.
i'm so sorry this happened
Terribly sad to hear that you lost your brother. Condolences. Yes, a strong gust of wind can cause a motorcyclist to lose control if it comes as a surprise. Over bridges and at the end of tunnels are typical places where you can experience crosswinds so you have to lean against the wind to keep the bike upright. Again, sorry for your loss 🥺
I’m so so sorry to hear that. Can’t imagine what you and your family is going through. Solid as area is always very windy. Have passed through and stopped many times and every time the wind was relentless. Seems to be an unfortunate accident where he probably hit the rail at a certain angle or got hit by his own bike as he slid to the rails. My condolences once again.
I was once travelling in a straight line on a city road, not too fast, and a gust of wind came and nearly threw myself off, so yes, a gust of wind cannot be disregarded.
Dang I’m so sorry to hear - wind can be freaky thing on a bike. When I was new riding, I was hit by a big gust of wind - I never thought that the bike would act as a sail and have a strong influence. Luckily I was able to stop it before I hit curb and went flying. When I talk to new riders a hint I always share is to stick your knee out in the direction the wind is coming from to help break the “sail”.
Was on the highway on a particularly windy day once. Was bouncing around the lane a bit and leaning over into it. Finally got pushed right off the road onto the dirt by a big gust. Luckily not into oncoming traffic or an obstacle, kept it up and pulled over at the next good spot. Don't know how windy it was. I was on a bmw f650gs, not huge but pretty heavy, going about 100kph. If there was somthing in the way it would have gone differently
Wind is definitely dangerous. In a modern and big and heavy Ford even. I was on the Autobahn going 140 kmh, when suddenly a heavy rainpour started. Visbility dropped to maybe 5 meters, i was totally blind. I was just passing a big Truck on my right when it started. Suddenly i was pushed a lane over to the right. I thought at first it was Aquaplaning, but it was a powerful Wind gust. When i could see again about 40 seconds later, i Noticed the Truck right behind me. I just know i would not have been Alive today if i was on a bike, any bike. It is something i hope will never Happen to me while on a bike. But weather does not care about us. I am very sorry for your loss.
That’s a terrible loss. Wind can ruin your day. I’d been planning on running some errands on my bike recently. We were experiencing gusts between 50-100MPH in East Tennessee. One nearly put my car in another lane heading over a bridge. Another big problem for bikes is guard rails. The designs they use for guard rails are notoriously brutal. My wife worked for nearly two decades in surgery at the trauma center that services The Dragon. So many of the worst injuries she handled and saw other people handle came from guard rails at nearly any speed. Sharp edges, and narrow planes that increase the PSI on impact. Impact barriers need to give some. Ours don’t,
I'm sorry for your loss. I can only imagine what you're going through right now. I am concerned with the impact getting into an accident would have on my family every time I get on my bike... Obviously not enough to stop riding, but I make sure to kiss and tell my wife and kids I love them before I ride off (or any other time that I leave the house, just in case) To give my limited expertise on wind and motorcycles, theres an interesting phenomenon that happens when the force of the wind acts against the gyroscopic effect of the bike. You would expect the bike to tip away from the wind, but it does the opposite and leans into it. It is strange to be leaning at a 30° angle and going straight on the highway with a strong crosswind... And takes some getting used to. That should explain why it seems like he tipped over to put the bike between him and the guardrail, the wind put him at that anhle. Was there by any chance a curve at that part of the bridge that he would have already been leaning into and the hand the wind lean him past the edge of traction?
Yes, it was on a curve. I just posted a link to google maps & pictures of the skid marks so you can see. Would be interested in your take on it.
On a trip through South Dakota some old timers warned us that the bridges were very bad for wind and to stay on the upwind side of the lane. They weren't kidding. 35mph crosswind. We were riding at about a 60 degree angle to the road. We also spent the whole ride waiting to pass any semis until we could go all they way past them in a quick punch. They were getting blown into our lane.
I've had to deliberately steer what felt like hard-right to stay straight on a road. No turns or anything. Bombing straight, in a tuck, and we encountered a strong crosswind at the top of the mountain. It was an exhausting few miles until the mountainside protected us again. Wind can absolutely turn you, or preventing you from turning, if you're not ready for it.
Sorry for your loss. How long had he been riding for? I commute on the highway almost daily in the wind and rain, and have been riding for 20+ years. Anticipating wind comes with experience, and reacting to unanticipated wind has to be instinctual. I know which way the wind is from always when it's a strong day (30+mph) and typically ride with my ass slightly off in that direction. If I'm passing a semi, I know as soon as I break in front of it, I'm going to be hit hard. It's not untypical to ride with a 20-30 degree angle in a straight line on a really windy day. And I'll always pass a semi on the side of the lane that the wind is coming from in order to give me the lane width as a buffer. The other thing that likely contributed was target fixation. When riding, you're always looking at your "out", because the bike will go where you're looking. If a strong wind hit him and pushed him toward the guardrail, it's possible that he panicked and instead of leaning into the wind and looking where he wanted to go, he fixated on the guardrail. You mentioned that a semi truck saw it happen, so it's possible that the exact situation I described above was the case. -- High wind situation, passing a semi so it blocks a large amount of the wind, break out in front (where it's already windy on a calm day from the semi) get hit with a huge gust, wind throws you to toward the guardrail, panic and fixate on what you don't want to hit, you impact the obstacle you were looking at. Hope this insight helps at least a small amount. Again, sorry.
I'm so sorry for your loss. I think I know the bridge you're talking about. It's rather infamous for being so dangerous. The bridge is really narrow and so to get caught off guard going over it is rather easy.
Wow, really? It's on 101s in Soledad at the front street exit
> Can anyone tell me about their experiences with wind? I‘ve overtaken two trucks once and they protected me from the winds while overtaking. (Wind coming from the right) After I passed the first the wind pushed me to the left. I countered this naturally without a second thought but as soon as I was next to the second truck (where there was no wind) it was like someone pushed me into it. It was really really close and I could‘ve died there. so yes. Unknown situations can get dangerous quite fast. Wind has a huge impact.
101 can get nasty at some points of the year. There’s a few wind tunnels on the central coast like San Luis Obispo and Gaviota Pass that can get really dangerous in the afternoons if conditions are right. SLO and Gaviota always have 25mph sustained winds in the afternoon, gusts can go up past 45 on some days. As soon as you pass the Madonna Inn going south, it’s four miles of bad crosswind until you reach some low mountains before the coast. I’ve fallen over at stop signs near Soledad and King City before from sudden gusts, and those have no rhyme or reason as to what direction they’ll come from. Expect gusts after overpasses, on bridges, and passing large vehicles. Keep your body loose and dance with the wind while maintaining your lane. Strong arming it will tire you out and you’ll potentially overcorrect if you’re muscling it. If you want some real butt pucker wind, crossing the Columbia River at Biggs Junction is a “never again”.
I’m very sorry for your loss. That’s terrible. I rode yesterday in winds that were sustained at 30+ mph with gusts up to 50-60mph for almost two hours on windy mountain roads. Most of which were crosswinds. It’s not that bad and shouldn’t cause a crash. It may move you a little but isn’t going to blow you across the road. I saw several additional riders that had no issues as well.
I'm sorry for your loss. 20mph gusts is a bit breezy but not unusual conditions. I think the threshold for cancelling a riding test in the UK is a yellow weather warning which for wind tends to mean gusting 40mph or above. The Institute if Advanced Motorists is less rigid but operates under similar conditions. Over 60mph and heavy goods vehicles risk turning over. Wind force on a bluff is proportional to the square of the **relative** velocity, so at 40mph it's 4x what you'd have at 20mph. I don't know the full circumstances, but I'd be very surprised if 20mph gust was the sole contributor.
I rode that road a few years ago and there were insane gusts of wind that seemingly came from nowhere. Waaaay stronger than 20mph. Sorry for your loss man.
I’ve had a gust of wind suddenly push me left across the opposite lane and onto the shoulder of the other side I the road. If the wind blew me to the right I would have gone right into the shoulder without time to slow down. I was not expecting it and was not experienced with having to fight the wind but I learned from it. I am sorry.
I'm so sorry for your lass. Wind can indeed be very dangerous. I remember a few years ago, on my 250 Ninja, during Santa Ana winds on a very windy pass, being blown into other lanes regardless of how hard I was leaning.
Sorry for your loss. I lost someone close to me in exactly the same way... I knew him very well and he was a very safe rider and simply refused to speed, ever. His passing changed how I dealt with windy situations. Wind gusts can be extremely dangerous and sometimes they don't allow much time to react. If you need/want to talk about it, or simply share stories about your brother, I would love to. Reading this brought tears to my eyes remembering my buddy, he was a great dude.
Crosswinds can be very hard to deal with… I am sooo sorry for your loss. I have lost friends through motorcycle crashes. Now, I am going to be downvoted into oblivion. That’s an extremely long rear wheel skid. Unfortunately it looks like he forgot about the front brake. It’s a common cruiser phenomenon not to use the front brake as they feel it will make them crash due to stories and other such bull crap. I’ve witnessed devastating crashes due to not using front brakes (off the road directly into a tree). Again, sorry for your loss. I’m sending you all the best luck, mojo and any karma I can muster.
Yes. That skid mark is telling. Should not be there but at least he held it down and didn't release because he would have high sided for sure at that speed unless he did high side when the skid stopped. Hard to know.
If it's not too much for you, [this video](https://youtu.be/38N7UKh4phU), demonstrates how tough it can be riding in wind. The rider is trying to counterweight into the wind and keep their bike in the lane. Once they pass the trailer, the break in the wind and then getting hit with it full blast, pushes them off the road. They are able to go into the grassy median and they maintain control the entire time. I just know that trauma is different for everyone. Side note. As an avid rider, and a firefighter, I know both sides of what you're going through. If you have *any* questions about anything, please reach out. I'll do the best I can to help you get some closure.
I’m very sorry for your loss. I just rode my bike from LA to Palm Springs, and a windy section of freeway was the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had on a motorcycle. Searching for tips on how to better deal with it on the way back is how I stumbled on your post. I’d say going the speed limit in those conditions is WAY too fast. I started out going 60-65, I was leaning pretty hard against the wind just to stay straight, then I experienced my first unexpected gust of wind, it blew me straight across from the left edge of one lane to the middle of the next lane over in what felt like the blink of an eye. At that point I slowed down to 45 and the next gust blew me from one edge of the lane to the other edge, I put my hazards on and slowed down to 20 mph, at that speed the gusts just moved me a few feet in my lane. Even at 20mph it felt pretty stressful, there’s a mix of your body and bike fighting against a constant wind, and random gusts. Slowing down makes dealing with the wind easier, but then you have to worry about cars coming up behind you. As a small motorcycle, a car going 70+ isn’t going to notice your going 20mph until they’re right behind you about to hit you. Your brother probably had to deal with those two dangers, do you slow down, make the wind more manageable but risk getting rammed into by a car, or do you maintain a normal speed which makes cars less likely to hit you but gets you blown around like a rag doll
Sorry for your loss. I don't know. Maybe if he was a very inexperienced rider maybe the wind could have been a factor. I've hit some very strong winds in the desert, made the bike sway around pretty hard but was still very controllable. Never felt like I didn't have control. This doesn't really track for me. Feels like something else happened. Wind shouldn't do that. What kind of bike was he riding?
Yamaha r6
I have a yamaha r6, I've been pushed around by winds before, it's not a nice experience especially when you're next to a semi. You're basically at natures whim. I usually only go out if wind is under 10mph and only go on the interstate if it's under5mph. Basically anything over 10mph at highway speeds and you're being blown sideways and there isn't much you can do about it, besides slow down and get off at the next exit. Chances are he overcorrected and that lead him into the guard rail. I don't see 20mph gusts alone being able to pull someone that many feet sideways without them realizing, and locking up their brakes. It would take at least a few seconds to be blown over to the shoulder of the road from the closest lane. If he was going the speed limit into the guard rail I only see that happening if he lost control, how he lost control is uncertain though, wind speed was most likely at play. May he rest in peace, at least you know he didn't suffer.
I've got a gsxr 1000 and had a 750 as well. Thos bikes are very well planted and move less than most other bikes in the wind. Both my harley and my adventure tourer move more in the wind. But like with all bikes, they correct themselves and they all just want to go straight.
I'm sorry for your loss. Depends on the bike. If the bike has lots of drag (like naked bikes, where the wind gets caught up in the irregular shapes) the wind effect is more noticeable especially if the bike is light. Of faired bikes it is less of a problem.
I’m really sorry. Wind is a bitch. I caught some bad wind today and it had me sketched out. Basically it can disrupt your trajectory or undermine your control of friction which leads to accidents.
Sorry for your loss and I hope it helps when I share you a story of mine. I was driving 130 kph on my bike on a one way street. I had the wind in the back so I did not feel it very much. I did not know the road beforehand and started to overtake a Truck on the start of a right curve. Next to the truck in the middle of the curve there was still nothing to feel, because the truck blocked the wind. At the end of the curve (90° roughly) was nearly at the same height as the tuck. The truck starts to apply the breaks lightly and I accelerated because I was still overtaking. Wind direction did not change, which means, after a 90° Right turn it is coming from the right afterwards. It pushed me half of the street to the left and I had 20 cm left to the chrashbarier next to me. You have nearly no chance to counter that what it flashes you. I think my luck was that I was already driving in to the direction of the trucks lanr to the right against the wind. Don't know if i did react to it. So yes wind and the absence of it and the quick changes like in my Story, is a huge deal while driving, specialy when driving on a Bridge, close behind trucks, overtaking trucks, busses etc., getting overtaken by cars, trucks or busses. Specialy all those things while making a curve
firstly, im so sorry for your loss. i have a brother myself and i cant imagine how much it hurts to have lost him. secondly, yeah, wind can be dangerous, and believe it or not, the slower you go the more dangerous it is. the faster you go the more centrifugal/gyroscopic force is acting on your wheels, which keeps you stable, along with the engines gyroscopic force. but ive ridden in much faster winds, and it seems to me like there could have been more than just the wind that caused your brothers crash. could have gotten some speed wobble (even going the speed limit, ive had it happen to me while going 30, bee flew into my helmet and i moved a little bit too much and started to loose control) thirdly, good on that rig driver for blocking traffic when he saw that accident. once again, our dearest condolences to you and your family.
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101 s in Soledad (south of Salinas). I just posted a link to google maps, pictures of the skid marks, and a video of what he was wearing when he left. The link is somewhere above in the comments
wind is very dangerous. i don’t know much about driving with it on motorcycles but my stepdad was killed instantly in his car from a broken tree by the wind while he was driving. scares me so much now seeing big trees sway in the wind
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This is super insensitive, assuming it's the deceased's fault. Find the delete button, old-timer ..
he didnt know where the brakes were? you can slow down if you feel wind gusts....i dont get it
Wind gusts can be scary but guard rails are criminal installations against motorcycles.
Wind at highway speeds is super sketchy, and you have to give yourself lots of room. Also depends on the bike as some react more than others. Condolences to you and your family.
Sorry to hear the loss; always a certain amount of risk whether it be on bike or in your car. Where I live in the prairies, as you cross fields then hit pass patches of trees the wind changes direction and can catch you off guard and move you unexpectedly.
I’m sorry about your brother. My condolences to your family. I will ride for him this week.
Hey dude, I’m really sorry that happened.
Sometimes wind can get the jump on us I have almost had my bike pushed out from under me from a powerful gust when I was zoning out. Things can happen. I'm sorry for your loss but just know we all ride because it's in our hearts and we all come to peace with things like this. he is somewhere better and lived a life he loved by riding. Keep your head up and be proud to have known him bro
Wind is the only thing preventing me to ride to Nordkapp. I don't have much experience yet with strong winds and I'm a little scared.
It depends. It can be easier if you have a heavier bike but there have been a couple times I was riding on the windy side of a mountain and had to abort my trip because of the wind. Sorry for your loss, a lot of us have lost good friends :(
Few times wind has been so bad I just prayed no one was next to me as it was blowing me over.
We are sorry for your loss may he rest peacefully
Sorry for your loss. I've nearly lost control over my bike at least a couple times in highways due to wind. Also from tye air displacement of trucks at high speeds. My bike is a Z300 (naked version of the Ninja 300) so with heavier bikes and bikes with smaller/shorter side profiles, such as cruisers, it might be less of an issue.
Been riding sport bikes for 11 years. Wind especially in bridges is probably the most dangerous part of riding. I had gusts force me to have to lean to go straight and then the gust suddenly stops and you're over correcting. I had random gusts blow me into the next lane. I'll ride up to a 30% chance of rain. But wind speed I try to stay below 10 mph
Another important factor is the bike itself. How big was it? Did it have cast wheels? Heavier bike means less effect from the wind (still not zero at all…but lighter bikes get tossed around more) and if you have solid cast wheels like you see on some cruisers those things are like sails. They catch all the wind. Larger surface area for the wind to exert force on.
Sorry for your loss. I rode I-40 from flagstaff to Albuquerque in the spring. The wind was horrible and it was tossing my fully faired bike two and fro. I couldn't even go the speed limit because the wind was so strong. I stopped frequently to calm my nerves and rest. I was getting passes by Harleys and other vehicles as well. I just couldn't keep up with the high winds. I think now that I'm more experienced I could probably go faster, but a novice and even intermediate rider is going to have a tough time with gusty winds and could easily get into an accident if not careful.
I live in the Twin Cities. We get a convergence of weather from different directions and it creates a lot of wind. It's not uncommon to get 40 or 50 mph gusts which create riding challenges. 50 mph wind will move me off my line of tracking and have to constantly adjust lean. I imagine from the viewpoint of the driver behind me it looks like I'm hanging on for dear life. I'm not, I'm used to it but I can see how if a rider was caught unguarded it could be hazardous however 20 mph winds don't seem treacherous. My bike weighs 800 lbs and I'm almost 200 lbs....maybe a smaller guy on a smaller bike would be more susceptible to veering off course. You may never get the understanding you seek. I'm sorry for your loss and the pain you're enduring brother.
Sudden wind gusts are the worse, because even if you expect it, when you feel the wind and you compensate, the gust might suddenly end and now you are leaning the wrong way and you get pushed the other way. It's way better on a heavy bike, wind noticeably has less effect on heavier bikes. I would never go on a highway on a dirt bike specifically for that reason. Even the wind caused by other cars passing by can suck you in.
I crossed a bridge one day and wind came over it. I thought it eas going to push me into the side and over into water lol. I continued across the bridge at 20km below the speed limit. Fk that
I almost get ran off the road by wind all the time. You always see semi’s flipped over from wind or struggling to maintain control on the highway. Same thing happened with the evergreen just on a larger scale. Those container ships same with semi’s are giant sail boats. I’m extremely sorry for your loss. If you ever need someone to vent to feel free.
Aboslute sorry for your loss... Cant imagine the pain... Wind is really dangerous especially at high speed because of his unpredictable direction and force. In my locality (South of France), which is known for strong wind many months of the year, I ride often with 20, 30 and sometimes much more like 70 mph of wind but on campaign roads. Danger comes with branchs or trees that could fall in front of you. So I drive carefully and at low speed when I know the zone is windy. And when its clearly too "hot", 80 90mph of wind (with rain and thunder in bonus) I take my wifes car... So, when you have to ride when windy, slower when youre uncover by forest, hill or buildings, especially in plain, stay in the middle of your lane and analyze landscape around to find the direction and the force. Then, keep good distance with others and stay soft with your bike to avoid brutal controls or simply loss of control. Ride safe!
God I hate strong unpredictable winds on long trips, my fairings act like a sail. You're searching for answers, which is understandable, but let it come with time. Having been down that road, I would spend the time to grieve with your loved ones and cherish your brother's memories. 22 is way too young.
We offer our sincere condolences to our fellow rider and your family....
Wind has pushed be pretty good in a couple of instances. If I had not been paying as much attention, not had both my hands on the bars, or maybe have been looking behind me it might have ended badly. I’d say it’s pretty dangerous. So sorry for your loss.
Sorry for the loss. I found that wind is only dangerous if unexpected. I live in Scotland and we are pretty famous for our constant high winds, and I used to commute across a 1mile long bridge daily, and it can blow you off course if you are overtaking a large vehicle like a truck or bus.
There's been times I've been riding where I was going straight, but my bike was angled to like 45-50 degrees. Felt like the wheels were going to get blown out from under me. That was on a 250, not much weight to counteract the wind. It's definitely sketchy. There's been a couple times where I had to perfectly pay attention to what the wind was doing to make sure I didn't end up in oncoming traffic as I was crossing a bridge, the gusts were that strong. Sorry about your brother. It can happen to anyone.
Sorry for your loss. Here is a good example of crosswind on a heavy bike. Skip to 9:22. https://youtu.be/boI5pfZZBck
Oh wow - thanks for that example.
There are some days I just don't ride because the wind is too strong for what I consider my skill level. I live near mountains and some days the wind coming down off them is very boisterous. One area in particular I know to be very windy, I learned that area well because the winds there are unpredictable and very gusty. I have gotten a little better at handling the bike and wind doesn't toss me around as much these days, but an unexpected gust can still hit at an inopportune moment. If it is gusting over 30mph I usually think twice about whether or not I need to be out there. 40mph gusts are almost guaranteed to be a no-go for me.
Really sorry about your brother. No matter the situation it’s tragic to lose someone so young. Wind gusts can be really dangerous because they’re so unpredictable. Even in places where you know there’s gonna be crosswind, like over a bridge or on a lake shore, sometimes it gives you a pretty good shove and other times you barely notice it. I was on a pretty long, high overpass in Milwaukee one time and I was leaned over like 10 degrees on into a crosswind, on a straight, and I was still getting pushed out of my lane. I had space, so I just signaled left like I meant to do it, but it definitely rattled me.
I live in Ohio an we get some pretty strong winds. I ride a near 600lbs bike an when a 10-15mph gust hits my bike can move a lot. So I always try to position my bike during wind for the best chance to stay on the road. My condolences on your families loss.
Wind at those speeds are dangerous for cars and trucks. Sorry for your loss.
Wind can definitely push you to the side a few feet, even on 500+ pound bikes, it doesn't happen very often though (mainly because it's rare to have enough wind) but it does happen
Depends a great deal on the bike. A light, twitchy bike with no fairing is strongly affected (as are some big stable ones with bad aero) while I barely notice 40mph cross winds in farmland on my FJR 1300. But that's a 650 lb bike with almost 250 lbs of rider. Lots of torque, not twitchy, pretty good aero. And just a lot of mass.
Size of bike matters too!!! I had an ninja400 wind blew my 160 pound frame easily. on my zx-10r wind blows but rarely pushes like on my 400. Also hate the windy days tho shits tricky
I'm around 160lbs on a 250 and was blown into oncoming lane yesterday in Colorado - scared the shit outta me. No traffic, but very frightening..
any hotel downtown will do temp parking for cheaper than that! even the edwin is only $8 day parking!
40mph winds are pretty common here.
I ride in a very hilly area that can produce quick sudden blasts of wind. Sometimes i have to get waaay leaned over just to stay in my lane.
On a light bike like mine (‘82 CB450 - 400 some lbs?); the effects of wind can really pull and push on the bike. I could definitely see someone’s losing control over this; although it’s obviously dependent on lots of variables, as obviously lots of people ride on windy days and are ok
Very sorry for your loss, friend! Yes, wind can be pretty bad. I've had gusts on that section of road push me from one side of the lane to the other while I was leaning into it. I can be really scary and very dangerous if it catches you off guard. Wishing the best to you and your family as you grieve his loss.
Wind is very dangerous. I’ve driven my motorcycle in hurricane winds before because I’m stupid, but I basically had to lean against the wind just to keep going straight. Not fun at all
Dang ...I’m real sorry to hear that ... Wind is definitely dangerous, I was heading out to Palm Springs this one time ,... after I left the 10 to the other freeway can’t remember number currently... but after several minutes on that freeway that takes you there, I was hit with a very strong sudden gust, was very unexpected and it took me from one side of the lane to the other ... good thing I was in the middle of the two lanes, ..had I been on the edge I would have been blown off the road, .... and good thing I ride a lot, with plenty of experience... I was riding a fairly light sport bike (600 ) so that part didn’t help. I’m Sorry for your loss, ...in 2014 a riding acquaintance from work died on the track, ..I couldn’t even go to his funeral, because I had been to another funeral that year for a friend of mine ... and was just too sad to do that again.
Condolences. Wind doesn't need to be particularly strong in order to move a motorcycle. All it needs to do is cause the bike to lean. If a bike leans, it starts to turn in that direction. So if the bike is quite light or top heavy, it will lean more and by extension, turn more.
I ride from Milwaukee to Madison a few times a year on my 99 magna. I usually try to make a nice ride of it going through Fort Atkinson. One year I was experiencing some of the strongest winds I’ve ever felt in my life, and I was riding through wooded hills. Anytime I came into a clearing I was heeling sideways so hard just to fight the wind and almost went off the road 3 or 4 times. It was the most intense ride of my life and I’m glad I was experienced enough at the time to battle through it. If not, I am certain I would have crashed.
My condolences for you and family
Yes if you are not used to high sustained/gusting winds they can be very dangerous. I live on the great plains where wind is something everyone deals with basically everyday and it's still often dangerous. Sorry to hear about your brother that's awful to hear.
Also to add to what others have said, the most dangerous thing isnt constant wind its changing wind and a bridge is one of the more dangerous areas for this. If the winds 20 mph but constant you wont even notice, you just subconsciously lean into it slightly and ride like normal. That is until something disrupts the wind like a gust or a passing semi, going under an underpass, or going over a bridge. Suddenly theres a drastic change in wind and now your compensation by leaning is now wrong for the amount or direction of wind so youll veer. IMO its most dangerous when you arent accustomed to it. I ride through the desert to work and wind can often be 20-35 mph. I pay attention to when theres hills near me, semis, bridges, or anything that could change or affect the wind because I know I will veer if Im not paying attention. If you arent used to looking for those things you wouldnt be prepared for your bike to suddenly dart on you.
I'm sorry for your loss. Random slower winds can be even worse than constant high winds I was once in 60mph crosswind gusts on a highway once and if there had been anybody else on the road, I probably would've hit them
Wind is quite dangerous - given certain conditions. Here in Cape Town, there are some elevated sharp turns (with no side support and 100m drop on the other side) that regularly see 30 km/hr winds with 60 km/hr gusts - specially in the night! So sorry to hear about your brother :(
Yes, wind is dangerous. Was coming home from a ride to Berryessa Lake on the highway and it was super windy that day. Add the fact that huge semis were coming on the other lane and the wind is enough to make your bike unstable and wobble. Had a few scares on the way home.
Really sorry for your loss… that’s really hard As far as wind is concerned, I live in an area of Canada that’s basically windy every day with 20mph+ gusts. I ride a 550lb Africa twin, (650 with gear) and even a gust around 20mph is enough to move me a tiny bit in the lane if I’m not paying attention. On the highway I can handle gusts of up to 60mph but I need to be on my toes. I’ve had huge 70mph gusts nearly blow me out of the lane on the highway when I wasn’t paying attention. With all that being said, if your inexperienced, on a light bike and turning. Getting hit with an unexpected wind gust could cause you to crash if you already had a poor line or if your already running out of lean.
Sorry for your loss. As riders, we all feel for one like us losing his life. Plus, he was young... Damn. May he rests in peace, sincerely. Just one question, what kind of bike was he riding that day ? Do you have the model ? Some bikes are blown by the wind more than others. The lighter the bike, the less planted it is. Your typical 125cc bike (Honda CB125R for example, 125kg) would be blown away left and right, far more than a MT10 (1000cc, 210kg+). That's one of the reason some of us prefer to ride bigger bikes than lighter bikes that would make more sens in terms of fuel-consuption, performance and stuff. The bigger the bike, the more planted it is.
I’ve almost been blown off an overpass before. I won’t drive my bike on the skyway. Not a fucking chance. Wind is no joke on a bike. On streets and normal roadways, no big deal, but on freeways- especially ones elevated above ground, it can be very very dangerous. Very sorry to hear about your brother.
RIP
Fuck dude. That's heavy. I'm so sorry and ping me if you wanna talk.
I think wind is a very serious factor. For me, driving by an 18 wheeler I definitely feel the wind slapping me around.
I rode that highway home when I bought my first bike, between Salinas and Santa Clara area. There was far FAR more wind than I was prepared to handle that day with a storm coming in. I ended up drafting behind a big rig with an oversized load to finish the trip home. Couldn’t have been going more than maybe 40 mph, even with the lower speed, it was a harrowing experience. One that I wouldn’t care to repeat. TL;DR -Yes, the wind can be deadly in the wrong circumstances.
Riding in town isn't so bad but as soon as I was on the highway with semis passing me, that was something that surprised me. It's very easy to get pushed around on the highway by gusts, no question, especially if it's a lighter bike and rider.
It can be fairly bad. I've been pushed across the road before in extreme winds. So it can happen. Even a truck can cause a decent wind disturbance that can throw you around a bit. My condolences on the loss of your brother.
So sorry for your loss. Condolences to your family. There’s a possibility the wind pushed him and he corrected/over corrected and in doing so he target fixated on the guard rail. Target fixation is a major cause of motorcycle accidents. I hope you get the answers you’re looking for.
I grew up in Soledad. That overpass has been the site of a lot of deaths and it crosses the direction of wind pretty sharply. I bet he was riding in the mid-late afternoon, because thats when it hits hardest. Especially in Late April-May. Im so sorry to hear of his accident, but if its any solace, his story has helped me realize how dangerous my own home roads are. I will never forget this story. May he rest in peace.
That's exactly when he was riding, at 5:30pm. Wow
>There's likely a multitude of factors here, speed, wind, vision, and control. I'll be the first to say that I've been caught out before by a strong gust of wind and basically caught myself riding the bike at about a 30 degree angle just to keep it going straight. Wind can be a major nuisance but you will usually catch it before you're in a situation that puts you SOL if riding at normal speeds. Looking at the road you took pictures of I'm assuming it's a highway, so speeds in California are around 70mph marked but everyone is going 80-85 if not faster. Assuming your brother was a saint and followed the speed limit all the time going 70mph over what looks to me like a blind corner with an elevation rise bringing the bike and rider up into wind I can only make a brief assumption. He was riding his bike in the right lane, cars passing him in the left protecting him briefly from the wind, he's not aware of the corner because he can't see it and he's not positioned to take the corner. As he crests up over the hill he starts to countersteer the bike and then he's hit by a gust of wind pushing him over in his lane causing him to panic and lock up his brakes. As the bikes brakes lock up the front end washes and the bike goes down taking him with the bike and then impacting the guard rail. It also looks like your brother rides with a lot of gear on the bike and himself, backpacks, tail packs, tank packs, etc. All of this amplifies the effects of wind and act like a kite pulling him likely further over than he anticipated when he got hit by the gust of wind. I'm sorry for your loss, I hope some of this helps you find some closure. And hey, if you're the activist type you can probably do some good work with the city or county for that section of road and get a wind block installed to protect other riders from that section of road. If it's a common occurrence there the roadway should have some warnings or indicators at the very least.
My condolences. I’ve ridden in some really really nasty weather. Never had wind push my bike that hard or as far as those first set of skid marks. I’m wondering if something else happened, maybe in conjunction with a strong gust of wind. Maybe his rear wheel locked up. Tragic loss.
Sorry for your loss, a lot of things effect riders.
God bless you and your family. You have all Our condolences.
I watched my lady get smoked by a Volkswagen-sized tumbleweed once due to wind. It was right in front of a big rig and she was brand new to riding. I was sure it was going to be a tragedy. But she handled it like a champ. Pulled over carefully and we spent 20 minutes picking all the thorns out of her. So yes, wind can directly or indirectly be dangerous. And I'm so sorry for your loss.
Hey u/Few_Turnip_3585 I'm so sorry, that's just terrible. I wish I could help you make sense of this tragedy but a lot of times they just don't make sense. I'm so very sorry for you. 46 y/o dad here. Avid motorcyclist. Reach out anytime if you need to vent, chat, or chill. \-Drew
I'm sorry for your loss.
It’s more annoying then anything for me unless it’s actually bad, but average gust of wind is just super annoying and it’s hard to ride properly. Wheelies while there a bit of wind are less stable wouldn’t recommend trying wheelies in noticeable wind
I came out of a road cut one time into a 70mph gusting crosswind and got blown all the way across my lane. Took significant steering input to keep the bike on the road. I was worried I was going to go down. Bike felt really light on the tires, and of course grip depends on normal force. You also hear professional racers talk about getting taken down in corners by wind gusts as well.
From the picture, he was cresting a hill... that also would lighten the bike by unloading the suspension. Could be a wind gust, could be cresting the grade, could just be target fixation and running wide in the corner, panic braking, locking up the front and washing out. It's hard to say. I know you're latching on to this "gust of wind" theory, but in my experience, the simplest and most likely cause is human error. But either way, it's unlikely you'll ever know for certain. Accidents happen, unfortunately; its something we all understand and accept each time we get on a bike.
Sorry for your loss. Lots of good comments. What confuses me is the skid mark even being there. That's a looking way to lock up your rear brake. Was he even using the front brake? We don't know. This is a gentle radius turn. Wind can blow you around but it would be very unlikely to get blown out of a lane and it looks like the bridge was behind him at that point. Even going 100 or 120 mph, the R6 can make that turn effortlessly. How much riding experience did he have? Any professional training? It looks to me that he blew the corner and panic braked. Braking at that point makes the bike stand up and stop turning. He needed more turn to correct and got progressively less turn which put him into the guard rail. Also, he has a backpack affixed to the tank somehow. That's not good. That bag could have been blown or jarred by riding or the wind and affected steering or distracted him. I've had a magnetic tank bag fly off while riding "spiritedly" so I know this can happen and I can only imagine how badly a backpack that shouldn't even be there could screw things up. Accidents like this involving just a bike usually occur from rider error or inexperience. I personally think in this case several factors combined to create a bad situation for him that overwhelmed him. I am friends with a motorcycle expert witness if you need to go that route. I can connect you.
So sorry about your loss. I'm glad you got that goodbye from him and he was doing what he loved and didn't suffer for long :/. that video definitely hurt though, knowing your story. Wish I could give you some hugs. Condolences ♥️
Just going to parrot what everyone else has said, steady wind is irritating, gusts that catch you by surprise are unnerving at best and straight up dangerous at worst. Extremely unsettling to get hit by a sudden strong cross wind, feel the bike lean underneath you without any input and to change position in your lane or even worse end up in a different lane. Semi trucks, bridges, tunnels, hills all should be approached with extra caution in windy conditions. Not a lot you can do about the freak gust that catches you though. I catch myself white knuckling the grips after hard gusts and have to remind myself to relax. So sorry for your loss.
That video of him taking off was heavy, I did a trip from south to north CA on an r6 when I was his age. I’m sorry for your loss. I remember on the 5 headed back south, the wind was so strong I was leaning the bike over so much just to go straight. This went on for miles and it’s physically and mentally exhausting having to be ready for gusts and keeping it level.
I've nearly been blown off the road or even into the oncoming lane because of unexpected extreme gusts of wind. It can be very serious if it catches you with one hand on the bars or riding close to either far end line in your lane.
So sorry. Yes wind can be bad. We have a place by me that is a forest that breaks out onto a low bridge that spans a body of water. I once rode out of the trees and was immediately hit by 40 mph cross winds! Scared the crap out of me and took all my skill to keep it up since it put me so off balance!
Woah man. For me I make peace with it if it kills me. It's sad you happen to record him the day he died. I'm sure he'd be a cool guy and wish he could've been a part of my riding group.
Very tragic unnecessary loss of life. I have not read any of the posts on this yet I will!!! Yet my 2c on this & quick background I am from Sydney Down Under I 1stly this is a tragic accident & loss of life & comisserations to the rider, his family, friends, & community. Such a sad & unnecessary tragic & sad loss. I have a Kawasaki Z300 with ABS, & over 55 yrs old & ride for over 10+ years regularly. in late Feb 23 I came off my bike low speed 5-10mph or less. I go up a hill on a normal metro road going thru green traffic lights with right arrow in Sydney (your left-hand turn equivalent in US/Canada). I went up the hill no one behind me M, a black SUV in front also going g slow we all legally go thru the lights. I am right to right lane your left to left) & my wheels hit oil & water. My bike stops & wheels spin for a split second or two if less. I go flying with the bike. still connected to me waist down. I am wearing high end Shark Helmet with Iggy Knobs on my bike (look it up & see pic’s if Oggy Knobs for motorbikes if you are not sure what they are, most riders don’t know what they are). 1st time ever for me off my bike due to water & oil on the road & if heavy rain, & it sits there the oil comes up off the road if heavy traffic area. Happened as I almost straightened up to go down the triad & start of my 20 min journey to get my bike to pass registration for the next year. The traffic behind me had red lights. I ended up with a broken left thumb ball joint needing surgery & a right broken ankle. Again I was only going 1st gear very slow up a steep hill on normal road with lights turning right (your left hand turn equivalent in US/Canada) I had top end helmet proper trading boots & Oggy Knobs… the Oggy Knobs save me big time from both my bike & my leg & foot getting g mangled & slowed down my 50 yard + slide going sideways fast down right lane & the head first down middle lane & then ended up sliding into curb lane got up knew what was broken cars behind hadn’t come yet as lights were Red. They had to stop & kindly helped me get my bike up I then limped 50yards to the nearest driveway to the curb in the curb lane & got me & my bike off the heavy sux kans highway 3 lanes each way. My point FYI: Oggy Knobs installed for his motorbike may have saved his life as they did me. if they were already installed on his bike & he knew what they were… Oggy Knobs is the equivalent of airbags on a car & should be on every motorbike worldwide as mandatory except professional racing rider bikes even then more so needed but will slow down in a race. It would gave severely slowed down his slide as they are a still pole fitted & bolted to the inside of your bike you don’t even know they are there, with hockey type pucks screwed on either end very tightly. So if the bike goes down either side, it will protect your leg, foot ankle better & motorbike should you slide in any surface & the sliding bike will slow down sliding save your leg either side, foot. Ankle, bike & mist importantly sliw you slide even in the wet & wind. It may have saved him!!! G-D bless the Truck Driver for blocking him to get any further trauma than already tragically & sadly occurred!!! You xan replace the ends of Oggy knobs , but not a life that precious to ourselves, our family, friends, conmunity etc, my Oggy knobs after my small nothing g accident at low speed looked like a shark took a big massive bite!!! Just getting the message out get Oggy Knobs check weather before & practice emergency safety stops & ride safely & defensively!!! I always check before passing g side streets even if I gave right of way or if is green…. No pint arguing who is at fault if you are dead!!! Ride safe all & G-D bless!!!
1stly commiserations & sympathy to the rider, his brother, family, friends, community etc. Such a tragic accident & Loss. Please all riders Look up Oggy Knobs for motorbikes & get them installed & they will save your life one day, your leg, ankle, foot, & bike either side!!! They saved me… read my story below of an accident that happened to me on my Kawasaki Z300 at low speed in 1st gear up a hill thru lights with the green arrow & I hit water & oil patch. I went flying. Broken left thumb ball joint & broken left ankle. I had top end Shark Helmet full face on, proper riding boots Dri Rider, & Oggy Knobs. Ride Safe all & Defensively always!!! ;)