Automatic Lane Change Feature

[Primo]

Didn't know I had one....

I usually check the weather before heading out on a ride of any distance. Yesterday's was going to take me about 125 miles RT so I should have checked.

All was calm when I left the house but a little over half way to my destination there it was. A temporary road side sign lit up with the warning "Gusty Winds Ahead".

Ok fine. A little breezy through that stretch most days anyway.

Gusts got stronger as I progressed. I hit an exposed overpass doing about 72 mph.

I was in the fast lane...then I wasn't. It was if this giant hand gently pushed my bike over a full lane to the right.

I had just thumbed the turn signal to change lanes to the right when the Automatic Lane Change occurred.

High winds have hit me before but never to the extent that this gust had. Before this "ALC" happened I was thinking I'd ride it out then exit the freeway if need be then cut across on a surface road. After the unexpected lane change it was not a matter of waiting but rather where was the next exit.

Got off and being stubborn I did indeed make it to the store with a now somewhat blocked crosswind.

After parking the bike so that wind was pushing it to the kickstand side I went inside the store.

Reaching inside my pocket I dug out my phone and hit the weather app. Where I was (San Bernardino, CA) it said the current wind speed was 32mph. At the point my bike made it's Automatic Lane Change the app told me the wind there was 39 mph.

So... the moral of the story is: Always check the weather where you are going as well as the weather along the path there. Also our 6's are big and heavy but getting broadsided by 39 mph winds with even higher gusts will be effected and can catch the wind like a sail.

P.S. Took an alternate way home where the wind was to my back until it died down enough to head back with a greatly diminished crosswind.

[53driver]

"ALC" - I'll have to make sure that isn't my invoice. I hope I didn't pay extra for it....

Glad you are safe. 40 knot winds will move things about. The Santa Ana winds used to get my UNDIVIDED attention riding my '81 Wing around the El Toro area 20 some years ago.
Cheers,
Steve

[DaWadd]

Where I live during the summer the winds can be brutal. I HATE side winds, but love a tailwind. Be safe out there.:icon_biggrin:

[53driver]

Where I live during the summer the winds can be brutal. I HATE side winds, but love a tailwind. Be safe out there.:icon_biggrin:

Rode "due North" from Glacier Nat'l Park through Alberta's flatlands in late June. Side winds were UN-believable.

[woody]

Glad to hear you remained upright. Just out of interest is your bike fitted with a belly pan?

[Texas TC]

I have had that happen to me several times over the years. The worst times were when I was driving my 27000 pound diesel pusher motorhome. Now that will really get your attention!

[Primo]

Glad to hear you remained upright. Just out of interest is your bike fitted with a belly pan?

No belly pan.

[Primo]

I have had that happen to me several times over the years. The worst times were when I was driving my 27000 pound diesel pusher motorhome. Now that will really get your attention!

I was east bound on the 210 here in Southern California. Every year or two some tractor trailers get pushed over in this area.

My thought was if they could get pushed over I might end up like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz! . :shock:

[Steve 0080]

" Been there-done that "... and yes it will make you pay attention !!!!!

[F6B1911]

Yeah, wind is a brutal thing, rode over the Mackinac Bridge early this year, think I drove the whole span at a 45-degree angle.
It'll get the adrenalin working!

[Captain Russ]

I had a bunch of wind the other day, and noticed the bike moving over in the lane. I just got the bike 2 weeks ago, so everything is a new experience.

[Steve 0080]

Here in the land of the Tail of the Gator... if you are movong down the road and there are trees and such on the side...when there is a bare spot " HOLD ON "....it will also get your attention !!!

[mechnic13]

I ride daily thru the Banning Pass from Beaumont to just past Palm Springs and the winds can easily hit 50-60 mph , I've learned not to fight them .

[Primo]

I ride daily thru the Banning Pass from Beaumont to just past Palm Springs and the winds can easily hit 50-60 mph , I've learned not to fight them .

That's a nice stretch of road. But you are right. They didn't put all those wind generators out there for nothing.

I love taking the old road to Laughlin but absolutely hate that little stretch of the 62 from the 10 north until it starts heading east again.

[F6B_39]

Speaking of wind gusts, we are experiencing 62 mph winds as I'm typing this. It's pretty brutal. The one time I'm glad I'm not on the bike.

[BadDawg]

My favorite is a high cross wind from the left side of the road to the right. So you are in a nice left lean just to keep the bike straight. Then comes a big ass truck from the other direction. All the sudden there is no wind and the bike is in a hard lean wanting to dive into the on coming traffic.

Catches your attention the first time it happens. Not that big of a deal when you expect it.

[fxdl2051]

The f6 seems to catch the wind, leastwise I don't remember the Harley ever fighting the wind like the Honda does, on the other hand a whole lot less buffeting.

[bobbyf6b]

No belly pan.

It would be interesting to get your input on whether the belly pan helps in cross winds or not.

I drive a truck through there often (I-10 and 60 and 210) and it definitely gets your attention. With all the newer trucks on air ride suspensions they rock and sway alot more.

[edgeman55]

I live in the High Desert 15 miles east of Carson City NV.Any wind under 50mph here they call a breeze! Needless to say I ride in the wind a lot sometimes in a 50+mph crosswind.Bike was a real handfull untill I got a bellypan and it does help a lot with crosswind handling.I know others here question the validity of this but I feel it has helped.

[tinkerman]

OK Folks,

I live on the island portion of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada's most easterly province. I like to refer to this existence as living on a rock out in the middle of the Atlantic which is not much of a stretch at all. In any case, after a few hints of winter (six inch snowfalls which have since melted) we were finally gifted today with a great day of 16 degrees Celcius (around 60 degrees F). Got out for a run on the F6B to the next major center where I put my order in for a new snow machine. The guys at that shop got a great kick out of that....arriving on a bike to buy a ski doo.

In any case, the warm temps were delivered by fairly strong westerly gusty winds (fairly typical here...a calm day is a fair subject of conversation...not a windy day) and as I travelled along the main highway and came to open sections (marsh or muskeg to some parts of the planet...we just call them bogs.....as bogged down) the westerly wind would cause me to shift my position by as much a as couple of feet in my lane. And I came to the conclusion that I had finally come up with something to complain about (after 10,000km, 6000 mi), cross winds on this beast are a bitc&. Now my previous bikes were air cooled, more open configuration bikes and I accept the F6B for what it is.....a much improved version of motorcycle over anything I have ever sat on.

My point here is that up till now I had the bike up on a pedestal, but as I have gotten more familiar with it, I now realize that it is like me, quite near perfection but with just enough flaws to make it interesting. LOL

geo

[Primo]

oops...posted this before seeing the "automatic lane change feature" thread....same same here.

Yep, join the sidewinders club!

[Dirtstiff's F6B]

I came out of Yellowstone a few years back with family and friends into Sunlight Basin, North of Cody Wyoming. Being from Wyoming, I'm accustomed to wind however, we three stopped several times to no avail. The ride was truly at a 45 degree angle in the straight stretches. Started out as funny then quickly became about having the skill to keep the bike upright..... Still a great ride and we soon realized why Buff Bill Cody made Cody his place. Can't imagine being horse back in those conditions, long. Spent that night in the Irma, Cody's hotel, in Cody Wyoming, celebrating the possibilities.

Remembering my Brother, Jeff.