With a cover on, how much wind do you think it would take to knock over my bike?

I just got a brand new cover, and its a little too big, so I need to return it.

I've read about the sailboat effect, and I am a little concerned.

Max wind is about 20 mph, which I feel is safe, but was wondering if people have had incidents with bikes being tipped over.

I've searched google and have only found some people saying around 40 mph or more.

 

Mine is kept outside under a dowco cover for 10 months out of the year. Never have had an issue.

There is a strap that you can loop under the bike to the other side to tighten down the cover nice and snug just for this purpose.

 

I have had a cover on mine all last season and it never fell over.
There were some strong winds, maybe 30mph and it was fine just eeped setting my alarm off.
I park it with a wall right up against the left side so if wide ever got ahold of it then it would hit the wall and hopefully fall on the kickstand.

But you should be good just if you have tornado warnings or something maybe leave it in a buddies garage.

 

mine fell over twice once with a cover and once without in less than 30 mph winds.

 

i dont like to hear that!

 

The key is a wind block, i.e. by the side of the garage, house, apt. building, whatever can screen the wind. If not, if you are on grass, get some of those screw in tent stakes on each side and a tow strap looped thru the triple-tree. If you have to be in a asphalt or concrete out in the open, hmm...maybe check out a climbing store and get some kind of ring anchor you can use with tap-cons so you can pull em later.
Ern

 

This may be a horror story for some of you to read. Anyways, I was at a local drag strip (with my car) on a very humid Saturday afternoon. There were some nasty looking clouds that came out of no where. It was one of those micro-bursts with very nasty winds. I sat out the storm in my car and it was so windy and rainy I couldn't see out of my car. After it passes, the damage I saw was pretty expensive:

ALL of the bikes (about 20ish) that rode there to race, were now on their sides from the wind.

 

YouTube - MOTORCYCLE DOMINO CRASH

 

That video is pretty freakin funny - at first I thought it was staged, but i'm betting it isn't.

 

One of my neighbor's bikes was tipped over one day a couple months ago when it was really windy. He was parked parallel to the curb (first mistake) with the kickstand on the street side (second mistake). Wind was gusting up to about 40-50 mph coming perpendicular to his bike. I laughed a bit when I saw it laying on the ground, cause he's a huge douche bag (his third mistake... karma).