Riders with Motion Sickness?

[FoolishMortal]

My wife doesn’t ride, but she’s interested in learning. Unfortunately, she gets motion sickness. She can’t read in the car and twisty roads don’t work, even if she’s the driver.

Do any of you get motion sickness in a car or on a carnival ride, but not when piloting a motorcycle? If so, can you describe how it’s different?

TIA!

 

[Whammy]

Whammy doesn't get sick but knows someone who does. exactly how you describe it.
Best thing to do is concentrate on the horizon and not read in the car
Taking scopalamine sometimes helps in extreme situations for them.
YMMV

 

[Gravisman]

I’ve had motion sickness issues my whole life, and it only ever hit me once on a bike: my first track day. I think that had a lot to do with not knowing what I was doing and letting the bike pull me around the track instead of being an active pilot.

I can testify to the amazing efficacy of scopolamine. I tried it last year on a boat trip and it was life changing. But after ~10 days of use I discovered a dark side: detox. It seems to work in the brain similarly to something like heroine and if you use it for an extended time you get a withdrawal period where it feels like you have motion sickness all the time. For the first day or two I was too sick to even watch tv.

 

[dravnx]

The post trip motion sickness was not caused by scopolamine. the affects you experienced is common to anyone who has spent extended time at sea. Watch a navy vessel disgorge it's sailors on shore leave. They'll be wobbling all over the dock.
My post fishing trip sea sickness usually hits when I close my eyes and tilt my head back to wash my hair in the shower.

 

[thepretender]

I can get motion sickness depending on how I ride.If I ride in a manor that what I'm looking at is the same as the motion that my body is experiencing no sickness. If however on a more spirited ride where I'm looking at where I want to go, looking threw the turn so that motion dose not match the view I get sick. Barfing into your helmet makes for a unpleasant ride home, Basically when the view dose not match the motion I get sick fortunately a simple motion sickness medication will block the sickness. Dramamine is simply a antihistamine as is Benadryl which works for me. Generic Benadryl is $5 for 600 pill bottle at Costco so for 2 cents I can ride barf free.

 

[ThisGuy]

I get horrible motion sickness in a car or at sea. When I was a kid it was so bad I couldn't be in the car for 30 minutes without vomiting. It's gotten better over the years, but I'm still garbage at being a co-pilot in a car because I can hardly look at a phone for 2 minutes without getting nauseous. I think for me it has something to do with being able to see the interior of the car and how the movement doesn't correspond with what I see out the windows.

Never once have I had motion sickness on a motorcycle. I commute every day by motorcycle and have taken multiple 2k mile trips. I think I've never had a problem on the bike because I'm completely focused and engaged with eyes ahead. Also helps with the tiredness. I get sleepy in the car all the time, even if I'm driving. Never an issue on 2 wheels.

I hope your wife is able to start riding without getting sick! Best of luck

 

[295566]

I can get motion sickness depending on how I ride.If I ride in a manor that what I'm looking at is the same as the motion that my body is experiencing no sickness. If however on a more spirited ride where I'm looking at where I want to go, looking threw the turn so that motion dose not match the view I get sick. Barfing into your helmet makes for a unpleasant ride home, Basically when the view dose not match the motion I get sick fortunately a simple motion sickness medication will block the sickness. Dramamine is simply a antihistamine as is Benadryl which works for me. Generic Benadryl is $5 for 600 pill bottle at Costco so for 2 cents I can ride barf free.

This is it 100%.

So long as she learns to look through the turn, rather than where the bike is pointing, the body will adjust. Motion sickness is basically brought on by the body expecting one motion but experiencing another... throws the senses off.

You could practice in a car, at low speeds, so there's no helmet barfing to be done. :thumbup

 

[DucatiHoney]

Motion sickness

Your wife is just wired a certain way. My grandmother, her son (my dad) and both of my sisters get motion sickness horribly under certain conditions. My sis loves roller coasters though and never gets sick on those, but she's barfed on me in the car about 100 times when we were kids. Her kids get sick in the car too. I, on the other hand, can do a crossword puzzle on stormy seas and almost never get sick--but horizontal circles, or that kind of motion, with my eyes closed can get me close.

My dad used to make my sister call out the turns when we were driving in the car....right, left, and whether we were going uphill or downhill. The simple act of concentration seemed to help a lot! Gum, focusing on your breathing, taking something to make you drowsy....different things work for different people.

 

[davidji]

I didn't used to be able to read at all in a car without feeling sick. I can now, a bit. Riding never bothered me.

What's concerning as far as being able to ride is that your wife doesn't like twisty roads even when driving. That seems like an extreme case.

Riding is of course much different from driving, and the cornering forces pull at us in a different direction. It might work for her. Riding her own would be more promising than being passenger, but no guarantees.

Good luck.

 

[CDONA]

I have found that motion sickness can be blunted with exposing myself to cold. Avoiding that warm flush you get just before you hurl.
I removed the top of my wetsuit, waiting between Hobie Cat races in Santa Cruz bay. That worked, the beer, not so much.
Worked on a blue whale watching trip out of Ventura, 35 years later.
Dad smoking in the car did it for me, wasn't the twisty road, but the heater running, didn't help.

 

[Marcoose]

My brother, as a passenger, pukes at every twisty road. You can bet your last dollar on it. Yet, as a driver/rider, no problem whatsoever, he'll disappear in front of you. Go figure.

As my own age clock tics upwards, lately I find that multiple, back-to-back late-apexing and heavy leaning will leave me a tad light-headed. Obviously I avoid that.

 

[295566]

My brother, as a passenger, pukes at every twisty road. You can bet your last dollar on it. Yet, as a driver/rider, no problem whatsoever, he'll disappear in front of you. Go figure.

As my own age clock tics upwards, lately I find that multiple, back-to-back late-apexing and heavy leaning will leave me a tad light-headed. Obviously I avoid that.

See above. 100% guaranteed when he's passenger he's not looking through the turns in the same way he is when driving or riding.

 

[Corb]

I have very bad motion sickness. First time I ever remember going on a twisty road and not getting sick as a passenger was my first time on a motorcycle. I was around 14 or 15.
I think it is because with a motorcyclist you lean in to the curve rather than away from it.

 

[Marcoose]

See above. 100% guaranteed when he's passenger he's not looking through the turns in the same way he is when driving or riding.

Possibly. We’d have to ask him or study his behaviour. I know that I’ve been getting a bit light-headed on the motorbike, and I know I’m looking thru the turns. Marcoose doesn’t ride bitch. :laughing

 

[banshee01]

Mnt Hamilton on the 701 is the only time I have became nauseous on my moto. I didnt let it get to the point of puking though

 

[seralat]

I get motion sickness swinging on a swingset, and most everywhere else you might expect. But, fortunately, don't suffer from it on a bike. So it's clearly a variable experience. Feeling motion sick in one type of situation doesn't mean you feel sick in all situations.

 

[NB0tt]

Sometimes I get sea-legs after riding the bike all day long. Thought I was the only one and didn't know why.

 

[Gravisman]

The post trip motion sickness was not caused by scopolamine. the affects you experienced is common to anyone who has spent extended time at sea. Watch a navy vessel disgorge it's sailors on shore leave. They'll be wobbling all over the dock.
My post fishing trip sea sickness usually hits when I close my eyes and tilt my head back to wash my hair in the shower.

This seems unlikely considering the sickness started quite a long time after I was done being on the sea (about a week). My cruise ended early because of unexpected weather and I just kept taking the scopolamine through my return flight home and then stopped. Next day, withdrawal started. Search the internet for scopolamine withdrawal and you’ll find tons of stories.

 

[ejv]

My wife used to ride. Gets car sick very easily, doesn't have to be a twisty road just whenever she isn't looking up. Never had an issue with it while riding.

 

[FoolishMortal]

Thanks for all the feedback! My wife read the replies and is encouraged.