Science Question # 2
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Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 1,524
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From: San Diego, CA
Science Question # 2
Last weekend my 07 Street Bob went in the shop but luckily Father-In- Law has two bikes so we were still able to do a weekend ride. I borrowed his 03 Fat Boy slammed low with 16 inch apes. I normally ride a stock height Dyna with stock mini apes and a quarter fairing. Before riding, I thought I'd be constantly blown back and torn away from the bars but to my surprise, it felt no worse than my bike with a fairing. How could this be?
I remember before my fairing I had a constant pull back from the wind, I would imagine 16 inch apes would open you up to the wind a lot more than 10 inch minis. Do Dynas deflect the wind in some way that Softails don't? All I can figure is bigger headlight, bigger fender, floorboards, solid wheels- maybe there's some weird wind vortex caused by the spokes? I'd love to see some footage of these bikes in a wind tunnel.
This all kind of threw me for a loop because I've been backing those quarter fairings for a while, then one ride on an aped out Softail and I felt exactly the same. Kind of makes me wonder about going to the dark side....
I remember before my fairing I had a constant pull back from the wind, I would imagine 16 inch apes would open you up to the wind a lot more than 10 inch minis. Do Dynas deflect the wind in some way that Softails don't? All I can figure is bigger headlight, bigger fender, floorboards, solid wheels- maybe there's some weird wind vortex caused by the spokes? I'd love to see some footage of these bikes in a wind tunnel.
This all kind of threw me for a loop because I've been backing those quarter fairings for a while, then one ride on an aped out Softail and I felt exactly the same. Kind of makes me wonder about going to the dark side....
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Joined: May 2006
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From: Virginia
For some reason I get less wind pressure on me with the 14" apes and Lepera bare Bones seat than I did with the 10" stock apes and the stock seat. The lower seat may have something to do with it but I was really surprised how much more comfortable it was overall.
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Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2010
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From: San Diego, CA
Granted it was a really tricked out bike so I'm sure a stock Fat Boy is a whole different ball game, but the Softails (the Fat Boy especially) get a really bad wrap as the yuppie bike or a Harley for weekend warriors. I felt almost no difference in wind resistance, ride quality or handling. In fact, handling felt almost better with that big grippy tire up front. I didn't have to corner any slower than I do on my Dyna.
I've spent all this money on a fairing, T-bars, ignition relocation, lower seat blah blah blah. Makes me wonder, why not just get a stock Fat Boy, throw some apes on and be done. Dynas are just so much cooler and are the perfect California lane splitter for now.
I've spent all this money on a fairing, T-bars, ignition relocation, lower seat blah blah blah. Makes me wonder, why not just get a stock Fat Boy, throw some apes on and be done. Dynas are just so much cooler and are the perfect California lane splitter for now.
Last edited by emerican19; May 19, 2012 at 08:22 PM.
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