Buffeting problem solved
Road Warrior
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,882
Likes: 83
The reality is that a couple tubes isn't going to do anything. You get buffeting inside a car or truck with the windows down so what makes you think you can find clean air behind any piece of plastic on a motorcycle. The ONLY way to have your head in clean air is to have the air directed below your head. The best we can do is find what we consider an acceptable level but the buffeting will never be gone. The speed of a headwind has a major variance on how much your head gets buffeted as a tail wind lesses the effect. There simply isn't a windshield big enough to punch a hole in the wind to put the rider into a no turbulence zone.
Sport bike racers wouldn't be able to hold on if they didn't have that cafe style fairing. That in fact is the only style of fairing that gets rid of head buffeting because your head is always in clean air. I have a windshield. I have an acceptable level of buffeting directly affected by helmet or no helmet. No helmet is great, FF helmets rattle my brains. I don't like helmets anyways but i always wear at least a 1/2.
Harley doesn't make an aerodynamic bike. It is what it is.
Sport bike racers wouldn't be able to hold on if they didn't have that cafe style fairing. That in fact is the only style of fairing that gets rid of head buffeting because your head is always in clean air. I have a windshield. I have an acceptable level of buffeting directly affected by helmet or no helmet. No helmet is great, FF helmets rattle my brains. I don't like helmets anyways but i always wear at least a 1/2.
Harley doesn't make an aerodynamic bike. It is what it is.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 2,181
Likes: 488
From: Central California
I just put a 16" replacement screen on to replace the 20" that was on the bike. At 16" I can see over the top, but the buffeting is so bad as to make the shorter screen unusable.
I tried the tube thing last night, and it made no difference at all. Moving my hand around to figure out where the wind was coming from, I seemed to narrow it down to rushing up from the sides of the tank. I don't know what, if anything, can be done about that
I tried the tube thing last night, and it made no difference at all. Moving my hand around to figure out where the wind was coming from, I seemed to narrow it down to rushing up from the sides of the tank. I don't know what, if anything, can be done about that
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 2,717
Likes: 273
From: Minnesota
There's lower deflectors;
http://www.instructables.com/id/Moto...ow-deflectors/
Lowers are deflectors that mount to the forks and deflect the wind away from your legs and keep it from kicking up under the windshield and into your face.
Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,174
Likes: 492
From: Northern CA
I do have a fork wind deflector--shown on the 4th and 7th pic on the original post above--cut and bent to fit the fat bob trees. There's a huge differance in my case without the "tubes" as I learned when I took them off to paint last weekend after the trial test period. While the paint was drying I took a short ride in the evening and could really feel the buffeting. Ziptied the PVC back on and much more comfortable now. FYI my windshield is 19" and is level with the tip of my nose so I look just over the WS. Hopefully this mod will work for someone else. Arching out the top of the shield is another option for folks with clamp on style, big difference on my wifes sportster.
Last edited by fskitch; May 8, 2015 at 03:07 PM.
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 53
Likes: 4
From: SoCal
I too ended up getting a taller shield (I'm 6'3") with a recurve, which helped with some of the buffeting. Still wasn't happy, and so looked at reviews on the HD site for the fork deflectors (fangs), and ended up buying a set. I actually like the look of them, but of more importance, for me they dramatically reduced buffeting. I'd say between the shield and the fangs, the buffeting is reduced 90%. Not sure... but after reading this post, I wonder if the fork deflectors route air up behind the screen as well? After looking at how the scoops are positioned, it appears this may be the case.
Banned
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 11,232
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From: Socialist Republic of the USA
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,716
Likes: 8
From: General Sherman's Christmas Location 1864
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 2,181
Likes: 488
From: Central California
I will give that a shot katobird.
I did about 120 miles on my Deluxe without the windshield the other day. The upright riding position, coupled with the wide beach bars and the forward controls puts a lot of wind pressure against my chest. No helmet buffeting, but I was very tired of riding about halfway through. From actually having to hang on more tightly, to counterweighting myself with my legs, it beat the crap out of me.
Now before anyone says anything about not being to handle wind, my other two bikes are both naked. The riding position is a bit more forward and narrower with the footpeg position substantially further back, and neither of those beat me up near as bad.
I just bought a 16" long ride recurve, and it "should have" been just right. But the wind buffeting to my helmet is so much worse than the 20" HD shield, to the point of being unusable.
So....I think I'll fab up some deflectors such as katobird's and see what happens, with both the 16" and the 20". Although the buffeting on the 20" just isn't really all that noticeable. I wanted the shorter one so I could see over the top.
I did about 120 miles on my Deluxe without the windshield the other day. The upright riding position, coupled with the wide beach bars and the forward controls puts a lot of wind pressure against my chest. No helmet buffeting, but I was very tired of riding about halfway through. From actually having to hang on more tightly, to counterweighting myself with my legs, it beat the crap out of me.
Now before anyone says anything about not being to handle wind, my other two bikes are both naked. The riding position is a bit more forward and narrower with the footpeg position substantially further back, and neither of those beat me up near as bad.
I just bought a 16" long ride recurve, and it "should have" been just right. But the wind buffeting to my helmet is so much worse than the 20" HD shield, to the point of being unusable.
So....I think I'll fab up some deflectors such as katobird's and see what happens, with both the 16" and the 20". Although the buffeting on the 20" just isn't really all that noticeable. I wanted the shorter one so I could see over the top.
Cool idea! I'm totally going to try this. I'm 6'2" and have a tall windshield but the buffeting still sucks. I'm an electrician so I'm always around pvc pipe. Never thought of it. I'm going to try it with 1/2" first and see if that helps.