Sorry, another RG vs Electraglide thread. My concern ins passenger wind buffeting ONLY.

Simply put, my wife is 5'7" and no matter what I do, she gets blasted by buffeting on top of her head at highway speed no matter what I've tried. It gets painful for her. I've tried different windshields, and wind deflectors. This air is coming OVER the batwing (confirmed) so this is not something that fangs or tank deflectors will stop. I've tried.

I want to get the wife on a RG for a test ride. Any experience with this? I keep hearing the shark has much less buffeting. Is it going to be worth the try? I love my Ltd, but I hear the RG will have a Ltd coming out next year.

This could be a make or break. My wife has had a lot of medical issues , so if I can't get her comfortable on the bike, our touring days may be over.

 

I just moved from a batwing to a shark nose. I was worried about the wind on the wife as she too has had a fair share of medical issues. I asked her how it was and she thinks it’s great. All I can say is take a demo ride with her and see how she feels.

 

Per my 5'7" ex, she says the wind was not a problem ever on the back of my RGS. Her only complaint was her long legs didn't work well on the rear OEM pegs. But wind, no issue.

 

I was in the same predicament. The "Test Ride" is the way to do it. I went to one of my local dealers, told them what I wanted to do and what I wanted to ride. They made both of us sign the waiver, and away we went. (One local dealer would NOT let me ride with her on the bike)

I was already on a '98 Electra Glide Classic, and she had always complained about the buffeting. We took (this was in 2016) a new Electra Glide Limited out, jumped on the Interstate up to 80mph, played with the fairing vent, asked her how it felt, she said "same as ours".

Went back, got on a new Road Glide Ultra (has to be the RG Ultra or new Road Glide Limited, not the standard or special, they have different rides and air characteristics), did the same, up to 90mph, and in that first minute at speed she said, "I'm done, this is the one". It makes that much difference. I'll never own a batwing again. Play with the vents, but we find it best with all the vents open.

I warn you though, I'd bet money you'll be buying a new Shark once you get her on it, so prepare yourself. Enjoy.

 

Awesome intel. Thanks! Hearing rumors of a RG Ultra-Ltd. for '17. Will do the test ride.

 

We had a 2011 RGU for 37,000 miles before buying our current 2018 CVO Limited. Buffeting on the CVO sucks compared to the RGU! I have the dog dish, fork fangs and the Madstad windshield for Batwings and it still does not compare to my RGU with it's Madstad. Wish we would have bout a another RGU.

If you want the ultimate in RG buffeting protection get a Madstad windshield. When I put one on the RGU it seemed like I put amp in the stereo. The music was noticeably louder and clearer!

 

I am on my 3rd RG for good reason and buffeting is the biggest reason. RG is great and I suspect Road Glide Ultra is best. I did take her for a test ride on one but it was only for about 10 miles and she doesn't remember. Difference though is my wife is 5' 2", 114 lbs. The Ultra has a much taller stock shield and I suspect with a recurve shield at stock height that wind management would be at its best.

 

My former loved the back on the RGU. Said it was extremely calm back there. In the head sets it was crystal clear as there seemed to be no buffeting.

 

...... that's the scuttlebutt..... finally, all the good stuff .....w/o spending CVO $
..... if you go with a recurved shield you can move the airflow up even more affirmatively