I think I actually get less wind buffeting on my head with my apes. My arms seem to block some of the wind that used to hit my head coming from the sides when on the highway. Maybe your problem has more to do with your helmet? I wear a low profile 3/4 if I am doing long rides at sustained speeds (80 mph or so). Good luck whatever you decide...

 

Everyone is different.
I like beach bars for comfort, I find apes straining on my shoulders and back.
To each his own but you must be comfy or you wont ride.
So I get it that some find them to work for them, I personally like the look of apes, no doubt, but they just arent comfortable to me especially on a long ride.

I think most people who have them do benefit from them in comfort but a lot of others just get them because they look cool.

There is nothing wrong with you deciding what works for you.
You tried them and they werent for you, thats cool.

Before you go an order anything maybe take a few minutes with a friend or your wife or someone and measure your comfort zone.

There are tons of write ups on how to best do that.

If you measure your needs and find the sweet spot you can then look for bars with your measurements, if not you can have a set made for you and they are not very expensive.
Look at BR customs for bars, they will make you anything you want.

If you like beach bars, you can send them your rise, width and pullback and they will make them for you, you can also have them made in 1 1/2" or 1 1/4" and internally wired for you or not.
That way when they come you can bolt them on and be done.
Good luck
You wont have any problem selling those apes, lots of people want them still.

I started seeing apes on everything about two years ago, I mean I have always seen apes around but in the past two years it seems 7 out of 10 bikes around here have apes, like a trend, that turned me off right away, even if they were comfortable I would have looked for an alternative just to avoid be another set of apes rolling down the road.
At bike week Laconia in 06 I saw some fat 1 1/2" beach bars on a Road king and fell in love with the look but wasnt sure if they would be comfortable, I bought a used bike in 08 that had flanders beach bars on them and I realized what I was missing.
Since then I have been a beach bar rider.
It all depends on what works for you though, its not a contest or anything.

Good luck with your bars

Lump

 

If you haven't... try this. Roll up a jacket/flannel/blanket/etc nice and tight and strap it to the bars and nacelle... I do that on long trips and it almost completely eliminates the "meat parachute" effect.

I had WIDE beach bars on my old bike... they were cool, but the two things I hated were:

1) because of how far the grips were set... I couldn't do the 'arms locked straight and relax the gut for awhile' position while riding... and without a windshield... it was still tough work staying in the seat.
2) splitting lanes was a paint in the butt.