Road Glide Question
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Road Warrior
Joined: May 2023
Posts: 1,455
Likes: 100
From: WI
Road Glide Question
My brother just bought a Road Glide ST Fast Jonnie and said that the airflow from the bottom of the fairing and over the tank smacks him in the face pretty hard. His previous two bikes were Street Glides and he was able to tame the wind with fork mounted deflectors (fork fangs). He said he couldn't find similar deflectors for the RG. What can he do to fix the airflow?
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Jun 29, 2023, 11:34 AM
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 697
Likes: 583
From: Edgewater, Florida
My brother just bought a Road Glide ST Fast Jonnie and said that the airflow from the bottom of the fairing and over the tank smacks him in the face pretty hard. His previous two bikes were Street Glides and he was able to tame the wind with fork mounted deflectors (fork fangs). He said he couldn't find similar deflectors for the RG. What can he do to fix the airflow?
Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 191
Likes: 82
From: Napoleon ND
Ya. I’ve been experimenting with mine. It’s not a batwing. I had my 94 dialed in. It was like a wall. No wind. I’m still not sure what everyone brags about with the road glide. It’s not the wind protection. I took out those plastic deflectors below the tank and I’m gonna see if that makes it better. To me they look like they direct the wind up and in your face. Still need to ride it and find out. Busy working.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 2,575
Likes: 3,171
From: Lake Geneva WI
when i test rode a road glide, i noticed a lot of wind came through the holes on each side of the headlight. they used to come with a button that closed those but Harley stopped that. there might be aftermarket options now.
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 697
Likes: 583
From: Edgewater, Florida
My brother just bought a Road Glide ST Fast Jonnie and said that the airflow from the bottom of the fairing and over the tank smacks him in the face pretty hard. His previous two bikes were Street Glides and he was able to tame the wind with fork mounted deflectors (fork fangs). He said he couldn't find similar deflectors for the RG. What can he do to fix the airflow?
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Road Warrior
Joined: May 2023
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From: WI
When it shakes his glasses or helmet to the point that it blurs his vision, it's a problem. Go take your ******** comments somewhere else.
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Supporter
Joined: Jan 2022
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From: Sapulpa, OKlahoma
For reasons that I can't explain there are some riders that have never experienced buffeting so they tend to think we're just talking about wind. I've had bikes with and without windshields and with and without fairings and I can tolerate the wind just fine. Buffeting on the other hand can be so severe that it causes headaches and blurred vision from the rapid head shaking it causes.
Buffeting is typically caused by the air flowing under the fairing and traveling up the sides of the tank into the low pressure area created behind the windshield. The airflow rushing in creates turbulence right in front of the rider which leads to the buffeting. It seems to take just the right combination of height, helmet, windshield, etc. to get buffeting because two people can ride the same model bike and get different results.
In my experience a taller windshield does little to eliminate the buffeting. However, a shorter windshield can sometimes help if it puts the entire head into the clean airflow above the windshield. Lower fork deflectors can be very effective but for some reason H-D doesn't make them for my bike. (2021 Ultra-Limited) I tried the GADS deflectors but they didn't seem to help even though lots of other riders reported good results with them. (I don't know if they make them for the RG)
