Buffeting from windshield vibration??
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Stage III
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 3
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Buffeting from windshield vibration??
I have a strange problem with my 2008 FLHT. I get an annoying buffeting in my helmet when bike runs appr. 2000r/min in 6th gear (About 95 km/h), when I switch to 5th gear and drive the same speed (about 2500 r/min), there's no buffeting at all, also other speeds/rpms are almost totally buffeting free. I was very confused for a long time until yesterday I grap the widshield with my left hand while riding and the buffeting went totally away! My understanding is that the fairing/windshields resonates with that rpm and creates the buffeting. I could also quite clearly feel it when holding hand on the top of my helmet and accelerating from 1500 rpm => 2500 rpm, around 2000 rpm there is a high frequency buffeting in the wind and after and before there is a quite smooth flow. Sounds funny but that's what seems to happen.
Has anyone else experinced similar thing? Any ideas how to fix it? Thicker windshield? Rubber isolation for the fairing? Or just a taller windshield? I have a stock 9.5" windshield which otherwise works great. I also have DIY lowers (they work great!) and the triple tree air deflector.
Thanks for any comments! Sorry for my english, it's not my native language... :-)
Has anyone else experinced similar thing? Any ideas how to fix it? Thicker windshield? Rubber isolation for the fairing? Or just a taller windshield? I have a stock 9.5" windshield which otherwise works great. I also have DIY lowers (they work great!) and the triple tree air deflector.
Thanks for any comments! Sorry for my english, it's not my native language... :-)
Cruiser
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 186
Likes: 2
From: Minnesota
I have a 2008 Electra Glide Classic. From your description, my bike behaves the same way that yours does at the same speed (95km/hr = 59mph). My solution is to leave it in 5th gear or run it faster in 6th gear.
When I became a member of this forum in 2008, there seemed to be a lot of complaints about 6th gear being too high for normal two lane highway speeds. In the US a lot of the two lane highways are posted 55mph. A fair number of people run at 5mph over the limit or 60mph. This is right at your complaint point. My speedometer reads 5% too high per my GPS. So, if I run at 62 or 63mph in a 55mph zone, the LEOs will find a bigger target and let me pass.
Usually by the end of the day I am numb to this minor buffeting. On a flat road I will run in 6th gear as low as 55mph.
In 2009, H-D changed the gear ratios a little (I think that they went to a bigger sprocket). It is my guess that this was done because of all of the complaints that they received.
Depending on wind speed and wind direction I will experience buffeting at other speeds. Just like you, I have noticed that if I get my left hand into the wind stream above the windshield or grab the windshield, the buffeting will disappear. I am just too lazy or cheap to look for a fix.
NOTE: A lot of people here in the States ride without a helmet. They will have no idea of what you are talking about.
When I became a member of this forum in 2008, there seemed to be a lot of complaints about 6th gear being too high for normal two lane highway speeds. In the US a lot of the two lane highways are posted 55mph. A fair number of people run at 5mph over the limit or 60mph. This is right at your complaint point. My speedometer reads 5% too high per my GPS. So, if I run at 62 or 63mph in a 55mph zone, the LEOs will find a bigger target and let me pass.
Usually by the end of the day I am numb to this minor buffeting. On a flat road I will run in 6th gear as low as 55mph.
In 2009, H-D changed the gear ratios a little (I think that they went to a bigger sprocket). It is my guess that this was done because of all of the complaints that they received.
Depending on wind speed and wind direction I will experience buffeting at other speeds. Just like you, I have noticed that if I get my left hand into the wind stream above the windshield or grab the windshield, the buffeting will disappear. I am just too lazy or cheap to look for a fix.
NOTE: A lot of people here in the States ride without a helmet. They will have no idea of what you are talking about.
Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,549
Likes: 8
From: North Texas
Road Captain
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 674
Likes: 0
From: Vancouver Island
One thought right off the bat - DO NOT run at 2000rpm in 6th gear! That's way too low so you're lugging the engine and causing more vibration. I won't shift into 6th until I can maintain at least 2500rpm without lugging (on the flats, no hills etc.) and I prefer to keep it closer to 2700rpm. I'll leave it in 5th otherwise. I'd rather run 3000rpm in 5th than shift to 6th and bog the motor. I'll typically shift to 6th at 110kph.
As for the buffeting, yeah the flimsy stock shields do vibrate and contribute to the problem. I finally settled on a Cee Bailey's and it helped a lot.
As for the buffeting, yeah the flimsy stock shields do vibrate and contribute to the problem. I finally settled on a Cee Bailey's and it helped a lot.
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