I have been riding since the 70's. I have never had or wanted a bike with a fairing until early this summer when the Mrs. decided she wanted to come along more often, her friends are finally on the band wagon. Well we went out and bought the Electra Glide Limited and did all the stuff we needed right off the bat! Headers, Exhaust, SE air cleaner. The bike is great when kept under 55 mph, anything faster and I feel as if I have a band of monkeys jumping up and down on my head. I need some help!!!

What I have tried so far:

Helmets: I wear one, always have. Full face is the worst, followed by the 3/4 and the half has the least buffeting.. Still at speed it becomes difficult to read signs.

Windshield: The stock was the worse, then tried 11, 12, and finally 15.5 with a recurve. No good with any of them. I did take her for a spin without a shield, no buffeting so it seems that the turbulence is either caused by the shield and or a combination of the shield and fairing. Yeah I have the adjustable air deflectors and have tried them every which way.

To be clear: I did 320 miles at 70-80 with some sport bike friends on my XR 1200 yesterday, no problems. 60 miles on the Electra Glide leaves me with a neck aches and popping ibuprofen.

I am 6'1" 33" inseam.

Anyone tried those X-Stream or other curved shields? or maybe a short re-curve?

Wind in the face is not the problem, it is the turbulence on the back part of the head, helmet that is the problem Oh and yeah, I tried it also with no helmet and did not experience any buffeting.

 

Airstream can be coming up front of tank, or under fairing. Does your bike have lowers on crash bars & fairing deflectors. I'd try the HD fork baffle & batwings - worked on my 09 FLHX.

 

I have the same bike and i am 6` and had the same problem but going to a 8" shield took care of that buffering all together.

 

I had the same problem. So, I tried a National Cycle V-Stream 7.25" smoked screen & it got rid of the turbulence. But...it's too tall for me. It's right at my eye level. I'm 5'9". My buddy got the same exact windshield & he's 6' & has no issues at all. I ended up installing a 5.25 Nationl Cycle Wave screen & it works perfect for me. If you're interested in the V-Stream that I have send me a PM.

 

I have a FLHRI that with the OE windshield would beat me horribly from buffeting, went to a DCC Batwing and made it madder, so I began the experiments, the fork baffle slowed the air across the tank from through the triple tree, I then added fork deflectors and made a world of difference. I had cool weather soft lowers and the buffet came back with a vengeance as did a case of severe drag on highway so I finally bit the bullet and bought lowers.

Today my King doesn't look much like a Road King but handles well, rides easy and I can actually listen to the radio in my fairing. It has a 9" shield from DCC stock, it does very well with wind or rain at that height yet I can see above it just fine

 

I'm 6' 2". I use a 3/4 helmet with a shield and intercom attached. I keep the wings closed, keep my knees tucked against the tank, I use a 8" shield on the bike and I have no probs at all. If I open my legs I get more wind. If I open the wings I get hammered. I've never ridin with the taller shields so I can't help ya there...

My wife was complaining about the wind coming back from Daytona 2 weeks ago so I rode the bike on cruise @75 from the passenger seat (Ghost Rider :0) and it sure is windy back there but the passenger is more comfortable lol. I was considering changing to a taller shield to help her out but I'm totally fine with the bike the way it is as the rider...

 

Same boat as you, two years ago ended up with 8" recurve windshield, lowers, and the front fork baffle. I ride with a full face helmet and its bearable now. I never had a bike with a windshield or batwing so I thought anything would be better then nothing, but the wind is so uneven. The wind comes up under the batwing and up from the gas tank. If I put my feet on top of the crashbars I could smoke a cig If you don't have lowers try the front fork baffles (long triangles that mount on the forks.) Good luck

 

I have had the stock, a 6", 8" and 10" windshield before I settled on the 10". I am 6'3" with a 34" inseam and it seems to be the best so far. I wear a 3/4 helmet and it isn't to bad. If your wanting to play around with windshields buy the cheap ones off ebay until you find one that works. Bryan

 

Here is the fork baffle everyone is referring to:

Link to fork baffle

Worth a try at only $25

 

The fork baffle solved my buffeting problems.