We rode together as a group of 6, who have ridden many times before. Several of our "novice riders" were not with us. We live on an island with constant twists and turns. I, for one, have never ridden at that speed before. It was a long straight highway and I think the lead rider, who is usually very cautious, just decided to ride faster. The road was straight and open, and we were all very experienced and I, for one, wasn't paying attention to the speed straight away, more interested in what was going on with my feet. For one, I'll not do that speed again, I don't do it in a car. Honestly,not sure why we took on that speed for sections of the road. When we came back from up island, we took the coastal road, which is the road we usually take. We were making time, I think that is what was going on. And the fact that our less experienced riders were not with us. I already had 2,000 km on the bike (1300 miles) and the bike was broke in under manufacture instructions.

Does anybody know which Fork Deflectors would look and work best on the SG? My research indicates that the left fork, in a tight handlebar lock, will rub on the engine guard, but that the fork will move out of the way.

??

Style is very important, but so is comfort, safety.

I think it goes like:

Safety First, then Comfort, then Bling....

 

Some people have bought from a seller on eBay and rave about them, but he hasn't listed any for a while so I don't know if he's still selling them or not. Personally I don't like the chrome ones so went with black on mine. I got mine here:

http://street-glide.com/

On the stock guard mine hit both ways, but yeah, they flex so it doesn't hurt anything. It's just annoying that they hit like that. I just replaced the guard last night with a black Lindby Linbar, the deflectors don't hit anymore. Here are a couple of pics of mine before I added the Linbar:






As you can see the deflectors are fairly discrete in the black color. I honestly am not a fan of how they look (which is why I went black), but they work so darned good that I'm living with the aesthetics.

 

My wife would like those.........

 

[QUOTE As you can see the deflectors are fairly discrete in the black color. I honestly am not a fan of how they look (which is why I went black), but they work so darned good that I'm living with the aesthetics.[/QUOTE]

Yes....if I must do this, discrete is what I want.

Thing is the Street Glide was supposed to be "the one". In retrospect, it would have been an idea to get the Electraglide Ultra, and scale it down, versus getting the Street Glide, and building it up.

so my wish is to keep the simplicity of the Street Glide, and doing what needs to be done to make it safe and comfortable, with a "discrete" touch.

 

Then you don't live in Oklahoma, what purple daz describes is normal here. A pilot who learns to fly in Oklahoma can fly a crosswind landing anywhere in the world. Usually the foot turbulence occurs when riding fast in a headwind or cornering headwind. It goes away riding with the wind. When you think about it, riding 80 mph in a 35 to 45mph head wind is going to feel the same as riding around 120 mph.

You are just learning about the bike and finding things about it you didn't expect, but as you get more time on your bike, you will learn that your Harley Bagger is one of the most stable bikes on the road, especially in high winds. Nobody is feeling more comfortable than you. underpasses in crosswinds are still tricky, but my buddy on his Goldwing is sitting tall like the main sail on a ship wishing he could sit as low as me.

Before you over react to fix the problem, I suggest riding the bike a little more to really get a feel for it. Honestly I don't think you have the problem with your feet very much because that takes a lot of wind. But if you do, turn around and see what happens going the opposite direction. And try a few things out like moving your knees closer and farther from the tank to feel the differences on your feet and helmet. There is a big difference. I found highway pegs are the worst for pulling air over the tank into your face because the position pulls the legs out and turns them into BIG air scoopers. That's ok in 110 Oklahoma heat, but not in a big headwind.

I bought lower fairings for my SG and I like them a lot, but they still gave off some funky swirling effects last Saturday in a 35mph headwind that kept pushing my pant legs over my boots. I have not used fork deflectors, but that seems to be the best fix for the money by forum reviews.

I had your same reactions in the Oklahoma winds, but I did get use to the quirks of the bike and then started adding liitle things to make the ride more comfortable. And remember, it's not a SG problem when the winds are that high, most cruiser bikes have the same problem.

You will love that SG.

Beary

 

It nearly 300 lbs, my feet don't lift up off of anything with any amount of air!

Hope you get it resolved. Enjoy the new bike.

 

Don't get discouraged! Believe me I went through it too, I've always ridden sport bikes and wanted for years to get an SG for easy-going freeway cruising behind a protective fairing. I was really disappointed when I started riding it, the turbulence was rattling my faceshield, blurring my vision and giving me headaches after long rides. And I had to pinch my legs against the tank to keep my feet from sliding out. The fork deflectors totally transformed the ride, my feet stay planted now and the turbulence is gone (unless it's really windy, but that's going to affect any bike). I'm running a 6.5 KW Flare and get enough air around it to remind me I'm on a motorcycle, but it's smooth and pleasant air now.

 

This sums up my experience completely. Thank you.

fork deflectors it is....

thank you all...this has been very informative and inspiring...

I appreciate all of your help, thoughts, wisdom and experiences

 

I live in the high desert of California and its not unusal to have 25 -40 mph winds for most of the day , especially in the canyons. So I know what you are referring to , probably most of the larger riders dont feel it as much due to weight.

Some good suggestion have already been posted.

Im riding a Road Glide so the wind really dont effect the handling as much on the bike due to the frame mounted fairing but I do get a lot of wind redirected above and below the fairing. So first the windshield, Ive found its usually a trade off function vs "cool" , cool is usually lower and that will cause less protection. Select what works for you and what you like, any of the shields with a "lip" or recurve tend to direct the air higher with a lower profile. The HD Windsplitter does not have that feature so you may want to look a t a similar size Klockwerks, Cee Bailey, LRS or Winvest .

For the lowers (feet) look into fork deflectors (IMO they help but not as much as lowers) or soft or hard lowers. Soft lowers are great because they come on and off in a minute with no tools, I run a set i found on EBay for 40.00 new and they work great. Even when I dont use them I have them in the saddle bags in case I need them. The HD Hard Lowers or Hogg Chopps are also an option.

Good luck , ride safe.

 

You have forwards in the avatar pic, probably most common on the big rigs. I've experienced my feet lifting off forward boards, fixed it by going back to pegs (why, I don't know, seems like boards would block wind more). Forwards bother my lower back, actually feel more comfortable with mid pegs, and I've never had a foot lifting problem with mids on anything, even at speeds you won't do on your Harley. Far as 80 mph speeds, if you aren't comfortable on a road at any speed, slow down till you are, reasonable and safe thing to do.