After reading several threads on the subject of buffeting I thought I would give some fork mounted wind deflectors a shot. I saw these on a few bikes this weekend but wasn’t really sold on the looks. I’ve tried several different windshields of various heights and different helmets also. Currently I’ve gone back to using the stock windshield.


I went down to the local dealer and found the HD wind deflectors on the wall of chrome (part #58121-85B). I spoke to the parts person and was told they would fit my bike. He won’t let me go outside to see how they fit on the bike. OK, so I buy them. Parts guy says, after I pay for them, that I can’t return them if they don’t fit. The reason he gave was the packaging is shrink wrapped and if I open it he wouldn’t be able to put it back on display without the shrink wrap. Whatever!


I get home and mount the left side first because I was a little concerned that it may come into contact with the lower fairing at full lock. Sure enough it touches the lower fairing. I was p@55ed. The top corner contacts the lower faring well before it is at full lock. Well, I figured I’d mount them anyway and see if they make a difference. I just gotta be careful not to go full lock when parking or making hard left maneuvers. Go for a ride and can’t believe the difference. Nice calm air around my head and no more bobble head. OK, so now what do I do? The contact with lower fairing is bugging me. I know I will eventually scrape the deflector on the lower fairing.


The next morning I’m still disappointed with the fitment of these things. I figure I can grind them down and with a little bending I can make them work better. So, I get brave and mark the deflector with a sharpie at the contact points and take it off. Over to the grinder I go. After about 6 mounts, re-mounts and grinding I finally get it to a fit nicely. Another issue I forgot to mention earlier in this novel. The air wings wouldn’t open very far without coming into contact with fork wind deflectors. After a few careful bends and grinding they open fully. I made a template for the other one and you would have to be extremely picky to see any difference between the two.


I’m quite pleased with the shape I ended up with. The curve of the deflector matches the curve of the air wing (happened by accident). I will be getting these powder coated black later to cover up the exposed metal.



Bonus. I went for a ride after all the frustration of making these things work. Started to rain on the way home. I didn’t get wet knees.


Overall I’m happy.

 

Glad you found your fix... it can sure be a beast to find the sweet spot.
One question, does the existing chrome cause any issue for the powdercoat? I wouldn't think it would adhere quite as well.

 

All pieces that are powder coated have to be sand/beed blasted prior......

 

Parts guy was useless. States In the cut sheet that these will not fit on bikes with fairing lowers. But you made them work and that's cool. I recently put these on my bike along with the fairing wind deflectors. They both made a huge difference reducing buffeting.

 

All of the items involved with installing fork deflectors have slots instead of holes, allowing various items to be moved slightly to give you the clearance you needed. For instance, you can loosen and move the passing light mount forward, giving you more clearance behind the turn signals, allowing the fork deflector to be moved forward, giving you the clearance needed by the lowers at full lock. You will need to readjust the spots after moving the mount. That's another problem in itself and will take a slotted socket to loosen the lights and readjust them.

I'll attach a picture showing the clearance at full lock on my Ultra behind the turn signals and down at the lowers. I have Freedom Wings on my '06, and they also clear the fork deflectors with no issues.

The mistake I made when mounting, was not putting tape between the fork deflector and the chrome on the side of the forks. When I took the deflectors off during hot weather, I found they had severely blemished the chrome underneath.

 

Glad you got it worked out.

 

P.s. to my previous post. The spots are also mounted on a slot, not a hole, allowing quite a bit of back and forth movement on their mount.

 

Thanks guys.

And yes I will have to get the deflectors sand/bead blasted before powder coating.

MNPGRider, your post is the reason I bought the deflectors. I did a search and found your pics. I moved the deflectors up, down, forward and back as far as the slots and holes would allow. At first I thought I had them on backwards. If mounted the other way they're about an inch too far back.

I'm quite happy with the rounded top corner. I know there won't be anyone else with wind deflectors like mine.

 

Did grinding them cause any issues with the chrome plating? or did i miss that part of the thread?

 

I put these deflectors on my FLHTK. They were designed for bikes with lower fairings. I saw a few post where these were recommended.