Hello
I am new to the Batwing fairing. I had ridden a Dyna since 96 and I now have 500 miles on a 2012 ElectraGlide. When I get to 50 mph I feel a vibration in my head. I did an extensive cleaning this past weekend and found that there were no weights on the front rim from balancing the tires. I made an appointment to have that looked at at my local HD dealer. While riding into work today I ducked my head below the 4" windshield and the vibration seemed to go away. I cannot be the only person who has felt this. Before I shell out 200.00+ on a new front tire and balancing, am I missing the real problem? I know that I am a cosmetic kind of guy, I am not sure how I feel about a 10" windshield but I am also realistic.

 

Spend your cash on a taller shield first.

 

Taller windshield, fairing side wings, baffle between the forks, and you will see a huge difference. Welcome to the world of 'fixing what harley should have done at the factory'

 

That 4" windshield is worse than riding with No windshield.
Suck it up and buy a taller windshield.

 

Look up buffeting on here. Has to do with the wind flow around the fairing. Hundreds of threads about it, no real solution. Everyone is a little different because head position effects it and no two peoples head are in the same exact location when they ride. I'm not sure if yours already has them but a lot of guys mention it gets better when they install lower fairings. Wind deflectors have also been known to help a little as long as different windscreens.
I highly doubt its your tire if it takes until 50 to notice it and it gets better with your had behind the fairing. The lack of notable weights means they could have used dyna beads.
I would recommend lowers if you don't already have them, adjustable fairing wind deflectors and then head to your local dealer, a lot of them have demo windshields you can install for a test ride. Get out on the highway and find the best one for you.

 

Definitely the shield. After riding for a while with my stock windshield in my Electra glide I tried a shorter shield, after my first ride I ran to the garage and put the stock back on. It gave me a terrible helmet vibration to the point of migraine. .

 

Its obnoxious how true that statement is, but its that way with everything these days. The amount of emissions crap and upgrading factory parts I just did on my buddies Cummins is ridiculous. EPA sucks donkey *****. The planet and atmosphere will be around long after we humans kill each other off

 

My scooter has lowers, fork air deflector, side wings, and a 9" shield. I'm 6'4". I can smoke while I ride and no issues whatsoever. When you get it right, you'll know it. A nice neutral air bubble right where you sit. No head buffeting, your glasses won't jump around, the only problem I have is my long beard won't stay out of my face. I got some rubber bands to fix that....

 

On the Ultra's there are little r wigs on the side of the fairing. These rotate to block out more air, or turn in to move the air directly on you. It does allow you to fine tune the airflow and work out a lot of buffeting. That being said, get the taller windscreen first.

 

check out long ride shields they have a video on how to measure for shield height, a taller shield (7") and a 25.00 fork baffle helped me a lot