| Author | Message | ||
     Advoutlander |
I have the zero gravity touring windshield. I've read many old posts on here about preferred windshields and there did not look like there was a solution. I'm 6'3. Are there any modern solutions or any setups that significantly reduce the wind buffeting? | ||
| Froggy |
Adjustable brackets from Palmer Products are your best bet for reducing buffeting, as it lets you take your existing setup and adjust the height and angle to better work for you. http://s410372035.initial-website.co.uk/accessorie s/select-bike/buell-xb12x-xt/ | ||
| Advoutlander |
I had that in mine, if I went to the madstadd or california scientific are they significantly better than the palmer brackets and zg touring windshield? | ||
| Crempel |
The Zerogravity is a nice looking screen. The Palmer brackets are the answer as mentioned. I had the tall Palmer screen too until someone hit it and broke it for me. It was great, but the key is the brackets. They allow air to come under the screen and alleviate the low pressure area behind it. The bracket allow a huge amount of adjustment both from high to low and to steepen or shallow the angle. I am back to the tall Buell screen, which is ok, but noisier than the Palmer screen. It doesn't buffet per say, it's just loud. In warm weather with the screen adjusted lower its totally fine, but now that it's colder I wish I had the tall Palmer back. I have seen the Madstad brackets and they look very similar. The Palmers are stainless and quite attractive, while the Madstads are black. I think the screen you have would be great with either bracket. | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
Search "Memphis shades" here , the two small deflectors on the fork leg solved that problem for me. My helmet got a lot quieter with them. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I'm the same height and found on a warm day with lots of highway travel, I just pop the shield off and jam it in a bag. Some here have found that hanging some bags on the bars fixed it. Everyone is different and you have to experiment. | ||
| Gobadgers |
+1 Froggy and Crempel Have a 20" Madstad shield, the tall Buell shield and two smaller custom shields that all fit Madstad brackets. Imo, the key to eliminating buffeting is to get good airflow between screen and shield. In cold weather, purposely use the larger 20" Madstad shield as opposed to 18" recommended for my height (I'm 5'11") and keep it lowered (rather than extended up) to provide a better air tunnel to channel the air behind the shield. | ||
| Refurb |
I have the Zero Gravity screen and experienced a lot of buffeting until I attached a large tank bag to fill the eddy behind the screen. This reduced the turbulence significantly for me. I'm 6' 1" and use the tall seat from 2006. Here's a pic of the Wolfman Denali bag filling the space. I think it is equivalent to the Rainier, but with the wide side pockets.  | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
 memphis shades | ||
| Trevd |
I do think that much of the buffeting comes from under the handlebars where the wind gets shot up into your face and helmet by the front of the frame. I've got the Madstad setup with one of their shields,the memphis shades wings, and a large tankbag. All of it helps, but I still get bothered by buffeting at interstate speeds, although much less than before I did all that stuff. I'm also pretty fussy about wind management. Trevor | ||
| Uly_man |
I get NO buffeting in clean air even at 120 mph with the std screen and I am 6' 7" tall. I once did with another brand helmet (bad aerodynamics) and also with a tall Bailly screen as it made the air stream hit my head. You will always get some buffeting from trucks, wind, etc but that is normal. | ||
| Tootal |
Riding in the rain will show you where the air is coming from! I was watching rain go below the handle bars and right up into my helmet. I haven't done it yet but the Memphis shades look like they are the answer to that problem anyway. I have the Madstad brackets and wind shield. I run it all the way down and back on nice days and all the way up and out on cold or wet days. Noise and buffeting go way up in this position but it's way warmer and I wear ear plugs anyway. | ||
| Uly_man |
"I was watching rain go below the handle bars and right up into my helmet". I used to find that even though my hands/ wrists were covered by the hand guards they were always cold. I moved them about but it was hardly any better and sometimes I had a slight wobble on the front end as well. After taking them off I never had any problems. It is my contention that the hand guards shape has a aerofoil effect on the bars. This would explain the air/ water problem and the lighter front end the faster you go especially if you have the rear pre-load jacked up to much. Yes you can "dial" much of it out with a very good suspension setup but it is still there to a degree. I also found the front tire pressure to be less critical now as well. After taking them off and re setting the suspension the bike has incredibly solid handling and I know that "odd feeling" is no longer an issue. I found that they served little, if any, practical use anyway and seem to me to be just cosmetic. On the road they did not keep my hands warm/ dry and off road they could be dangerous since they are not fixed to the bar ends. Just my experience though. | ||
| Gobadgers |
When I purchased my Madstad shield I spoke with Mark. He makes a lot about aerodynamics of wind channeled behind the shield. If your shield is raised up high on the brackets it causes poor/disrupted airflow between the shield and screen. Keeping the shield down helps the wind tunnel and channel better. Just like we put winglets and stall strips on STOL airplanes to channel the wind and not let it bleed off off the wing and lose lift, same concept here. Clean airflow reduces or eliminates buffeting. Also, think not just in terms of your height, but about how long your torso is. My eyes are over the top of my shield a couple of inches yet air is being pushed up over my helmet. My goal was to get a shield high enough that it worked properly without raising it. Here is my setup: I keep the shield down and tilted so slightly forward and it works well with or without tank bag, though I think the tank bag does help channel the air too. Also, it does not seem like I am flying a spinnaker when I take the bike up in speed with the shield down.  | ||
| Hoover_uly |
I bought my bike used with no windshield. I added the Palmer tall and brackets first and it was a big improvement but was still getting blasted in the torso and if I recall, at speed the blast would lift my helmet. The next step was the Memphis Shades. I've often wondered if I should have tried them first but never bothered to take the Palmer shield off. At speed, hold your hand vertically over the air box and feel for the source of the air blast. I think the shape of the air box channels the air right into your torso and up to your helmet. The Memphis shades eliminated most of this for me. I don't have the experience that others here have but I know what worked for me. Good luck. | ||
| Uly_man |
Depending on how tall you are and the screen you use will determine the point at which the oncoming air will hit you. Given that you need to be pretty tall to ride a Uly anyway and that it is a NAKED bike you will need a VERY high screen to make the air flow over your helmet. You want the air to either flow 100% over your helmet or hit you mid chest. Anything in between is not good. Also as I said before a good aerodynamic helmet will make the world of difference on any bike but more so on a naked on. One thing that I have never seen posted before, but may have been, is that fact that the screen is mounted to the forks and not the frame. This is significant since it will effect the feel and stability of the front end particularly from off axis wind blast IE From passing traffic and cross winds. | ||
| Dr_greg |
Hah! So I've finally found an advantage in being 5-8.... --Doc | ||
| Uly_man |
I would be interested to know what is NOT an advantage of being 5-8, Doc. | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
getting on a XB12X ? | ||
| Gobadgers |
Doc, how do you manage height-wise on your current bike which I believe is the BMW 1200 GS or Adv? That is taller than a Uly I believe. May I ask, what is your inseam? | ||
| Simond |
I have the Palmer brackets but also a Puig spoiler. This allows me to listen to the radio at cruise speeds (80-85mph). Not pretty but effective - I'm just over 6 ft.   | ||
| Advoutlander |
That puig spoiler really works? Some people have said they work while others didn't like them. How much are they and where are you from mate? I'm originally from Manchester. | ||
| Simond |
I'm still playing around with positioning but it has allowed comfortable motorway cruising at UK speeds without having to go for an enormous screen. It can be unbolted in seconds when running around locally too. I see they are available on eBay from bs-motoparts in Germany for about £65 at the moment but I'm sure I didn't pay that much. Generally I don't like the idea of bolting stuff to the handlebars. I think the bike works best with no screen at all. This set-up just gives bit more comfort for long slogs on the motorway and allows me to remove the spoiler and put the screen down when I get there. | ||
| Dr_greg |
I would be interested to know what is NOT an advantage of being 5-8, Doc. When on rough terrain and you start going over; by the time you get a foot down you're past the "tipping point." DAMHIK. Serious damage to my '10 MTS1200S. I do not have good balance skills. Doc, how do you manage height-wise on your current bike which I believe is the BMW 1200 GS or Adv? That is taller than a Uly I believe. May I ask, what is your inseam? Yes, 2013 R1200GS (water-cooled, non-Adventure). I have the stock seat in the "low" position, and it's not too bad. I can get both balls (of my feet, that is) on the ground, and that's good enough. My inseam is 32. Would still like to be 6-3, but my therapist says fuggedaboutit. IMHO the Uly w/standard seat is incrementally taller than the GS. --Doc P.S. Sorry to have (temporarily) bushwhacked the discussion. To contribute something relevant, a Laminar Lip on my '06 Uly made all the difference. But then I'm 5-8... |
