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Wind tunnel testing on a Harley.....That's funny right there
Test rides help......Try it without a helmet too.
Actually Harley does ALOT of wind tunnel testing on bikes, mostly for Race programs but they test every model in the tunnel and the RG actually does the best.
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2008 Vivid Black Road King Classic
2010 Vivid Black Street Glide
The Cost of Freedom is Not Free....Let Us Never Forget
It's very east to swap out windshields; I have a 5" SE for style and a 12" Clearview for touring. When riding with my sportier friends I wear an Arai full face helmet, this helps a ton.
__________________ "A child of five would understand this; send someone to fetch a child of five." - Groucho Marx
Someone else (a 6' footer) said he felt the Clearview +2" was perfect. That's quite a bit more than +1/2". Are you 6' also or less.
I went with this shield as well and it's been great. With the stock shield on it, anything above 50 mph was really disappointing. I'm 6'1 with a 34 inseam if that helps. I ride with a half helmet and no helmet in the states. Vinyl lowers when it's cold or raining. Most of the time without.
I can see above the windshield by about 3" and see the road 20' in front of me.
If you want to see what it looks like I've got some pictures here:
I purchased a back up bike.........an 09 Gold Wing 1800 and I parked my 08 Ultra SE3, tired of all the recalls, poor performance and maintenance issues. You don't have these issues with the Gold Wing, it's faster smoother and don't have to put out of thousands of $ to try and get it running right, ......no recalls or maintenance issues. I'm done with the Harley crap they are building these days. Never had any problems with my 02 or 05 Ultras.
yeah, yeah, yeah..... i have one of those pos '07s, you know, the ones that were supposed to implode after 20 miles or so. i didn't spend thousands getting it to run right. yes, i did do a few changes, that would have been done anyway (stage 1, and some cosmetic stuff) but it ran fine stock. i now have 37,000 on it, and i have had to take it to the shop once, for a new reset button on the speedometer. 15 mins under warranty, back on the road.
enjoy your goldwing, i am certainly enjoying my road king. hope your frame doesn't break in half on you though...
First, to the people who's helpful comment is "get a car". Thanks. I'm sure that's the constructive feedback the OP was looking for when he came here.
For those who's comments are "live with it". Thanks. I'm guessing you guys are not actually experiencing buffeting. Wind is a good thing and I prefer to look over the shield and not through it (ever ride a Beemer?). But the rhythmic and relentless pounding of the helmet a la HD is beyond a reasonable experience for any rider.
Having owned many bikes over the years, HD is the only one that seems to pay NO attention to aerodynamics. Buffeting can be so severe that you have to get off the bike before dizzyness and headache overtakes you.
I too am in the market for a Touring bike and would prefer to stay with Harley, but may not for this reason. Leaning toward a RK so that the shield can be removed when the mercury is above 60 around town. Just hate the idea tha it'll take another $3k of trial and error with shields, lowers, helmets, etc., in the hope of a ride only half as good as I get on my BMW right out of the box.
It's a good thing for HD that there's so much blind loyalty to the brand. Eventually, they'll have to get Willy G out of the fashion department and actually test some bikes.
Rant over.
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Mike
09 FXDC - Relaxation ride.
08 K1200S - 167 hp, under 490 lbs. 11k redline.
Having owned many bikes over the years, HD is the only one that seems to pay NO attention to aerodynamics. Buffeting can be so severe that you have to get off the bike before dizzyness and headache overtakes you.
I too am in the market for a Touring bike and would prefer to stay with Harley, but may not for this reason. Leaning toward a RK so that the shield can be removed when the mercury is above 60 around town. Just hate the idea tha it'll take another $3k of trial and error with shields, lowers, helmets, etc., in the hope of a ride only half as good as I get on my BMW right out of the box.
whats the problem? if you don't like hd get something else. easy to figure out. do you care so much about status that you're willing to buy a bike that you hate just so you can say 'i have a harley'? maybe before just throwing money at a perceived problem, why don't you take a logical approach to figure out what might work. personally, i can't imagine spending $3,000 on seats and windshields. i think i have maybe $400 invested combined, and thats just cause i wanted a solo seat instead of the ugly stocker, and a long ride shield took care of the wind issues.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bob37
wow this is good send this to willie g and tell to fix the road toad 20g for this bike is a efing joke keep drinking the kool aid guys
wow, what a constructive post. you don't like the roadglide, get something else. exactly why do you think the bike is a joke?
hd must be doing something right. all these people who complain about everything harley, "the ride sucks, the buffeting sucks, the performance sucks", yet they still have one parked at their house. other companies could only wish for this type of consumerism, 'yeah i know this car is a piece of junk, but i think i'll spend $20,000 on it anyway'.
I sold my Street Glide after 29 days because of the buffeting, I have a 2009 RG with a KW 8in shield and rode it to Florida twice and no problems, Im 5'10 215 lbs. I have a 12inch for the winter months and still no problem!
Wow, you didn't just change the windshield like most of us do? Wow, all I can say is wow.
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2007 Street Glide - Formerly a clattering bucket of bolts.
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Frikken Stock!
............. Should be a lot of happy people on this old planet, ya know what I mean??
'02 Ultra & '96 1200 Custom Sportster.
