I am going to buy a new 09 Street Glide or Road Glide. I have demo'ed both, and while i realize the windshield was not perfect for me on either, i experienced alot of buffeting on my helmet. It feels like someone is beating me over the head as i ride over 45 mph. I am 5ft 5in tall so considering my size which one is going to give me the smoothest airflow ??? I dont mind wind on me as, i mostly ride my Heritage Softail without a windshield, even on the hwy. However this was more than wind, it was like a thump on my head, and was giving me a headache. My wife was also getting alot of wind turbulance, and was not as comfortable as on my Heritage Softail. Will a correct size windshield correct this, such as a Clearview ??? Do all fairing bike's have wind buffeting or turbulance ?? I figured the Road Glide would have been smoother because it has a much taller standard windshield, but it was only slightly better at HWY speeds.
Thanks for all your opinions and help, i am confused on what to do now.

 

You will just have to experiment with windshield heights. As little as an inch can make a difference. Unfortunately they cant make a one size fits all bike. I have had to adjust windshields, seats and handlebars on almost every bike to get it to fit me. The Roadglide is known to cause turbulance problems for a lot of riders, but the two Ive owned were almost perfect out of the box. But that is just for me. Also, just changing from one helmet to another can make a difference. You can make either bike work for you, will just take some time and experimenting. Good luck with it.

 

lowers and the right size windshield stopped the buffeting on my 08 road glide

 

Exactly!

 

Check out the Clearview. My RG used to give me extreme buffeting over 70 to the point I couldn't see anything but a blur so I measured according to their instructions and ordered the 1" over size. The CV windshield lays back more than the stocker (mirrors hit against shield doing a 3 point turn around) and has a slight recurve at the top.....nothing but clear sailing at speeds up to 90. I didn't feel the need to install lowers after putting on the CV shield. Was worth the wait.

 

Right now my RG has the stock height windshield .. My other two Tour Glides ( same bike ) , I had the tallest windshield available and it made a big difference for me ..

 

I went the opposite direction and installed a 10" chopped / smoked
windshield on my 08 R/G.
My head doesn't get bounced around, can still hear the music
at hiway speeds, and can talk with my wife when she is on back.

 

I lowered the Bike changed out the seat to make me lower & back. Put on a Clearview with Recurve (Small 1" lower 2" wider then OEM). I'm 6'4" and I have very limited buffeting till around 80+ MPH

 

The single biggest way to reduce buffetting is with lower fairings on either bike. Taller windshields generally mean lower turbulence, but at 5'5" you shouldn't need a real tall one. Another thing to consider whenever you feel the turbulence is greater than what is reasonable on either bike is the wind conditions of the day. Just watch...some time around February through April there will an onslaught of new owners with buffetting questions due to 20-40 mph wind and gusts. It it's windy out...it's just windy out...you're gonna get buffetting. When it's good calm air....you're gonna glide on either...well on either Glide

 

A bike with a fairing is going to have turbulence compared to a non-fairing bike where you are the fairing. A windshield height change can help a lot by causing the air over the windshield to pass over your head, but you will have air coming from other places.

Test ride an Electra Glide with a stock 12" windshield and see what you think. The "buffeting" you are experiencing may simply be wind turbulence caused by the air moving around the fairing.

The closest thing to zero turbulence I've ridden is an '08 Ultra (which has fairing lowers and wind deflectors on the fairing). My '04 EG with fairing lowers and 8" windshield has very little turbulence, and zero buffeting.