I have a huge problem with wind buffeting on my 2008 vulcan 1500 classic.
I started out with the stock kawasaki windshield and found it was way too short. The dealer took it back in trade for a national cycle heavy duty touring windshield with the chrome lowers. Well everything is great up to about 55 to 60 mph and then the typhoon starts. My head gets rattled all around at true highway speeds of 65 and higher. I know it's coming from the bottom because if I hold my left arm across my chest with my palm faced down it is calm at my face. The national cycle lowers are tapered like in a V shape wider at the top and narrow at the bottom. I think they do this to prevent the lowers from hitting the crash bar if you have one. I do not. Anybody got any ideas or suggestions? My Kawi loves the highway, but the headaches are getting to be too much. How are the batwings? Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Buffeting is caused when you move air away from you via the windshield, and cause a low pressure area behind it. Air from in front of the windshield seeks to fill that low pressure area, creating circular vortices of air, resulting in buffeting. Sometimes, the more you try to deflect the air, the more severe the buffeting becomes as you continue to lower the air pressure behind the screen.
My experience has been the two biggest factors in buffeting is windshield height and the helmet you wear. I used to wear a half helmet, the sides coming down a little lower than a shorty but not a full 3/4. It tossed my noggin everywhere. I switched to a shorty for good weather and a full face for bad, and the buffeting problem disappeared. I also have a few inches of space around my headlight, which allows air in to relieve the low pressure behind the windshield, so I get a nice breeze when riding but no wind or buffeting.
Ideally, on the windshield, you want to be able to look over the top of it about an inch and see the road about 50 feet or more in front of you when seated comfortably. You might try adjusting it up or down; just a few inches can make a big difference.
I spoke with Tech support today at National Cycles and they asked me what position I had the sliding window in. I sais all the way down tight on the headlight. They sais this was more than likely a big part of the problem. As you said I was creating a low pressure situation behind the winshield and ait was coming up to fill that void. They told me to open it up to about 1 1/2 " above the headlight. For my bike this is the top of the window range. I did it,
and it helped a lot. Still not perfect, but I think I am heading in the right direction. I am going to experiment with the opening size at the headlight by taking the window out and test ride to see what effect that has on it. The guy at National said you will know when you get too big of an opening. Right now I can't feel a great deal of air rushing through the cut out. I guess it's all about trial and error.
I hope this post helps somebody in a similar situation.
?????????? I do not pretend to be an expert but, I have to ask. I have seen the same comment made many times that, you should be able to see over the wind shield. I cannot see the logic there. I want to look through the windshield, not over it. That, would seem to be it's purpose beyond deflecting wind and debris.
It's basic aerodynamics, really. If the windshield is too high, the vortices formed by the difference in pressure can swirl around and hit the back of your head. If the windshield is a bit lower, the air passes over the windshield and then over the top of your helmet.
But the larger issue is safety. If your windshield gets dirty, wet, scratched or filmy, and then gets hit with sunlight, you can't see through it. Being able to see over it is a huge plus. I have mine set to where if I slouch a but, which I normally do on long trips, I'm looking about 2 inches below the top of it. But I can easily see over it if I sit up a bit.
From the February, 2009 issue of Motorcycle Cruiser
Cutting a motorcycle's windshield for height is more than just a matter of comfort and style, it's essential to good visibility. Being able to see clearly is fundamental to the safe enjoyment of motorcycling. And, getting your bike to fit you just right is a rewarding part of the whole motorcycling experience.
There are generally two schools of thought on what constitutes "the right height." You're either a rider who wants to be comfortably ensconced behind a large enveloping view port, or one who appreciates the protection of a windshield but feels most comfortable being able to see over it. (The Motorcycle Cruiser staff falls entirely into the latter camp. We have even been known to cut down an annoying windshield out on the road, as we did with the Yamaha Royal Star Venture's shield on our ride to Alaska.)
Certain weather conditions make looking through a windshield more than a little dicey. Fog and mist can cling to a windshield, blocking essential forward vision and increasing annoying glare at night. My own beef is the triple whammy of riding in the rain in traffic at night. Road spray produced by other vehicles seems to be especially adhesive. And it sticks not just to the front of the windshield but also to the back, so you have two layers of droplets to try to see through.
In heavy traffic, road speeds are not conducive to the natural sheeting effect of water from windblast; the result is impaired visibility when vision is of the utmost importance. When you combine the water on the windshield with water on your face shield or goggles the situation only gets worse.
Okay, I appreciate the info. I guess I have been lucky not to have run into those situations. Admittedly, I do not ride in doubtful weather. I will take better notice of if and when I am looking through or over the shield (if I am).
I keep the windshield clean and have used RainX on it to reduce dust adherance and (heaven forbid) rain. I do this to both sides of the "glass".
I too like being behind the windshield. It is a matter of preference with the behind the shield guys being the minority. I just like the sense of comfort in having some additional eye protection besides sunglasses for any rocks or debris coming towards my face. I have mine adjusted so that if I sit up and stretch a bit I can see over the shield. This would suffice on the short term.
Call me a Sissy, but if it rains enough where I can't feel safe in cruising I will find an overhang and wait it out. I don't live in an area either where I have to worry about the shield fogging up due to elevations. I am a Construction Safety Manager by trade and I just don't feel right if I am not protecting the eyes and face. That's my 2 cents worth anyway.
Folks, A couple of other points. One time when I need to look over not through the windshield is when the sun is setting behind me. It can produce a big league glare on the plastic at times, and I'm glad I can look over, not through it. As to eye protection, the screen that is just below your eyes will protect your eyes 99 per cent because of air currents shoving bugs etc up in a trajectory over your head and not just straight over the top. Thats why those bug deflectors on the front of your hood of the PU work. I certainly don't want to take chances with my eyes (I normally use a full face but sometimes the visor is up and I'm depending on my glasses, but not at full highway speeds.
All it takes is one big grasshopper to go off your lid to tell you that you don't want one of those in the eye. To each his/her own but I want to look just over the top of the screen, and duck behind it when I hit that swarm of killer bees. Tom
Larger lowers may help reduce the buffeting. You may have to make them though as most pre-made are on the small side. If you have an engine guard you need to notch the lowers for clearance. You can also clamp some larger Plexiglas to the existing lowers to see if it helps before you go through the trouble of making them.
A set of chaps on the engine guard can also help reduce buffeting. This worked on my friends 900 classic along with his homemade lowers.
Larger lowers may help reduce the buffeting. You may have to make them though as most pre-made are on the small side. If you have an engine guard you need to notch the lowers for clearance. You can also clamp some larger Plexiglas to the existing lowers to see if it helps before you go through the trouble of making them.
A set of chaps on the engine guard can also help reduce buffeting. This worked on my friends 900 classic along with his homemade lowers.
Has anyone tried to do a plexiglas "chap" instead of buying synthetic leather chaps? Maybe a wild idea, but thought that besdes the buffeting/wind it would allow the look of the bike to remain & not be blocked w/a solid chap.
Thought about using clamps similar to those for homemade lowers to attach plexiglass to highway/engine guard. Any thoughts?
As promised, I took notice of my visual relationship to the windshield while riding this weekend. I do look through the shield. However, if I straighten up, I can see over it. I did not notice any buffeting when I did that. When the sun was behind me, there was some glare but, not enough to make me change position to look over the shield. In all honesty, I thought the shield was higher than it is. I think it is as high as it goes. At any rate, it works. The dead bugs and other debris prove its value.
If the angle if the windshield is too straight up and down, buffeting will occur as well. Make sure the sheild is tilted to about the same angle as the forks.
The VN2000's are too straight up and down from the factory.
I modified the brackets to angle as I said about the same as the forks.
No more buffeting. No lowers either.
If you take your left arm and put it across your chest at 60mph and the buffeting stops, the wind is coming from around the tank and up the front of your body. If that is the case, there are 2 solutions. 1 put on lowers or 2 get Jack's Flaps. These are the only 2 products I've found to defeat the head buffeting caused by that updraft behind the windshield. I prefer the flaps because you don't have to mount anything more to the bike, just put on the vest and go, and, in the summer, you won't get cooked by the heat coming from your engine. The lowers deflect that cooling wind and let the heat come up and cook your legs and crotch (good in the winter though)
I made larger homemade lowers for my Nomad, and they helped a lot with the buffeting. I like to look over the windshield for all of the reasons mentioned above. But I also like to have eye protection. Once when riding with just sunglasses, I bee flew in between the edge of the helmet and the sunglasses, and it stinger went straight into my cheek just below the eye. You can't imaging the pain! Now I don't ride without a full face shield on my helmet.
The 1500 has a lot of air flowing up from under the bike. My flow hits right in front of my faceshield. At freeway speeds the flow is probably strong enough to hold up a soccer ball (not kidding). Well, about a month ago I had had enough and I removed my stock lowers and installed a set I made myself--which are about twice the width and length as stock. The result: the air flow is completely gone: no more cold air stream flowing up under my face shield. I rode 150 miles last Friday night in 44 degrees and I was comfortable the entire way.
Before you replace your windshield add a set of larger lowers. If you want I'll gladly send you the pattern I used for mine.
_____________
IntheWind
'06 1500 Classic
Before you replace your windshield add a set of larger lowers. If you want I'll gladly send you the pattern I used for mine.
_____________
IntheWind
'06 1500 Classic
Something isn't right here. I have a 1500 Classic, and a stock F&S windshield. I had some buffeting issues with one particular helmet I wore; I switched and never had any more problems. I mounted the windshield with about 1"-1-1/2" of space around the headlight to equalize the air pressure behind the windshield, and have never had any problems with buffeting. I have no lowers, and never needed any, though I could see using them for cold weather.
If you're getting buffeting, it's probably due to windshield height or angle. Buffeting happens when the air pressure in front of the windshield is high due to compression and the air behind it is low, so air rushes around the object blocking it and forms a vortex. Find a way to let a little more, not less, air behind the windshield and the buffeting will go away. Sounds pardoxical, but it's a fact I've found to be true.
I was the one who started this post several months ago. I opened my window around the headlight as high as it would go and it helped quite a bit.
I still get some updraft, but at least I no longer get a headache from getting my head slapped around. I have even toyed with the idea of removing the window all together to experiment to see what that would do. I have the national cycle touring windshield with their chrome lowers. It is pretty smooth behind the shield up until about 65 to 70mph and then it gets windy. I am still getting a little updraft because if I lay my left arm across my chest it is very smooth and calm above my arm.
I see, but an updraft usually won't cause buffeting. Personally, I like a little wind in my face and have never found it bothersome.
Buffeting almost always comes from over the top of the windshield and to a slightly lesser degree around the sides. It's when the high air pressure suddenly rushes around the obstacle and moves in to fill the low pressure void behind it, creating a whirlwind-effect vortex right at or behind the rider's head.
I get no buffeting now, but I can block air to my face the same way you describe. Lowers will definitely help with that, if it bothers you, but I'm 99% sure that isn't the source of head buffeting.
In my 40+ years of motorcycling I have had windshields, fairings, lowers, vent wings, and nothing. I have found that the buffeting is a result of 2 majors factors, like many others have stated the low pressure area behind the shield is creating air vortexing around and behind this lets the side area to enter the low pressure zone and push you around. I have found on my 2004 1600 with a memphis shades that the windsheild was a little too vertical to move thus making the low pressure area too small behind it. You can check this out by moving up on the bottom of the tank and see if the buffeting is less. If you put a little rake in the windshield by moving the bottom of the mounts forward a little (normally about 1") this will increase the size of the low pressure are, note the new Harley Fairings with the huge rake on small windscreens. The other things that help is a good set of lowers this prevents the updraft that occurs from the wind being pushed around the front end. Hope some of this helps.
I have the NC windshield with chrome lowers and have it leaned back as far as it will go and down as low as it goes. I'm below it when I slump slightly and I can see over it when sitting tall. Works great for me with a fullface helmet.........................of course, the BMW with the adjustable windshield was the greatest.
Tilting the windshield as mentioned will help.
Can you reverse the lowers so that the big part is on the bottom ?
I put a wider windshield on mine & Softail lowers & it works great.
Hey Dean,
Any chance I can get a copy of that pattern as well?
I was out today in 5 degree C weather and it was was a little cool withe the wind coming in oar pound the tank. I made a set for my volusia and they worked great
Sorry to be off topic but i was wondering by having that pouch in there(pic above) wouldnt that restrict the air flow to the radiator, i mean is it a big deal?
I don't know, maybe it does slightly. I live in the country and rarely get into the city, so it doesn't seem to make much difference. It still gets lots of flow around the fender. I know my fan hardly ever kicks on.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Kawasaki Vulcan Forum
712.7K posts
67.9K members
Since 2008
A forum community dedicated to Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, Vulcan 1500, Vulcan 2000, Vulcan 500, Vulcan 1600, Vulcan 900 and all other Vulcan motorcycles.