Road Glide Buffeting

lqdesertrider

2004 RG with stock windshield and I seem to be getting a lot of wind buffeting?

Has anyone had luck with larger windshield?

Any suggestions

TQuentin1

The higher your center of gravity is, and the more windage you have strapped on your bike, the more you will feel the buffeting by the wind or by the eddy currents created by large vehicles passing you.

When I first got my UC, I was shocked at the difference in perceived buffeting between the Dyna and the Ultra. I have done a number of things to help lower the center of gravity, and the bike is now much more stable and comfortable to ride. Here are some of the things that have lowered the cog:

• Lowered the front end and rear end
• Reach seat that lowers me 1-1.5" and moves me forward about the same
• Pack the side boxes with the heavier stuff
• Leave the tour pak or rear rack for lighter stuff
• Installed a True Track to secure rear of transmission

The main point is to lower your cog, and reduce windage.

TQ

smitty901

Please explain wind buffeting is it buffeting you or the bike. The one bike HD builds that shout not buffet is the RG.
The correct wind shield you should beable to just see over the top.
You say it has stock wind shield are you sure how tall is it.
buffeting RG is strange.

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mslater

x-large clearview windshield and lowers ,stopped it for me

biglew55

After I tried 3 windhields and 3 seats, I changed mine to an FLHT fairing. Problem solved!

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Crazyfrog

Alot of buffeting can be attributed to the air that hits your knees, and flows up across your chest. Lowers can and will make a huge differance.
Not sure if you can put fork mounted lowers on a glide or not, you'll have to do some checking, but you can definatly mount ultra style lowers on your crash bars.

Next time your out riding, move your hand around to try and divert the air around your knee, you should find a spot that makes a big differance.

biglew55

Lowers aren't an option for me in the summer. They were only on my bike during cold months.

__________________
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow." - James Dean
Ride it hard and ride it far!

smitty901

I am really confused other than head getting buffeting from a windshield thats is to low I have never heard of a RG buffeting.
The fixed faring stops the buffeting you can get from a front end mount faring.
I have logged a few miles on a RG. And that is the main reason why most, I know that own one like them.
I tried a lower cool looking shied on mine it lasted 50 miles till I got it off the buffeting was unbearable. But with correct shield I can set cruise and put my hands in my pocket, ( NOT RECOMMENDING THIS).

For lowers I do not like the hard ones I refitted a set of the good Hd softones to fit my RG they wrok great and on and off in seconds.

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biglew55

smitty, I think (assume?) that this is helmet/head buffeting. I agree that the chassis is more stable on them (but only slightly IMO). I am 6'1" and couldn't get rid of helmet/head buffeting, period. I tried the stock, medium, and tallest (I called it 'pope-mobile') windhield with little improvement. The windshield is too far frward, and the 'bubble' closes back up on me unless I was in a tuck position. My passenger hated that bike until I changed it. Changing that fairing made that bike so much more enjoyable to ride, and yes I frequently ride without my hands as I frequently do a long days, and even Iron Butt rides.

__________________
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow." - James Dean
Ride it hard and ride it far!

escorial

FWIW I always believed that the buffeting was caused by the windshiled being too far away from the rider (air spills over and swirls in front of the rider). You might try a slightly larger shield and put a vent in it. A vented windshield greatly reduces buffetting.

You might check out Clearview shield in FL as well as Cee Bailies
H.D. FLTR (Road Glide) Replacement Windshield - for 1998 thru 2003 FLTR models or 2004 UP FLTR models they have some nice stuff and will mod a shield if needed. You might try calling them and running by yur problem with them.

Also this company does make some trim products that do help, I have used them on a few of my past BMW's. Application Guide its best to call them to discuss, there not cheap!

I had a 01 RG and the buffetting was horrible on that plus I had the tour pack on it which I think made it worse. The later year RG the fairing was canted a few degrees to help with this, but again the best bet is a better windshield and if that does not help try adding a vent.


Lowering the bike will do little good as its the design of the fairing and how far the shield is from the rider. You should always have the shield height right below your line of vision to get the best results. Those real low shields are for looks around town.

My fix was to dump the bike and get a Ultra, also RK does offer pretty good wind protection without too much buffetting.

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