I have a C50T and am getting serious head buffeting when there's a wind and some buffeting if not. The buffeting nears blurry vision. I googled such and there are a lot of causes. But I am asking here because this forum has so many C50s and that should eliminate the kind of bike and windshield it came with. We have only one option for height; totally up or totally down. Also, do you think lowers would help? I installed lowers and it didn't help me with the windshield up. I'm 6'. Any thoughts would be appreciated because head buffeting takes a lot of the fun out of riding.
Helmet buffeting
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Thanks Whiskey. Logically, it sounds like the bottom of the windshield and the top of the lowers should be as close together as you can get them. Do you agree? The turn signals get in the way with the lower setup I have but I could move them a bit closer and more out towards the wind.
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The buffeting completely stopped for me after I've installed a clip-on windshield extension (I have lowers with OEM windshield). There are generally two sizes available, and I tried both. The larger size doesn't look proportionate. The smaller size looks better, but creates a smaller pocket of calm behind windshield. You can dial-in the position however you like, and adjusting angle position doesn't require tools. This thing is surprisingly sturdy for the price (I laid my bike down with one installed, and it didn't move).
Additionally, keep your knees pressed into the tank, even with lowers: this will eliminate buffeting from your knees scooping air in.
If you have highway pegs like I do, wind will jump off your boots and right into the helmet. It gets uncomfortable after 70+ mph. You experience may vary depending on the pegs setup/position.
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I have not tried. Depending on the angle of the highway bars it might make it better, acting as extended lowers, or it might make it worse and send all the air to your upper body and helmet. Really no way to tell without trying. You might want to cut-out some sturdy cardboard or plastic and zip-tie them to highway bars, go for a ride and report your results back. Please do let us know.
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Check this post: lower leg fairing | Suzuki Volusia Forum (volusiariders.com)
No brim on my helmet. I've been testing some of the theories give here by riding and testing where the air is coming from. I've learned little from such. I've made sure my windshield is ideal for me and it is. I've played just a little with the lowers but limited in changes due to the turn signals being in the way. The wind from the lowers has to go somewhere. Close to me and by the tank doesn't seem to have super strong currents. That leads me back to the windshield so I don't know what to think. I was hoping someone else had this problem and fixed it. The wind seems to hit the very top of my helmet which from what I've read is okay. I'm still open to more comments before I give up though.
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I'll take a shot at this since I went through the same situation.
For the record: I ride a C50 with a stock windshield, and I'm about 5 '9-1/2", a little shorter than you.
On a long trip out West while on the interstates, the wind stream was great enough to blow up the faceshield over and over. I eventually taped it down.
While out there I stopped at J&P Cycles and ordered up a set of Memphis Shades Lowers which they installed for me. They set them as high as they could before interfering with those pesky turn signals.
On the way home, I had the same problem. Grrrr. Money wasted, I thought. More tape.
At home I found the solution was to adjust the windshield to it lowest setting to close the gap as much as possible between the windshield and the lowers. (There's still a few inches of space left where the turn signals are.)
That did it.
There's still some minor buffeting, but it's not bad all.
Truth be told, it's not a good idea to stop all air flow from getting to you. You'll end up suffering from the heat during the summers if there isn't some breeze coming in.
If nothing else works, you should look into the possibility that your helmet is just catching too much air.
PS: Forget about what you read about "ideal" windshield height. Ideal is what works for you. As for me, I hate looking through too much windshield. I like to look over it as much as possible so my vision is not impaired if the windshield get rain-speckled (especially at night when the oncoming headlights and street lights obscure my vision into sparkly glitters) or if the windshield gets dirty.
You just gotta experiment to see what works best for you.
For the record: I ride a C50 with a stock windshield, and I'm about 5 '9-1/2", a little shorter than you.
On a long trip out West while on the interstates, the wind stream was great enough to blow up the faceshield over and over. I eventually taped it down.
While out there I stopped at J&P Cycles and ordered up a set of Memphis Shades Lowers which they installed for me. They set them as high as they could before interfering with those pesky turn signals.
On the way home, I had the same problem. Grrrr. Money wasted, I thought. More tape.
At home I found the solution was to adjust the windshield to it lowest setting to close the gap as much as possible between the windshield and the lowers. (There's still a few inches of space left where the turn signals are.)
That did it.
There's still some minor buffeting, but it's not bad all.
Truth be told, it's not a good idea to stop all air flow from getting to you. You'll end up suffering from the heat during the summers if there isn't some breeze coming in.
If nothing else works, you should look into the possibility that your helmet is just catching too much air.
PS: Forget about what you read about "ideal" windshield height. Ideal is what works for you. As for me, I hate looking through too much windshield. I like to look over it as much as possible so my vision is not impaired if the windshield get rain-speckled (especially at night when the oncoming headlights and street lights obscure my vision into sparkly glitters) or if the windshield gets dirty.
You just gotta experiment to see what works best for you.
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i agree with Whiskey. I have the same bike and am 6’ tall. Windshield is all the way up and my Memphis shades lowers are directly below the bottom of the windshield. I have no issues with buffeting anyone at all.
I started this thread and someone asked for my results after some testing. First of all, I wanted to thank all who responded as I got something from everyone's reply but especially to Menhir and WayCoolDaddy. First all, I read every post about three times. I was sure that Menhir's advice would not work but the trial was way too easy to pass up. I can't say lowering the windshield did much for the set up I had which was stock windshield all the way up with 5" long lowers about 4" down from the bottom of the windshield. After lowering the windshield, I test rode the bike and the buffeting was not much better if any but it wasn't worse either and such allowed the lowers and the windshield to be closer together. So, maybe I progressed a little. I then bought 13" lowers vs 5" lowers I had purchased from Memphis Shades. The 5" lowers were wider by about 1.5" but just not long enough. I installed the 13" narrower lowers and left the windshield down as far as it would go. I'm about 5" 11". The bottom of the windshield is about even with the top of the lowers now. I could not turn the lowers more directly to the wind because of the turn signals. And then it was off to road test the setup. I'm old, I'm on a motorcycle which pushes wind so we are going to get some wind on us. But for the most part, the head buffeting was almost gone. It was a calm day today so I don't now how it will handle in wind but I"m sure it will do better than the setup I had before. If I had to guess, I'd say success was achieved by one, your comments and two, by getting the two shields even with each other. So, that's my results. I'm tired of making changes and testing. But if you have head buffeting that bothers you, you might want to start where I left off and adjust to suit you. But again, thanks to all who responded.
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Hi AZrider2! It took me a good part of a year of research, trying different configurations, adjusting and readjusting to get an acceptable result. One thing I learned is that my next bike should have either a very easy manual or an electronic adjustable windshield: I like more protection in the cooler months and some wind on me in the summer or city/traffic.
P.S. If your lowers are too close to the side reflectors on your fork and on the same line vertically, you might bend the reflectors down when fork compresses completely over bumps, or even brake some part of the lowers or a reflector an extreme cases (ask me how I know).
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