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Windshield to reduce buffeting?

5K views 25 replies 17 participants last post by  ldso 
#1 ·
Hey guys! I got a 2005 C50 for dirt cheap a few months back. A little preventative maintenance, and I had it road worthy! I got a backrest, and a few other odds and ends. The main problem I have with it now is the helmet buffeting I get at highway speeds. I have the stock windshield on, and am looking for advice on solutions to ease the buffeting.

FWIW, I'm 6'2" and pretty lanky.
 
#2 ·
Hey guys! I got a 2005 C50 for dirt cheap a few months back. A little preventative maintenance, and I had it road worthy! I got a backrest, and a few other odds and ends. The main problem I have with it now is the helmet buffeting I get at highway speeds. I have the stock windshield on, and am looking for advice on solutions to ease the buffeting.

FWIW, I'm 6'2" and pretty lanky.
Lowers that are correctly installed and adjusted will eliminate 95% of your problems with wind...... Most of the buffeting on my bike came from the sides of the windshield and below the handlebars.

There are many versions available. I'm sure other members will come along with brand names and models.... I have no idea where my lowers came from..... they were already installed when I bought the bike as second owner....
 
#3 ·
Alrighty. I did a search on lowers (Which I should have done in the first place :p ) and I think making my own is the way to go. I just have one question (I swear this is all one question!) . Does the placement matter? Should there be a gap between the windscreen and the lowers, or should it be one solid piece? How far down/ how wide out should they spread? Is there an ideal angle?
 
#4 ·
JMHO, I have a set of chrome lowers that I bought from a VR member. I'm thinking I might just have to install and adjust until I find the right spot for them. Placement probably depends on many factors unique to each bike, including the size of the windshield. I'm sure a more knowledgeable member will have a better answer.
 
#6 ·
Follow the lines from the front of your tank. Without the lowers you'll find that the wind falls off the bottom of the windshield right onto the front of the tank and compounds the wind flow up into your face. Without the windshield the wind coming from the tank is naturally blown straight back but with the windshield a vacuum is formed behind it compounding the turbulence you feel as buffeting.
The solution is to redirect the air flowing off the bottom of the screen onto the lowers and down away from the front of the tank.
Which lowers you use is just a personal choice. Placement is dictated by the above principals.
 
#7 ·
Lowers need to extend about 2" min up behind the windshield
 
#10 ·
My preferred sitting position with respect to the windshield is to be where I look just over the top to see a ''mile'' down the road and where I looking through the top inch to ''look through the turn'' for good riding practices.....

The windshield, at that position, still shoots the wind up and over my head - the odd bug still gets through to test my helmet though.....
 
#12 ·
Lowers?

Yeah, lowers will stop that annoying buffeting. When I had the OEM windshield installed, I had the exact same problem. What was worse, it was so bad I continuously had double vision above 50 mph. Turns out the ride height of the windshield is just an inch or two too low for my sitting position. I'm too tall for it.
I went looking for other things to try, experimentation time. I made a set of lowers using 1/8" plexiglas and sized them to reach from approximately 1/2" below the windshield down to about 4 inches above the front axle. For attachment points, I used a pair of polished up aluminum 1" angle, drilled to match the windshield upper mounting bolts (the ones that are roughly parallel to the fork angle).
The difference was amazing.
No more head bobble.
 
#13 ·
You got me curious. Friday, while I was riding, I was checking the air flow (yes, with my left hand). My windshield is at a height that the air flowed from the to of the windshield to the top of my helmet. (I have lowers, courtesy of the previous owner.) Wind from the sides was not an issue. I did feel some in the front that I think was coming from the gap between the bottom of the windshield and the top of the gas tank. I have the windshield up as far as it will go, creating a 3-5 inch gap at the bottom. I thought about adjusting the windshield down some if I can but summer time will be here soon and I will want some wind on me. So, I may adjust it late in the fall.
 
#22 ·
Here is an interesting read on windshields.
The Buyer's Guide to Motorcycle Windshields - BikeBandit.com

I have readjusted my Memphis Fats 21" so it more closely follows the angle the front forks. (I tipped them back about 1 1/2")
Plus I lowered it about 1 1/2 inches so it is about mouth height. With Memphis Shades "Fork Deflectors" installed, there is no buffeting. :-D
 
#19 ·
You can absolutely change the angle, and it's easy.
This is not a pic of a C50 but the theory is the same. Take out the top bracket bolt on both left and right sides so you can tilt the shield forward - put the bolt back in behind the bracket or pinching it as shown in this pic. I can't say it made a huge difference on my C50 when I did it, but it made enough difference that I ended up leaving it that way.

 
#20 ·
Yes you can change the angle, I had my windshield like that but just today I made a set of lowers and put it back at factory angle. All I have to say is the lowers did make a big difference and I will admit to being one of the biggest skeptics on this idea. Can't speak for the store brands but the homemade ones did the trick. I did just a short test ride and have to do just a little tweeking.
 
#24 ·
Lowers and shield tilted forward. I just tilted my shield as much as I could within the slots. But I think widening the top slot for a little more upright windshield might be a good thing.
 
#25 ·
On my old C50T I had cut a section right through the backside of the upper slot which allowed the mounting bolt to pinch the back edge of the bracket - it was an idea I got from someone else on this forum and it worked great. More recently I did a similar mod to my Nomad but this time I just put the bracket all the way in front of the bolt...the head of the bolt still pinches the bracket and holds strong. This has not moved in thousands of miles.

 
#26 ·
I have been running a National Cycle Switchblade 2Up windshield the last couple seasons, it is a tall one. Also it uses the quick detach brackets. I am very happy with it and my wife says that she has less buffeting.

I used to run a Memphis Shades Heavy Duty windshield with lowers. That is a great setup too, but for me the extra height of the 2Up is the way to go. I do miss the lowers some but there you go. I am all torso, so I have it set up so that I look over the windshield most of the time, but through the windshield for corners as one of the other guys posted.

I'll hunt down a pic...
 
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