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Introduction and Need Help - Wind Management

3K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  RedBag 
#1 ·
I’m glad to have found a great group of Goldwing riders. Hoping you can help me with an issue. I’ve been back into riding a few years now, both my previous bikes (Kawasaki Concours C14 with a Cee Bailey and 2013 F6B with a Madstad) were purchased used and had aftermarket shields and deflectors which made for a perfect pocket for me and my wife. Purchased a 2018 Goldwing Standard, Love the ride, the handling is awesome. Now here’s the problem. Wind Buffeting on my wife. A couple of stats, I’m 5’10 and 300 lbs, she’s 5’10 and average size. During our initial test ride the wind was rough, it was a windy day and there was a lot of truck traffic, thought it would go away. Purchased the bike, got home and the wind buffeting was still bad on a calm day. 1st solution - Slipstreamer T268C+4 Windshield, much improvement but still lots of wind on her shoulders and helmet, 2nd solution, Upper Deflectors - Show Chrome. Again more improvement but still getting a lot of wind on her shoulders and significant amount on her helmet. I can hear the wind very loud thru our intercom. I need to make this a good experience for her. Do I go with lower deflectors? If so, did anybody have any success with a particular type or brand? Do I go with something like an MRA X-creen? Again anybody have any success with a particular type or brand? Any other suggestions?

I’ll figure out how to post a pic of my bike eventually.
 
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#3 ·
I don’t ride much with a passenger because my wife rides her own, but an F4 windshield adjusted up, along with the Show Chrome deflectors, helped a lot. However, I still get some buffeting. What dbmachine says makes sense. If you hold a hand up around the level of the top of a mirror it’ll reveal that dirty air is passing over it and hitting your head and the passenger. I’ve considered adding the Baker guards myself.
 
#5 ·
Wind protection on the new model is not as good as it was on the previous. As you noted, the previous was not great in stock form and many of us ran/run aftermarket windscreens. The problem with experimenting with different windscreens is that they are expensive. I took the chance on the taller of the upswept F-4 shields and it helped me regarding torso and face protection, but NOT with annoying jet stream coming through the odd mirror gaps. My passenger did not complain either way, but I am 6'-3" and 245#. I placed Baker wind wings below the mirrors, but that had o=no effect upon the jet stream through the mirror gaps, but are good for summer "air conditioning" and reducing wind on upper legs. I "think" Madstad may be considering production of a windscreen for the new model, a member here reported he has an initial version, that is promising.

prs
 
#9 ·
I'm running a SlipStreamer Wraparound with X-Creen Tour attached. You may have seem my post:

20" SLIPSTREAMER WRAPAROUND with X-CREEN

IMO the X-Creen does provide some added lift of the air up and over your head while still looking over the Slipstreamer and X-Creen. This combo is very close to matching the wind protection provided by the Madstad shield I had on my F6B.

Adjusting the X-Creen was very similar to the Madstad on my F6B. There is basically one position and angle where it provides the most wind protection. Once you find that spot, set it and forget it.

Every passenger will have different expectations. My passenger claims wind protection on the 2018 as I now have it set up is very similar to the F6B with Madstad.
 
#12 ·
Ha,Ha Small world. We had a lot of great trips on that F6B. Sorry to hear she is once again an orphan but happy for your new purchase.

I have the Honda Line upper wind deflectors mounted on my 2018. I and my passenger noted an improvement in wind protection after installing these.

Later I installed the Honda Lower Wind Deflectors which helps a lot to keep rain and cold air off my shins. My passenger noted no difference with the install of the Lower Deflectors.

Your first step should be to install Upper Wind Deflectors to see how much these help. Additionally, I suspect the effectiveness of Upper Wind Deflectors may be linked in part to the specific windshield being used?

To my knowledge no one has done back to back reviews of all three Wind Deflector makes (Honda, Show Chrome, Baker). If anyone has direct experience with more than one Upper Wind Deflector make, please let us know which one you found to be most effective.
 
#11 ·
Has anyone tried the Laminar Lip on the 'Wing? I have a 2009 navi-comfort. To reduce the buffet I run the windscreen in the fourth position. BTW, I am 5'6", 160 lbs. This screen height mean I look through rather than over the screen.
 
#21 ·
I'm the guy with the madstad prototype ! I live about 10 min from madstad. Madstad is swamped with business and I regularly pester mark to finish my brackets. He is aware that the windshield is desired as he told me he is getting phone calls. Please call him and say waz ahhh. The windshield I have eliminated the shoulder buffeting for me. I dont have a passenger so wouldnt know about that. It does blow the wind up over my head with rain also. Its about the same size as the f4 20. How about everone call mark and say **** or get off the pot ; politely of course as he is super nice !
 
#22 ·
I'm the guy with the madstad prototype ! I live about 10 min from madstad. Madstad is swamped with business and I regularly pester mark to finish my brackets. He is aware that the windshield is desired as he told me he is getting phone calls. Please call him and say waz ahhh. The windshield I have eliminated the shoulder buffeting for me. I dont have a passenger so wouldnt know about that. It does blow the wind up over my head with rain also. Its about the same size as the f4 20. How about everone call mark and say **** or get off the pot ; politely of course as he is super nice !
Any chance you could post a picture of the prototype. I love the Madstad on my 2013 F6B and am hoping to get similiar results. THanks!
 
#23 ·
Gotta go to rte right now but my non teenage butt will attempt that when I get back. I looked to see where you are but no luck. If you were in central fl I would let you take it for a ride.
 
#25 ·
A lot of the wind comes in on the side under the mirrors and along the body by the gas tank. The under the mirror wings and the next ones below that, do eliminate lots of the buffeting.
 
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#29 ·
Added an MRA X-creep and rode today with my wife. It was horrible, she got hammered by wind all day. Don’t know if I’ll be keeping this new one if we can’t get the passenger wind issue solved. Only bright note is that I spoke to Madstad Friday and they think their option will be available in a month or so.
 
#30 ·
The OP in this case is c/o excessive buffeting/wind making its way around him to his passenger/wife. The windshield may be a contributory issue, however, there is a possibly more significant safety issue here:

The OP indicates he is 300# and his pillion rider is an "average weight" female about 5'10". According to available guidelines, this would place the passenger between 132-173#. Doing the math of 300+132=432 (minimum), the Wing may be overloaded. Capacity is between 417-423# per the manual dependent on the configuration. Overloading can change the handling (and I suspect, the wind flow geometry) characteristics in perhaps unpredictable ways.

The obvious solution is to procure another Wing fitted with a windshield of her choice and have her ride safely ahead.

Good Luck with that!
 
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