Wind Buffeting Noise

[adamv]

So today I was out on my bike, and noticed something percular. The noisiest win buffeting at highway speeds is when my head is positioned right where it's supposed to be.

If I sit as far back on the seat as I can, and as upright as I can (stretching my arm right out so I only have one arm on the throttle - I'm 6'2) - the wind buffeting is quieter.

If I stand up on the pegs and let my entire body take the full force of the wind - the wind buffeting is also quieter.

It's almost as though the windshield is causing turbulence right near my neck and chest, causing rotors to travel up through my chin into my helmet. As soon as I stand up - I'm copping wind coming straight at me, and everything goes much quieter.

Is this normal for VFR's? Am I doing something wrong? Is there any known tricks to stop this from occuring?

Thanks in Advance...

[digitallyhip]

Yes, this is the case for me too. When I accidentally removed my windscreen, I was astonished to find that my bike was now much quieter on the highway, so I've left it off. Thanks to Superfunkomatic, I even have proof!

[MarkDetroit]

I'm sure there will be lots of comments on this question! If you were a little shorter then the standard windscreen would be just fine. And if you only rode at high speeds then wind flow would be higher and maybe above your helmet. There is no question that my naked 919 is much quieter at moderate around town speeds than my VFR.

There are a bunch of windscreen options to chose from but a lot of folks find that the Laminar Lip - attached to the standard windscreen - is a great improvement to reduce wind buffeting and noise.

Good luck,

Mark

[adamv]

Thanks very much for the replies. Hmm.. take it off - that might be worth a shot to see what the difference is. Thanks

I'm surprised that the stock windshield actually makes the situation worse. Have Honda made a mistake in this area, or is it more designed for shorter people?

Thanks for the information on the Lip. Overnight I've come across a couple of other options as well (my goggle fu appears to have been better this morning) - apparently Givi make a replacement windshield (Givi D217S) and a company called Zero Gravity also make one (Zero Gravity Sports Tourer - 23-454). (Forgive me if this is common knowledge, I'm relatively new to bikes :) )

And there's also a double-bubble version - although this appears to be more for race positions but reading some reviews it seems as though many are favoring this ovre the ST? I've just gone from not knowing what to do with little information to not knowing what to do because of too many options.

I guess my concern is having to buy one without knowing which one will work well for me. The Lip, the Givi ST and The Zero Grav ST and double bubbles all appear to be roughly the same price.

I'm 6'2 and don't race. (Tour up to 60-65mph / 100-110kph so don't need anything for race speeds - just road speeds).

Edit: The other thing I've noticed is that if I place my arm across the opening of my helmet below my chin wind noise is cut out considerably. I've thought about a windjammer, but I have a Sena Bluetooth unit on my helmet which looks like the two aren't compatible. But thinking outside the box - maybe there's other options out there as well besides windshield replacements?

[MaxSwell]

After having several Shoei modular helmets, with no under-chin closure, I bought a Schuberth C-3. It had an under-chin device attached to the bottom and I believe that feature make the helmet MUCH quieter. So, yes, a helmet can make a difference.

Being 5'8" in thick socks, I can't compare my situation with yours, but I've had several Give Touring Windscreens (D200S for fifth gens) that lift the windstream above the chin of my helmet and they are much quieter than a OEM fifth gen windscreen. The bugs do not accumulate below my facemask with the Givi. With the stock windscreen they show up down to the bottom of the chin piece.

[PairOfAces]

Do you wear hearing protection. My helmet is quite noisy. (Aria Corsair V) When I'm wearing a neck gator it is silent.

[adamv]

I do wear hearing protection. My concern isn't about hearing loss (as I can protect that) - but that I can't hear anything else. The bike engine, the bike's horn, etc.

I've replaced my helmet with a quieter one, but I still can't hear engine noise, and other noises over the wind. (The helmet just makes everything more quieter, not just the wind / buffetting).

[audioneurotica]

I was an amazingly enlightened young man in my 20's and to prove it I rode a Sportster with straight pipes. Helmet ! Ear protection ! What are you crazy ? I somehow survived into my sixties and as soon as I pull the VFR out of my driveway I'm on a very rarely patrolled 55mph highway, so most of my riding is at highway or higher speeds. I too was a bit surprised at how much wind buffeting noise there is on the VFR's. I never mount up now without ear plugs(yes I somehow have most of my hearing left). A couple of other things that have helped is the Windjammer fitted onto my helmet and an MRA Vario windscreen. It's still not as quiet as my Kawasaki Concours was but some of us just aren't "all the way behind a windshield" folks. Each of the things I've noted above helped a little bit. Good luck, William

[ecn]

The wind noise creeping up the helmet/neck gap wears me down on long rides.

On a recent cold ride I noticed a lot of my wind buffeting problems were eliminated with a military surplus neck gaiter I was trying out.

I'll probably try a cooling bandana (frog toggs chilly dana) once things warm up and hope it also helps with noise.

[adamv]

The other issue I've had with the wind creeping up is also cold. I noticed when riding in winter I had a lot of chilly wind flowing over my face. I thought that it was a natural part of riding, but now I'm wondering if it's also due to the turbulence / windflow flowing up into the helmet. Good thought on the neck gater - but if I can get the right wind flow to start with I think that will be the best option.

[TampaDave]

I think turbulence sometimes forms behind the windscreen, depends on the bike and the angle of attack. My double bubble has a vent at the bottom which you would think would defeat the purpose, eh? But I think the point is to keep flow attached the screen, thereby reducing turbulence. Then it's just a matter hoping the blast hits you where on your body it needs to hit, given your body type and the aerodynamics of your helmet. Works like an absolute dream for me, I love it.

As far as where the blast hits you, sometimes lower is better. If you put a lip on the screen to flip the air over the top, there is still a possibility of turbulence affecting the top of your helmet.

I feel that closed face, racing style helmets (Arai, Shoei) like being in the blast, they work great there, and so I like a laminar wind flow to break at neck level. That exact helmet might not do well with a higher wind screen.

Likewise, they are absolutely terrible if turbulent air flow gets up under the helmet. Test this by putting your hand across your chest, like you're saying the pledge of allegiance. (Only with your left hand, which is how I did it half the time anyway). You wouldn't think this could happen on a faired sport bike, but my Ducati used to do this, but only with my modular helmet. Go figure.

[VF1000Fe]

I had a spare screen so I experimented with cutting it down.

Air Stream got cleaner but got Cold, and got lots of Bugs, Wind beats me up after many hours,,..

It also looked Odd.

The better way is to get air in behind the Wind Screen.

Then air slips up Under And Above the windscreen.

Then the Turbulence disappears.

I found a Screen on some eBay Motorcycle Accessory site and mounted it on Standoffs (about 1/2" up ).

Huge difference,,.. now the wind hits 1/2 way up my helmet and its a Smooth Air low.

Its quieter, warmer and the Wind doesn't beat me up (the seat is a different story/another challenge,,..).

I may even raise the Standoffs to 3/4" and tilt it up more, so air hits me above my Helmet Visor (less Bugs and warmer).

The screen was delivered to my door for a total of $23.

Considering how Low the newer VF screens are now, it'll be more of a Challenge.

Good Luck.

[DaveM]

I am 6' and sit a little short for my height and I have always found my 6th gen to be noisy and provide quite a bit of buffeting regardless of the helmet I was wearing. There just seems to be a lot of turbulence behind the stock screen right about at my shoulders, and frankly, I don't really think it gets much better if I try to get low and tuck in tight. Similar to an earlier poster's comments about running without a wind screen, I did cut down a stock screen to about the top of the faring "ears" and that helped quite a bit, but then the wind blast was right at face level which wasn't ideal either, especially in wet weather. It's always kind of amazing to me how quiet and smooth my helmet is when I stand up for a few miles to give my butt a break on the highway. It seems counter intuitive, but get a well designed helmet up in 75mph clean air and it’s MUCH quieter than sitting on the bike. I have considered aftermarket windscreens, but really don't like the way most of them look. My ultimate answer – earplugs and helmets with good, tight neck rolls.

[adamv]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I want to be able to hear my engine, and what's going on around me. (Vehicles beeping their horns, emergency vehicles, etc) - so a quieter helmet and quieter earplugs really isn't what I'm chasing here.

So from what I understand - it seems as though if the wind hits lower I've got more chance of a smooth airflow over my helmet, thus less buffeting noise - but this brings with it added bugs. So - it appears as though I've got to decide what I dislike more - wind buffet noise, or bugs. :-)

It looks like whatever I do I'm going to just have to bite the bullet and try. Seems as though the double bubble first - as it appears to have the most positive reviews on the VTEC.

[CosmicBlack]

I fixed this buffeting issue by installing an MRA Vario windscreen. The adjustable wing gave me even more adjustments.

[adamv]

Not knowing exactly what to do yet, I've decided to buy a cheap ($25) after market double bubble to start with. I figure I can try this to see if it makes any difference - and if not, I can cut it down / make it lower to experiment. (I don't mind hacking $25 for some experiment - at least then I'll know and prefer this than to spend ~$150 on a new windshield that might not make a difference).

I did try stuffing some material down the front to stop air from flowing up the inside, but that if anything probably made things a little worse.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

[adamv]

OK - saga continues. Prior to trying the double-bubble I was riding back during a buffeting day, and had to take out my alpine ear plug and put in foamies in my left ear because the buffeting was so much that it was causing pain even with the alpine ear plugs in.

Since then, my $25 double bubble arrived. I put it on and went for a ride. It seems to have made a slight difference in that if I sit up tall in the seat, I get a similar experience to standing on the pegs, but same problem as soon as I'm down a little lower in the turbulence - very noisy and unpleasant.

Considering this again, I realize that if I cover my neck/chin with my arm whilst riding it gets much quieter, so I'm going to try a different chin skirt. I have shark helmet, and it already has one, but not big enough (still a large gap), so I'm going to try a larger shoei chin skirt on my shark helmet to see if it covers more at the front. (Can't see why it won't fit - looks like it connects the same). Figure that I should still be able to hear everything else that's around me as sound travels to my ears via various other path ways and hopefully it has a similar effect to putting my arm across my chin...