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Handlebar Wind Deflectors


Stevewils

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Have you made sure you donot "loose" warmth elsewhere? I.e.  do you wear a balaclava under your helmet?

As you loose warmth (lots of blood in your head circulating and freely radiating warmth outward..), your body will start sacrificing fingers and toes to keep the more vital organs warm....

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Have you used that type of wind deflector before? I ask because I have Barkbusters fitted to my 800 which have much more coverage but stay short of the full coverage bar muffs and even with heated grips, I am still aware of the cold some mornings. I know we all have different physiology's, but if yr cold after 20 minutes I doubt whether a simple screen deflector like that will help you. 

 

Have you considered heated grips or heated gloves/inners? I have a pair of Keis heated inner gloves and they keep my hands warm enough with the use of deflectors or grips.

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Like Skids I have MX style hand protectors. They do deflect the wind and allow my hands to suffer less from wind Chill but don't eliminate it entirely. I can't see those deflectors being anymore effective.

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Hippo Hands or other ATV-type of hand enclosure, if you’re only needing seasonal coverage. They’ll help contain your body’s warmth. 

 

I think deflectors aren’t going to be enough, because freezing air is still moving around your hands.

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3 hours ago, Stevewils said:

Really struggling with cold hands on anything longer than a 20 minute ride.

 

Has anyone fitted these wind defelectors by Powerbronze?

 

image.png.ec1161eccdbb886eeb1a54611b10baa9.png

 

http://www.powerbronze.co.uk/productdetails.aspx?OBJ_ID=28681747

 

 

 

Interesting, I hadn't seen those before, thanks for posting. Keep us posted if you get them, I'm intrigued as well! 

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I wonder if you might have Reynaud's disease. Check out this:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/raynauds-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20363571

I have it and my mother had it. I did not know about this until I was being fitted for downhill ski boots at REI at age 50something.  If I'm sitting in the shade at 60*F with a cold beverage in my hand, my fingers go all white. My theory, in my case, is it's an autoimmune issue (I have several); an autoimmune system hypothermic over reaction to cold.

 

It has gotten worse as I've aged. When recovering from being seriously "frozen" it is moaningly painful for 30 minutes. It has forced me indoors in the winter the last few years. My last episode was, ironicly, the How Low Can You Go thread on VFRD. Very painful recovery. Now I mow my neighbors lawn in the summer and she does my snow removal in the winter. I hibernate. 

 

I hope this is NOT the cause of your issues.

Good Luck. 

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3 hours ago, MaxSwell said:

I wonder if you might have Reynaud's disease. Check out this:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/raynauds-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20363571

I have it and my mother had it. I did not know about this until I was being fitted for downhill ski boots at REI at age 50something.  If I'm sitting in the shade at 60*F with a cold beverage in my hand, my fingers go all white. My theory, in my case, is it's an autoimmune issue (I have several); an autoimmune system hypothermic over reaction to cold.

 

It has gotten worse as I've aged. When recovering from being seriously "frozen" it is moaningly painful for 30 minutes. It has forced me indoors in the winter the last few years. My last episode was, ironicly, the How Low Can You Go thread on VFRD. Very painful recovery. Now I mow my neighbors lawn in the summer and she does my snow removal in the winter. I hibernate. 

 

I hope this is NOT the cause of your issues.

Good Luck. 

 

And you're still in Minnesota. :unsure:

 

Doctor says a warmer climate would be good for your health. :beer:

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4 minutes ago, VFR4Lee said:

 

And you're still in Minnesota. :unsure:

 

Doctor says a warmer climate would be good for your health. :beer:

Yeah! Crazy isn't it. But I used to love winter inspite of the cold hands. I downhill skied, heck, friends and I did a lot of winter camping along Lake Superior North Shore. But I was young and a glutton for punishment.

Now family is a powerful magnet to stay here.

Statistics say we live longer up here. Quality of live is fabulous here, and summers are mostly comfortable. We have a saying up here: There is no bad weather. Just inapropriate clothing decisions. Still there are times ...:beer:

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2 minutes ago, MaxSwell said:

We have a saying up here: There is no bad weather. Just inapropriate clothing decisions.

 

Thousands of California bikini girls disagree. Some of them even ski in bikinis. :tongue:

You have roots, not hard to understand. I imagine they extend far below the frost line.

Stay warm. :beer:

 

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2 minutes ago, VFR4Lee said:

 

Thousands of California bikini girls disagree. Some of them even ski in bikinis. :tongue:

You have roots, not hard to understand. I imagine they extend far below the frost line.

Stay warm. :beer:

 

Thousands!??  I'll be right over.

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2 minutes ago, MaxSwell said:

Thousands!??  I'll be right over.

 

Happy hunting.

Don't let them tag you as a creepy old man. :goofy:

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16 hours ago, Skids said:

Have you used that type of wind deflector before? I ask because I have Barkbusters fitted to my 800 which have much more coverage but stay short of the full coverage bar muffs and even with heated grips, I am still aware of the cold some mornings. I know we all have different physiology's, but if yr cold after 20 minutes I doubt whether a simple screen deflector like that will help you. 

 

Have you considered heated grips or heated gloves/inners? I have a pair of Keis heated inner gloves and they keep my hands warm enough with the use of deflectors or grips.

I already have heated grips and on full power I still get cold hands. The heated gloves is an option but have heard that they are a bit of a pain to plug in everytime you get on and off the bike. I will have a look at the Barkbusters, I only need them for the winter months so might be a good compromise.

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10 minutes ago, Stevewils said:

I already have heated grips and on full power I still get cold hands. The heated gloves is an option but have heard that they are a bit of a pain to plug in everytime you get on and off the bike. I will have a look at the Barkbusters, I only need them for the winter months so might be a good compromise.

 

Depends how many times you get on/off I suppose. And of course you need the heated jacket or fleece or gilet to go with the gloves so it's the most expensive option but also the absolute best at staying warm in very cold weather. Sub-zero and toasty warm is a very nice feeling.

 

I've had major issues with the Honda heated grips on my 15-plate 800X, had the controller replaced twice under warranty and they're still nowhere near as good as the Honda ones fitted to the 1200. So your grips could an issue too. Oxford grips have a good rep AFAIK, you could consider changing them.

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I fitted some "Amazing special" things that cost about £20 a set, they luckily align with the "spare" handle bar mirror tapped hole on the master cylinders. But I had to nick the bar weights off my VFR Vtec which are about 1/4 inch longer to get the end cover to expand enough to clear the clutch lever.

 

I ride to the centre of London and back every day, about 84 miles each way and even at -5 last week, with these on and the heated grips set at 3, plus my heated KEIS vest and the usual Dianese over suit I was more than warm enough, could have done with some lip balm maybe, but as has been said, it's about clothing for the occasion. Normally cruise at 6,000 rpm. (although the rev counter might be out a bit?) I also get 55mpg at that speed, not that mpg matters, I run a Jaguar S type 4.0 as well, don't worry too much about the cost of fuel after a week in that... I do confess I need a "comfort break" at about 60 miles, but I do drink too much before I set out at 05:00 every morning...

 

Pretty sure the deflectors do a good job of keeping the cold off the back of my gloves though, heated grips are fine for the palm, don't do anything for the icy wind running over the back of your hand, and for a 61 year old I guess I have pretty good circulation because all I ever get is a loss of feeling to my index finger after about 60 miles. Occasional cold feet too, but has to be wet as well as cold for that to happen.

 

Yes, can thoroughly recommend some kind of wind deflector "bark Buster" type fitting.

 

My biggest problem is that because I ride a bike every day, it's not such a "weekend toy" any more.

In fact I just replaced the standard rear shock with a Maxton unit because the standard fit thing was losing it's ability to keep me and the seat connected quite rapidly. I was getting quite a lot of "traction control" activation and I don't ride with a "Today I might die" type of style. 20,000 miles... Next will be the forks I think.

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2 hours ago, Stevewils said:

I already have heated grips and on full power I still get cold hands. The heated gloves is an option but have heard that they are a bit of a pain to plug in everytime you get on and off the bike. I will have a look at the Barkbusters, I only need them for the winter months so might be a good compromise.

 

Maybe look at investing in a different pair of gloves? Have been out in - temps and ridden 120 miles and back with no probs and the heat on no3 or4  use Bmw 2 in 1 gloves. 

 

Or even pop pop on a pair of waterproof  overmitts think they were about £8 from sportsbike shop. Not the best for in the city but ideal on open road.

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I have these wind deflectors installed on my VFR. I put them on last spring with the intentions of keeping them on in the spring and fall but ended up leaving them on permanently. I find the VFR wind protection on the hands, arms, and legs not so good in COLD weather riding. I do a lot of all weather long distance riding and found I get riders fatigue on this bike due to the wind protection. I find the air deflectors keep the wind off your hands and also your arms. With the heated grips I've only have to use light gloves and I'm good. Another plus is they're  great when you're running in the rain. I'm not saying that it will keep the rain off your hands but it will deflect a lot of rain off and in light rain my hands mostly stay dry. I also have a Puig Touring windscreen which I did not like at first but kept it on while waiting for the Powerbronze to arrive. I got used to the Puig and when the Powerbronze arrived I put the Puig back on after trying out the Powerbronze for one day. The Puig keeps the air blast from hitting me in the chest and helmet area. My end result is with the hand air deflectors and the Puig Touring screen I stay warmer in cold weather and my rider fatigue is greatly reduced....... especially on long distance runs.........I hope this was useful info.

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10 minutes ago, blackmax said:

I have these wind deflectors installed on my VFR. I put them on last spring with the intentions of keeping them on in the spring and fall but ended up leaving them on permanently. I find the VFR wind protection on the hands, arms, and legs not so good in COLD weather riding. I do a lot of all weather long distance riding and found I get riders fatigue on this bike due to the wind protection. I find the air deflectors keep the wind off your hands and also your arms. With the heated grips I've only have to use light gloves and I'm good. Another plus is they're  great when you're running in the rain. I'm not saying that it will keep the rain off your hands but it will deflect a lot of rain off and in light rain my hands mostly stay dry. I also have a Puig Touring windscreen which I did not like at first but kept it on while waiting for the Powerbronze to arrive. I got used to the Puig and when the Powerbronze arrived I put the Puig back on after trying out the Powerbronze for one day. The Puig keeps the air blast from hitting me in the chest and helmet area. My end result is with the hand air deflectors and the Puig Touring screen I stay warmer in cold weather and my rider fatigue is greatly reduced....... especially on long distance runs.........I hope this was useful info.

 

Thx for the post, can you or somebody else post some pics on how/where they mount and maybe some pics from the riders view?

 

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On 2/19/2018 at 3:14 PM, blackmax said:

This is all I have. If requested I can take better ones in the spring as my bike is in winter storage right now.

IMG_1931.JPG

1.jpg

2.jpg

 

 

I can't open the pics, any chance of re-posting?

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Cool, thank you :) My initial thought, seeing them on the Powerbronze website, was negative but they look less intrusive in real life. Now as to whether I can justify the £65 price tag...

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