Chromedome

Oh boy! I'm done with this shite... 3 day ride and wow, what a difference. I shortened my screen another inch or so before I left. Didn't change the spoiler. Didn't run with the edging on the fairing. At one point, in calm (ambient?) winds I was doing about 75 MPH (GPS) and all I heard was such a quiet, amazing, soul enriching whoosh from my Shoei GT-Air. Veefour's cruise control was awesome and the VFR grew on me. I just might keep this bad boy. I hope this thread ends up helping someone! One last set of pics with the R&G parts on it after polishing and waxing it.

Um, so, I had already installed the edging I mentioned earlier. Just think of it as a 5/8" tall piece of wood against what you'll make a ramp out of (like a bicycle ramp?). I then cut some cardboard and duct taped it. It's not even that tall a spoiler. Would love to try a 1" or so wedge. Maybe I didn't share the right picture? Here's two more. The edging on the fairing might be helping too (if I have time at lunch today I'm going to remove it and compare). All this is temporary, just want to get through the road trip. Also, I've cut the screen a lot. Maybe 5" total?

I totally agree with the neck roll theory. The GT-Air's neck roll is insane and the helmet is by far the hardest to get on of any full-face I've ever worn. I've tried many modular helmets, the quieter ones worth mentioning starting with the Shoei Multitec, but of course the Schuberth C3 Pro and new C4. Yes, the Schuberth's were quieter than most but they simply didn't move enough air and my head would bake (Phoenix is hot). Might have been mitigated with a dark smoke visor but it wasn't worth the risk of spending another $100 (total cost of helmet and visor then $940 by then) to find out it's still too hot. Like I've said though, the GT-Air is 2nd to no helmet in terms of quietness. After this morning's ride into work, I am now 100% sure that the changes I've made have transformed the bike for me. It's now hardly louder than me standing up on the pegs and putting the helmet in clean air. I still want to trim the screen another 1". I'm so glad I put this effort in*. Even got my radar detector mount setup with the audio running through a Sena SR10 into my Sena 10U. I also have a phone mount and run Escort Live. I'm all set for this epic trip (AZRide Devil's Run). I'll say this, this morning I set the cruise at 70 mph (GPS speed) and the whole experience feels strangely slow, like I'm barely moving. As if I'm going 40 mph or something. Setting the cruise at 80 mph is almost the sweet spot in terms of going fast but still quiet and comfy enough and a nice relaxed pace. That's an incredible change from the day I got the bike. *I've already spent much time and money on other mods having assumed I'd keep the bike. The Veefour cruise ($550?), Dam exhaust ($630), 3 aftermarket windscreens (ouch), a Speedohealer ($115?), a Healtech brake light flasher, a new set of tires, two different phone mounts, radar detector mount, replaced fork seals, Kisan's headlight flasher ($170?), R&G sliders and frame plugs ($220), tire hugger ($100?) and more. OMG, is that over $2,600 in two months? So much money if I ended up just selling it. PS: sorry that my responses all seem so long but I'm just excited about all this and have lots to say about it.

Well, getting much more quiet when sitting taller is what lead me to replicate all my other bikes (they needed nothing, just sportbikes running OE screens) and try to lower the airstream. Not sure if you saw it yet but I shortened a Zero Gravity screen a lot. Just rode another 40 plus miles (spent my lunchtime testing and trying to fix my Shoei GT-Air whistle, I did BTW) and I'm again very happy, but I also find it's still quieter if I sit very straight up. Still plan to trim the screen another inch.

Didn't you used to hang out on www.cbrxx.com? Or am I thinking of www.rc51forums.com . Either way, both my former RC51 and current Blackbird has WAY less turbulence than this bike when I got it stock.

FWIW, the edging doesn't look like it does much from that side view but from the front you can see it would make a difference. Yes, for sure we would need someone else to try this and see how it works with whatever screen they're using. I can say for sure that I already ran my shortened screen (before the spoiler) and it wasn't nearly good enough. The spoiler and maybe the edging had made a difference for me, for sure. Confirmed again with another 20 miles ride this morning. Hopefully I'll have time this weekend to increase the angle and Sunday take a test/mock ride for next weekend's trip. This will be my first ride of any length with the factory bags on too.

Or, I could do what I did and make a huge difference. Not everyone's wired the same way; some people just accept that things are crappy and others, like me, make an effort to improve them.

Awesome! I'll be on the lookout for that. Okay, one more update. Finally got to ride the bike again after new tires and installing new fork seals. I also added the trim I had left-over to the cowling. Two other possible factors include a brand new (but same model) Shoei GT-Air helmet and for the first time ever, not using a head sock/helmet sock. But, I have to say there are again improvements. I mean, it's so much better and it was maybe as good as any of my bikes. Like, at least for this trip I'm absolutely ecstatic. I have a new Dainese D-Air jacket, I've lost weight so everything is more comfortable, my horrible hand-tingling and pain is GONE. My goodness, what a difference from where I was just two months ago. Here's a pictures of what I've done (testing this) with the edging. If I have time I may try to fit this defector that Andy shared since the edging on the fairing looks a little tacky. Plus one more... just feeling so much better about this bike now. 🙂

You bet. Then to add confusion, yesterday I rode my Blackbird for the first time in a long while. Wow, wind hitting me at my shoulders, helmet nice and quiet but also that engine is the smoothest thing out there. I have to admit after looking at the fairly funny front end of the VFR I ended up really loving how the Blackbird looks. And after all these years I've done like 50 mods to it - I think I need to keep this thing, finish my V&M Anniversary livery (see below) and I'll probably end up selling the VFR - late this year I'm sure. UGH. But, I guess it's all good. I plan to buy and sell many more bikes in the future. I mean, I've got electronic cruise on this thing, DMr fork cartridges, Ohlins shock, custom paint and undertail, am installing a full Akrapovic system soon and it's red, white and black just like I seem to love. Too many bikes, not enough room in the garage, 😞

LOL - I'm not tall but I'm not like 4' short either. 🙂 In fact, I think I'm taller than the average Japanese man so, you know, designed by Honda. And I agree that if I were let's say 12 feet tall it's likely the wind would be hitting me at the stomach, allowing for clean air under the helmet. What's really going on is that I'm an outlier when it comes to my tolerance for wind noise, like way out on the tail here. You saw the note about 29 helmets in 5 years? But also, my prior two bikes, they sort of came stock with way better (in this case much lower like all sport bikes) air flow that put the helmet in clean air. I think there's a good chance that many VFR1200F are tolerant of the turbulence because they're coming from other bikes that also try to route the wind over your helmet and so are used to excessive turbulence.

I appreciate the effort but I'm a bit of a helmet nut, not sure if I covered it in this thread already. I'm currently on my 29th helmet since I started riding again in 2013. Schuberth C3 Pro, C4, Schuberth R2, GT-Air, Sena INC helmet, RF1200, RF1100, 2 X-14's, Neotec, 5 Bell helmets, Arai RX-Q's, Corsair X and Defiant, Nolans, even the Vozz RS 1.0 and on and on. Mostly just searching for the quietest helmet but some of these (like the C3 Pro) don't move enough air for the heat where I live (Phoenix, AZ). Yes, I wear plugs; after trying nearly every brand and kind of ear plug made, 32 NRR foamies are the best for me. Just for shiggles, in the short time I owned this bike I tried two other helmets. That is, for a while I've been very happy with what I believe to be nearly the quietest helmet made, the GT-Air. But on this bike I tried the new C4 and R2 and they're no better. Yes, with the chin curtains installed. There is no doubt that this bike is different than any of my past bikes in that more air comes up through the area around the forks but I can do no more or better in terms of helmets. I do have the Windjammer 2 that I can use in the cooler months but that's not now - it'll be hot for many months now. I've made huge progress at this point and I'm sure the average rider would think it's plenty quiet - it's finally quiet enough for me to spend 800 miles on it in two weeks. I'll trim down my already short screen some more and increase the angle of the spoiler under the light soon and I think I'll be all set. 🙂 PS: remember the control group here is my Blackbird and the ZX-9R. I believe shape of the nose on these and how low the air hits me on the chest puts my GT-Air in very clean air and you wouldn't believe how quiet a GT-Air is in clean air. Just a very quiet whoosh. And to head off the next question, I only bought this bike because my Ninja is down from an accident, and of course I was always curious about this bike.

Also, modern thinking regarding moto oil grades seems to have shifted a bit. Seems to be the 10w-30 is preferred vs 10w-40 since it contains less viscosity improvers helping the oil to shear less and then hopefully remaining in grade longer - hence, hopefully shifting better for a longer period of time. I am running Maxima Pro Plus+ 10W-30 partly because they claim it has some ester added.

No. Trying to lower the air flow again. Unfortunately I can't sell or give it to you since it's pretty much hacked up and I just installed it around the front of the front cowl down the sides of it. I'll upload a picture soon.

Well, for me I did make a breakthrough. Bike was so loud before I was going to sell it and now... I had a blast on it today. It is way better than stock. But realize that I've really trimmed this shield down so I'm sure that's the biggest difference. I'd make it as big and steep as you can while not messing up the cooling too much. I'd say mine is just under an inch. At some point I'll make it bigger and try to extend the side mys downward.

Alright, this is probably it for a while. I have tried about every combo now. 1. I can say that at least for me, putting a spoiler under the headlamp has helped. 2. I tried the stock windshield with and without the edging and it still wasn't quiet enough. 3. Bought and ran the Puig screen and for a little while I thought I was all done, both with and without the edging... I decided I needed to test with the shortened ZG screen again. 4. Ran the shortened ZG screen today and this is the combo I'm sticking with. Spoiler under the light and no edging on the screen. Wind is again seemingly hitting me a bit below my shoulders and this is the combo I'm sticking with. If I have time this weekend, I'll trim the screen another inch or so lower. I'm going to keep trying it lower and lower while trying to keep it from looking ugly, like some kind of sort-of-naked bike. Hope that helps. Let me summarize real quick by saying that for me at 5"9", I still found the best solution was to try to get the air lower and for sure the spoiler under the light helped. Huge improvement from the first day I got the bike, for sure.