KLR aftermarket fairings (go high or go low?)

[Rosie]

Hello Padmei,

So, it's not just me who doesn't like the stock KLR screen.

I think I'l take off the original screen and tape a sheet of heavy cardboard in its place. I can make the cardboard dummy as low as possible, then test it on the motorway to see if the wind roar is less. (I might get more wind pressure on my upper body, but we'll see.) I don't want to butcher the original screen as they are $264 to replace. If the low screen works, I will make one out of heavy black polythene sheeting. It should be rigid enough to take the wind pressure. (Aluminium sheeting might also be easy to work.)

If my experiment doesn't work, then I'll think about going for a taller screen.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

I did something similar when designing the WR's screen - taped on a piece of for sale sign and kept snipping bits off until it was too short. Having the turbulence from the top of the screen hit just below my chin seemed to be a good compromise between wind pressure, and wind noise.

I had a local plastics fabricator make my screen up from clear polycarbonate sheet. You end up with straight bends rather than a smooth curve, but it works well with the lines of my bike.

[Odakyu-sen]

I did something similar when designing the WR's screen - taped on a piece of for sale sign and kept snipping bits off until it was too short. Having the turbulence from the top of the screen hit just below my chin seemed to be a good compromise between wind pressure, and wind noise.

Hello Rosie,

I can't do anything at the moment because my KLR has 1,030 km on it and Red Baron can't do the 1,000 km service until this Friday. In the meantime, it's pouring down in Auckland, so the cardboard dummy would get soggy in the rain.

The stock fairing is great for keeping wind pressure off me; it's just the wind roar I don't like. The wind is hitting me just below my helmet. I don't get any buffeting, but I do get the roar.

My cardboard dummy will do two things: 1) lower the height of the fairing by 10-11 cm, and 2) eliminate the "flick-up curve" of the original wind shield. Hopefully these changes will lower the height of the turbulent wind stream. The downside could be a little more wind blast on my chest, but I am prepared to accept that for a quieter ride.

I'll test the dummy using the "stand-up-on-pegs" comparison method. I'll cruise along the motorway at 100 km/h. I'll check the wind noise sitting down. Then I'll stand up on the pegs. When I do this with the stock fairing fitted, the roar disappears and all I can hear is the hiss of the wind around my helmet. I'll do the same thing with the cardboard dummy taped on. If there is minimal difference in wind road between standing up and then sitting back down, I'll know my dummy is a success. If the thunderous roar comes back when I sit down, then I'll know a low-cut screen is not the way to go.

I thought the rearview mirrors might have been to blame, but even when I swivelled them both side-on into the air flow, there was no difference in wind noise.

[pete376403]

do you use ear plugs?

[Odakyu-sen]

do you use ear plugs?

Yes, I have worn earplugs since the early 1980s. I wouldn't ride without them.

I am very sensitive (probably over-sensitive) to wind roar. I don't mind the hiss of clean, laminar airflow past my helmet. It's the roar of the rough air that I don't like.

I hope that lowering the height of the fairing will make a significant difference. If not, I'll look at "tall" windscreens.

[Odakyu-sen]

I removed the original wind shield and taped a shorter cardboard "dummy wind shield" in its place. This effectively lowered the wind shield height by about 12 cm. I took it for a ride on the motorway to test it. The height of the wind blast has been lowered, from just below my helment to about 8 cm below my helmet. Lowering the wind shield height has not reduced the wind blast zone quite as far as I had hoped. The wind roar is still aparent, but it doesn't seem to be quite as bad as before (I could just be imagining this. Will need more tests.)

I am noticing more wind force on my chest (no surprise there), although it's not that much greater.

Has anyone had any experience with Godiva's "tall" screen for the KLR? Or any other "tall" screens available for this model?

[Padmei]

What you may be experiencing is the wind being driven up the from the front sides of the screen. I did some pretty extensive testing before making my screen (was almost going to make a mini wind tunnel in the workshop with a circ fan & wool tassles) & found the wind was either being driven round the sides as much as from the front or sucked up from behind the screen due to negative air pressure.

[Odakyu-sen]

What you may be experiencing is the wind being driven up the from the front sides of the screen. I did some pretty extensive testing before making my screen (was almost going to make a mini wind tunnel in the workshop with a circ fan & wool tassles) & found the wind was either being driven round the sides as much as from the front or sucked up from behind the screen due to negative air pressure.

KLR riders will know that when you remove the wind shield, there are two triangular pointy bits of the supporting fairing that stick up. (You don't notice these untill you remove the wind sheild.) I don't want to damage these pointly bits, so if I reduce the heigh the wind shield, I will have to leave some supporting plastic on the sides of the shield to protect the pointy bits. As a result, my super-low shield will change the "face" of the front of the KLR and make it look like it has "fox ears."

I have tried this configuration with a cardboard dummy and it seems to reduce the wind roar quite a lot. In addition, the wind pressure on my chest is a lot more than with the stock wind shield, but only over 110 km/h does it become noticeable. It kind of "improves" the sensation of the ride. (I found the stock shield isolates you from the wind a little too well.)

I will have to do some more tests next weekend.

[pete376403]

Have you seen the Brittania Composites KLR fairing?
http://www.britanniacomposites.com/i...ucts/phoenix13

[Odakyu-sen]

Have you seen the Brittania Composites KLR fairing?
http://www.britanniacomposites.com/i...ucts/phoenix13

Thanks for the link.

I am going to make my own "short" windshield. After testing my cardboard dummy screens, I have ordered a couple of 350 mm x 300 mm x 2 mm sheets of smoky polycarbonate sheet. I like the feel of a little wind when I ride (not too much, mind you). The stock windshield is a little too effective in this regard.

I don't think I'll go for the "tall" screen as I don't want to deal with buffeting. (I hate buffeting more than wind roar). Hopefully in a week or so I'll have some photos to show.

I have taken a paper pattern off my stock screen so I can get the shape of the sheet right. It should bend into a nice curve pretty easily. I should be able to reuse the original bolts and rubber-sleeved nuts.

[Sable]

I think you should restart puberty and grow a little more this time. Either that, or the tried and true method of hardening the fuck up.

[Odakyu-sen]

I think you should restart puberty and grow a little more this time. Either that, or the tried and true method of hardening the fuck up.

Tinnitus, my friend, is no joke. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus

I've developed it over 35 years of motorcycling, and I am trying to manage it as best I can. It never stops. Wind roar aggravates it. I hope you don't end up with it.

[Eddieb]

Tinnitus, my friend, is no joke. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus

I've developed it over 35 years of motorcycling, and I am trying to manage it as best I can. It never stops. Wind roar aggravates it. I hope you don't end up with it.

+ lots, it's not nice lying in bed at night with a buzzing in your ears.

[Odakyu-sen]

+ lots, it's not nice lying in bed at night with a buzzing in your ears.

Every night. And every day.

Sometimes I don't notice it for days at a time. But after a long ride (even with earplugs) it comes back stronger than before. (For a few days at least...)

Life goes on.

[NordieBoy]

+ lots, it's not nice lying in bed at night with a buzzing in your ears.

Yep. Constant cicadas...

Day and night...

[Night Falcon]

Every night. And every day.

Sometimes I don't notice it for days at a time. But after a long ride (even with earplugs) it comes back stronger than before. (For a few days at least...)

Life goes on.

That sucks...have you tried these http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/moto...-503042829.htm