Barnyard/Shade Tree: Wind Deflectors

[Ulrich]

Well it is time for a little Arts & Crafts again ... 'R18 100' posted an interesting solution for lower wind deflectors from Memphis Shades (click for link) ... but me being me, I didn't like the Polycarbonate Plates that they offer, so I decided to make my own.
I did order the brackets ... because I liked them.
But there was a catch ... my 'Cow Bells' have a ridge and I didn't want to crush it so I 3D printed a rubber spacer to make up the difference.



Then I fastened them and made a cardboard template for the Polycarbonate.





… and of course painted the brackets black to match everything else




Here is the finished cut, drilled and sanded version of the deflector



… and mounted



Not bad … this said, I took her for a spin and the effect was a bit underwhelming .. I expected more ... it didn’t make things worse … but it didn’t improve things as much as I hoped.
Then I decided to do some ‘shaping’ to improve flow.
Soooo … now here it comes I was told, by somebody that I trust to have much knowledge in that matter, that Lexan (Polycarbonate) has to be ‘cold formed’ … well I don’t have a press or die for that, so I tried heat. Well it takes some patience … but it can be done.



Lets see how this works






… time will tell … and if it doesn’t work I can always take it off, or create different deflectors … for now, they will stay where they are.
And I have some more Lexan to make some a little taller ... later

 

[RWF]

I have the Memphis Shades deflectors on my Classic. They help some but its not as beneficial as they have been on my other v twin bikes. I think the problem is air hitting the jugs and being forced up behind the deflectors.

 

[BER18 100]

Well it is time for a little Arts & Crafts again ... 'R18 100' posted an interesting solution for lower wind deflectors from Memphis Shades (click for link) ... but me being me, I didn't like the Polycarbonate Plates that they offer, so I decided to make my own.
I did order the brackets ... because I liked them.
But there was a catch ... my 'Cow Bells' have a ridge and I didn't want to crush it so I 3D printed a rubber spacer to make up the difference.

View attachment 16167

Then I fastened them and made a cardboard template for the Polycarbonate.

View attachment 16168

View attachment 16169

… and of course painted the brackets black to match everything else

View attachment 16170


Here is the finished cut, drilled and sanded version of the deflector

View attachment 16173

… and mounted

View attachment 16172

Not bad … this said, I took her for a spin and the effect was a bit underwhelming .. I expected more ... it didn’t make things worse … but it didn’t improve things as much as I hoped.
Then I decided to do some ‘shaping’ to improve flow.
Soooo … now here it comes I was told, by somebody that I trust to have much knowledge in that matter, that Lexan (Polycarbonate) has to be ‘cold formed’ … well I don’t have a press or die for that, so I tried heat. Well it takes some patience … but it can be done.

View attachment 16171

Lets see how this works

View attachment 16174

View attachment 16175


… time will tell … and if it doesn’t work I can always take it off, or create different deflectors … for now, they will stay where they are.
And I have some more Lexan to make some a little taller ... later

Ulrich, when I read that the effect was underwhelming for you I went out and measured the top to bottom distance on my lowers.
I could be mistaken, but perhaps your well made lowers are too short?
I had tornado like updraft before lowers.
Zero updraft after lowers. Mine are 13 to 14 inches top to bottom.

 

[Ulrich]

Ulrich, when I read that the effect was underwhelming for you I went out and measured the top to bottom distance on my lowers.
I could be mistaken, but perhaps your well made lowers are too short?
I had tornado like updraft before lowers.
Zero updraft after lowers. Mine are 13 to 14 inches top to bottom.

Yes ... and I think you are very much on to something ... I went to minimalistic on my design ... there is something about 'Go BIG or go home' ... I didn't heed the call ... LOL ... they do help!!
Thanks!

 

[Ulrich]

Well I made a version 2.0 .. that I like already much better .. but I am running into the posting problem again. I will add pictures as soon as I figure out whats doing that.
Only one of 5 posted .. oh well you get the idea

 

[Ulrich]

OK ... I try posting them again ...

Cardboard first ...



I think my file sizes are initially too big ... here it goes cut and sanded



Here is the comparison ...



And another view



I like the looks already much beter .. let's hope it improved on things as well.

 

[BER18 100]

Your lowers are beginning to morf into the Memphis dimensions.
I noticed the windshield is much more vertical than mine which tells me updraft on your bike is not as bad as mine was. In my case the lowers run about parallel to the windshield. Not sure what effect that has.

Will be interested to hear what you find out.

 

[Ulrich]

Just a quick update ... after a couple weeks and a few 100 miles .. not perfect, but much better ... I think I will leave it just the way it is for now

 

[BER18 100]

Glad to know your ride is improved. In my case there is literally no updraft.