F3 with Blue Ridge - Modifications to help with turbulence

[Trevor G]

Hello can you tell where you bought this windshield and around how much you spend

Thanks

[/QUOTE]

It's a Gustaffson 20", from bikescreen.com - priced at US$259

[Mike,P]

If you already have the Blue Ridge, you might try the Gustafsson replacement shield for it. To me its the best of all the options. The brackets look and work as OEM and the shield actually does what you think it should.

I liked the F4 shield but their brackets look like an erector set hodge podge. Just could not have that on my bike.

Hi JC!!! Is that the BRP signature light above the grill???

[whitzoo]

Here is what one of the riders that has a F4 Customs windshield for his F3 had to say.

A big thanks to Don at F4 Customs. I installed the F4 Customs 32" windshield Saturday. We rode a couple of hundred miles yesterday and today. (The weather was great here in the deep south this weekend.) The windshield just puts the air-flow over my wife's helmet in the upper position. She says it "makes a big difference" at interstate speeds compared to the blue ridge that was previously on the F3. Hope this will help anyone that has similar needs for a passenger.

Lee

Any words of wisdom/instructions for removal of the BR would be appreciated. My F4 arrives tomorrow.

[SpyD59]

Any words of wisdom/instructions for removal of the BR would be appreciated. My F4 arrives tomorrow.

PM sent.

Lee

[F4 Customs]

Removing the BR is simple. First take the bolts that hold the windshield onto the lower bracket out and then lift the windshield up and off.
The brackets on the back are 1/2 round and slide right out.
Once this is done it will expose the nose piece. Carefully remove the two screws that hold the front nose piece on. You may need to take an open ended wrench and hold the inside crossbar from turning while you do this. Be careful not to round over the head of the allen screw as these are little screws and can be very tight.
Next you can remove the Large Mounting spools at the back where the windshield brackets where resting by removing the Torx screw. Then you are ready to start to follow the mounting instructions for the new F4 Windshield.
Thanks for your purchase and if you have any questions just give me a call at 330-968-4644 and I will help.
Don

Any words of wisdom/instructions for removal of the BR would be appreciated. My F4 arrives tomorrow.

[Ron2andia]

Don't like the length of longer windshields or clips on but the laminar lip looks decent... The wind is something.

[SpyderF3-s]

I tried all the different suggestions on this forum for the BR windshield. I got tired of it so I bought a used HD batwing fairing (2007 model) and modified it to fit my F3-S. Took care of all the buffering issues. Still working on it to get it to look like a stock part.

IMG_0220.jpg

[pludn]

IT'S ALIVE!!!

Bringing this thread out from the grave as it has a lot of good info in it and I'm finally going to attempt and fix my windscreen issues this riding season. Since I already have the Blueridge I was thinking about trading it for a route 129 or using the spacers and bottom cut trick.

I want to accomplish the following:
- No more head shaking - don't mind air at all, just the turbulence
- More cooling to hit my jacket - in the summer no air gets through to my jacket ports, even my mesh jacket, so the engine and I just boil away

Thanks!

[Road-Kill]

Howdy,

I've been researching how folks have handled the turbulence from the blue ridge windshield online. From what I've seen you can get the windshield extender or drill holes. My question is about the results of drilling holes. I would rather just modify the shield and not put an extender in my sight line, but I'm not sure if that is actually fixing the issue.

The issue is defined as severe amounts of wind ramping up and landing directly where my eyes are. This causes the helmet (Shoei Neotec) to vibrate at 60+ mph, which in turn affect vision.

I have a 2015 F3-s and am 6'.

Thanks

http://www.laminarlip.com/cruisers.php
https://f4customs.com/index.php?rout...product_id=367

I bought a Laminarlip for a previous bike to add to the stock windscreen. I opted for the F4 windscreen for my Spyder and it is AMAZING! before you DUMP more money into "saving" a windscreen you might consider just tossing the Blue Ridge. I test rode a Spyder with the Blue Ridge on it and realized I would never buy the Blue Ridge. My thoughts.

[WackyDan]

The best and only modification that will absolutely cure the buffeting is to carefully remove the Blue ridge place it on a flat level working surface, take a 20 oz hammer and smash it to little bits and then install an F4......


mark

.

Mark,

The F4 was a huge improvement over the BRP Blue Ridge as well the Gufason... But still didn't solve all the head shake at higher speeds. Made it better? Yes indeed. I still ended up getting the MRA X Screen after realizing that the shields needed a knurl at the top edge to kick the air up. That made things very quiet and no more head shake.

Keep in mind I'm 6'2" with the 30 inch F4. I know many here have different results with the F4, but I also wonder if they ride faster than 65Mph, or if they've ever ridden behind a properly functioning windshield.

Look, the F4 is a great product and probably the best offering out there for the F3 for most riders... But when you focus on optical clarity in your shield you are ignoring what the shield is for. It isn't for looking through - although that can be handy some days. My perfect shield would be the F4 with a knurl along the top edge... But that is just my opinion.

[monkeyboymorton]

Having just seen Wacky Dan's avatar I now feel the need to say 'Bite my shiny metal ass!!'

Not related to the thread at all but I coudn't resist.

[pludn]

Having just seen Wacky Dan's avatar I now feel the need to say 'Bite my shiny metal ass!!'

Not related to the thread at all but I coudn't resist.

lol, it is a great show for sure.

[Corsacreek]

I modded Wunderlich deflector bracket with a homemade screen made out of Lexan. I got the 11x14 sheet which cost $7.98 in HD. Total length is around 30 inches but I still get some buffeting at higher speeds. I'm going to buy another sheet and make it taller with perhaps a different design and test. 132405.jpg

[Peteoz]

The F4 25" worked very well for me on my F3-L, until I got my Day Long seat that lifted me 2". I was already at the max height for the F4, and I started getting hit right between the eyes.
I tried the max height Madstad and it was not much better, and it was a bit narrow at the top for my large frame and I was getting no air through to my wrists in the hot Aussie summer.

So I figured some innovation was needed. Take one set of Madstad adjustable brackets, one 25" F4 screen, drill 4 new holes and fit the F4 screen to the Madstad brackets. I had it at the stock F4 angle to start, but there was still some buffeting, so I angled the screen back toward me. After about 5 combinations I found the perfect setup. There is quite a gap between the bottom of the screen and the bodywork, but it works an absolute treat. Very clean air, even at 70 mph.

I've probably upset two vendors now, however both products were good, but not quite right for me with my height. Below is a photo of the gap, the position of the new holes in the F4 to fit the Madstad brackets, and the Madstad screen overlaying the F4. The F4 has the wider, smoother top and the bottom corner cutouts. I have ridden a thousand kms with this "test" setup and it is working an absolute treat.
IMG_0458.jpgIMG_0459.jpgIMG_0465.jpg

Pete

[deer30084]

I put the X Creen on my Blue Ridge. A few weeks later, cracks appeared on the windshield at the nose near the screws. Was it turbulence from the X Creen or was it a faulty BR? Anyway, I took it to my dealer. Showed him the cracks WITH THE X CREEN MOUNTED. They are replacing the BR under warranty as I type this. He said if it happens again, it won't be covered again. That's ok, because if it happens again, (and I will be putting the X Creen back on the new one), I'll be in the market for a different AFTERMARKET windshield.

[GaryTheBadger]

I have the middle size Gustafsson on my F3, because it uses the stock BRP brackets, but I wish I had gone with the tallest one. The buffeting
with the middle size is reduced, but not gone (I'm 5'10"). Hunching down about four inches and it's all gone. I also plan to borrow someone's
in-ear noise-cancelling buds and see if that fixes it, regardless of windshield type or size.

[F4 Customs]

[TomG]

I am confused! so many folks are unhappy the the Blue Ridge shield due to turbulence around the head. I have what I thought was the Blue Ridge shield, but now I am not sure since I have absolutely no turbulence. My shield is the one with the funny little upward and forward curve at the top. It was on my 2016 F3 Lmt when I bought it. (and Yes, I do often ride at 75+ mph).
Thanks, TomG

[WackyDan]

I am confused! so many folks are unhappy the the Blue Ridge shield due to turbulence around the head. I have what I thought was the Blue Ridge shield, but now I am not sure since I have absolutely no turbulence. My shield is the one with the funny little upward and forward curve at the top. It was on my 2016 F3 Lmt when I bought it. (and Yes, I do often ride at 75+ mph).
Thanks, TomG

.

Lots of factors at play. Shields are kinda like seats for many. Everyone's butt is different, etc. Some people have better luck than others with the same shield due to height, helmet, custom seat changing posture/position, etc... And some people don't know what it is like to have a properly functioning shield anyway and tolerate some buffeting and noise because they don't know any better. ***I used to be one of those people.

Take a picture and post it here. We'll tell you what one you have.

[monkeyboymorton]

I am confused! so many folks are unhappy the the Blue Ridge shield due to turbulence around the head. I have what I thought was the Blue Ridge shield, but now I am not sure since I have absolutely no turbulence. My shield is the one with the funny little upward and forward curve at the top. It was on my 2016 F3 Lmt when I bought it. (and Yes, I do often ride at 75+ mph).
Thanks, TomG

You don't have the blue ridge as you have the touring F3 model with the built in screen as standard. The F3-S comes with no screen (see my avatar) and the blue ridge is an accessory. Anecdotal evidence on here is that the standard screen on the touring provides less buffeting than the blue ridge.

As an aside I've just bought a blue ridge in the BRP sale as the price was so good I considered it worth taking a risk on. All the other options (F4 / Madstad / Gustafsson etc.) have to be imported to the UK and work out prohibitively expensive.

I'm going to be interested to see what the turbulence everyone talks about is like first hand as I've only ridden with no screen at all so far.

Push come to shove I can sell the blue ridge on ebay and probably not lose any money if it doesn't work out.

[Corsacreek]

Anyone in stature of above 5'4 (1.6 meters) with the BR will experience some type of buffeting. Where it affects you of course depends on your height of course. If you're around 5'7 (1.7 meters) the buffeting will be concentrated right on top of your helmet which is the worst to experience buffeting as it rattles your head. Anyone above that will get it in neck and eye level which is a bit more tolerable in my opinion.

The Blue Ridge design leaves no room for air to enter and exit without being distorted. Lots of back pressure in conjunction with a vacuum of negative pressure the creates the buffeting. Installing a vent or raising the shield to let some air bleed in will reduce back pressure decreasing the vacuum and buffeting. The screen would also have to be angle to eliminate further buffeting and that's where the Madstad Robot Brackets come in handy.

The problem with reducing buffeting down to a minimum is that it calls for air to bleed in and in cold places this is not an option. That's why people up North find this design flawed but in reality, this is one engineered solution aside from getting a really tall screen that you would see through all the time.

If you talk to Slingshot owners that haven't installed taller windshields they will tell you about horrible buffeting they experience on higher speed. Also tall guys on convertibles will described the same. You can duplicate this on a car very easily, leave one window slightly open while keeping the rest closed. Once you reach 55mph you will feel the negative vacuum that creates buffeting inside the car along with the horrible wind noise. Same principle..

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[TomG]

You don't have the blue ridge as you have the touring F3 model with the built in screen as standard. The F3-S comes with no screen (see my avatar) and the blue ridge is an accessory. Anecdotal evidence on here is that the standard screen on the touring provides less buffeting than the blue ridge.

As an aside I've just bought a blue ridge in the BRP sale as the price was so good I considered it worth taking a risk on. All the other options (F4 / Madstad / Gustafsson etc.) have to be imported to the UK and work out prohibitively expensive.

I'm going to be interested to see what the turbulence everyone talks about is like first hand as I've only ridden with no screen at all so far.

Push come to shove I can sell the blue ridge on ebay and probably not lose any money if it doesn't work out.

TomG

[michakin]

I have done extensive research on turbulent problems and blue ridge windshield. In my opinion the best corrective measure is the extenders from twisted throttle. I have put a web link so you can check out for yourself alternatives in videos. I ordered an extender for myself to fix the turbulent problem. They have several videos of before and after install and how to install. I checked many other options on the web from ebay and amazon and the customer feedback on all. I hope this helps others to fix this problem.


http://www.twistedthrottle.com/

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/shop-...eld-extensions


Good luck

[Rondaa]

The best and only modification that will absolutely cure the buffeting is to carefully remove the Blue ridge place it on a flat level working surface, take a 20 oz hammer and smash it to little bits and then install an F4......


mark

I totally agree

[Jambo Creek]

Hello can you tell where you bought this windshield and around how much you spend

Thanks

[/QUOTE]
We have had an X-Creen on our F-3 Ltd for a year and 9,000 miles. It works very well, greatly reducing both wind noise and buffeting. Recently I ordered a second one in clear plastic because I didn’t like the smoke color of the current one. If you’re interested, I’d sell the smoke for $120. It’s like new, no scratches, and has borh clamp-on and permanent mounts. I’ll pay shipping anywhere in the lower U.S.