Fork wind deflectors

What is the purpose of these little buggers? accept to keep us buying new brackets all the time? When the second bracket broke this year, I took both off. Front end actually looks better without them... IMHO.

You get a lot more wind under the fairing when you remove them.

What is the purpose of these little buggers? accept to keep us buying new brackets all the time? When the second bracket broke this year, I took both off. Front end actually looks better without them... IMHO.

 

Don't waste your money on the stock brackets. Yami will replace them free if under warranty, but even that is not worth the trouble. buy some stainless steel brackets from Diamond R deflector brackets

 

http://www.diamondraccessories.com/yamaha/proddisplay.php?name=Fork

or Polished Aluminum deflectors from Ruffy

[ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=35844]2nd gen polished fork deflectors...... - VentureRider.Org[/ame]

Wind under the fairing is not a problem. Wished I had more in the Texas this past July. I have removed the clear fairing 'lips' already just to get more air. Granted it is a bit nipper (like yesterday morning) on winter days... but I just turn the heated vest up a setting or two.

 

Thanks for the response. I feared they were put on by Yam to hold the front end down at 90+mph or something like that. Mine will stay off for now.

Bob,

 

I know that they offer a bit of wind protection, I agree they look better off, but I know that when I have ridden on cold mornings, without them a blast of wind comes up my legs and drys my eyes out. With them on this is drastically reduced

 

BTW both links that Ponch posted are great products

Oddly enough, mine broke about a year ago. I have ridden without them since.

Tomorrow I head to the 3 sisters for a ride with the newly repaired (at last) deflectors which I put on tonight.

I will be curious to feel the difference after so long without them.

Oddly enough, mine broke about a year ago. I have ridden without them since.

Tomorrow I head to the 3 sisters for a ride with the newly repaired (at last) deflectors which I put on tonight.

I will be curious to feel the difference after so long without them.

Give a buzz if you get close to my area Blanco,Tx..Doorway to the hill country..We will be getting ready for our Texas Meet in Big Bend but will be at the house from about 2PM on Thursday till early Friday AM. Tom

Give a buzz if you get close to my area Blanco,Tx..Doorway to the hill country..We will be getting ready for our Texas Meet in Big Bend but will be at the house from about 2PM on Thursday till early Friday AM. Tom

 

 

I'll be darned. We did travel right through Blanco and down the River Road towards Lukenbach. Will keep a visit in mind for the next trip.

What is the purpose of these little buggers? accept to keep us buying new brackets all the time? When the second bracket broke this year, I took both off. Front end actually looks better without them... IMHO.

First, you should never have to buy new brackets. The reason the stock ones break is that the rubber bumpers on the bottom of the bracket are not touching the fork cover, and the wind pushing on the deflector causes it to constantly flex. If you want the deflectors in place, either buy the DiamondR brackets or make sure the rubber bumpers are doing their job. Mine still have stock brackets, and after the first ones were replaced under warranty around 15,000 miles, I made sure the bumpers were touching - no more problems after another 65,000 miles!

 

As others have already said, the deflectors DO deflect a lot of air. When you remove them, you get a huge flow that curves up over the front of the tank - a good thing in the heat of summer, but REAL bad if you are not a fair-weather biker. I ride in any conditions, and I prefer the excellent rain coverage of the stock bike.

Goose

I agree that they do serve a purpose and I like them. I also agree that the rubber bumpers need to touch the forks and that is why I have never put the light bar spacer on my bike. That being said, and me being very careful to ensure that mine were always touching, I did finally lose one a couple of years ago coming home from Georgia. I replaced them with the SS brackets and deflectors from http://www.diamondraccessories and have never had another problem.

My left bracket broke a few weeks ago, so I took the right deflector off as well while I awaited shipping of the new brackets. In the meantime I just got back from a 700 mile trip to NC, and I can tell you first hand, when the temps dipped below 50 in the mountains the other day, it got downright chilly without them on! The upside is that my gas mileage actually went up about 3 or 4 MPG's. But now that the cooler temps are here, I reinstalled them today with the new brackets and rubber bumpers. I just couldn't believe how much difference it made not having them on.

Yes, they are worth their weight in Gold!

I know most everyone thinks they should rest on the rubber bumpers but the less you bend the brackets around trying to get them the way you want them the better.

I had lost a couple and the last time I put them on I didn't touch them, just screwed them on and let it go. Been there for about 3 years now and still nice and strong.

BOO

It sure would be nice if one of you more "innovative" members would design and sell a set of brackets to work with the light spacers. You know who you are. And I know you coud do it!

You do not need any special brackets - just go to Ace hardware and buy a couple of nylon screws and nuts, plus two black plastic spacers (to hide the white nylon screws). You use a nylon screw just to ensure it can never poke it's way through the bottom of the bumper and scratch the fork cover.

 

Now pull the rubber bumper off the bracket and put the nylon screw in the hole and secure it with the nut. Slip the spacer over the screw and slide the bumper on the end of the screw (the bumper is hollow). All done, an it looks like it was designed that way.

 

I could easily make a set of these for anyone who didn't want to do it themselves. All I would need is the measurement between the fork cover and the bottom of the bracket and $15 to cover parts and postage.

 

The other option is to just buy the chrome brackets from DiamondR, which do not need the bumpers at all.

Goose

I was actually thinking of a bracket to move the deflectors back and up to their original position closer to the forks. I wonder how much difference it makes in the windflow?