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Helmet shake

11K views 43 replies 21 participants last post by  BumpyRider 
#1 ·
I’m sure this has been covered a thousand times but I’m new to this forum and to the bike. Just picked up a ‘new’ 2019 ATAS and am taken back at how much my helmet shakes on it. It is the AS so it has a taller windshield stock (I’m 6’2”.] So do I get a taller windshield? The plastic piece that goes on the tank? A shorter neck? Seriously what have you guys done to quell the turbulence?
 
#2 ·
First thing I did was add the plastic forkshield cover. Particularly if you ride with an ADV Enduro style helmet with the peak. The wind will come up through the fork ****, catch the peak and rattle your eyeballs.

I am fine with just that, but of coure everyone is different and you may have to make additional or different tweaks to solve your own issues.

My wife also added the Batzen Adjustable Windshield bracket to her bike and that combo worked for her.

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#3 ·
I added the fork shield cover that Cuchulainn mentioned and it fixed my helmet shake. If you want to try it out, just cut out a piece of cardboard and tape it on to do a test run. If it works, you can make/buy one. It really made a difference for me.
 
#5 ·
I resisted the fork shield for years as I didn’t like the looks and came up with my own solution. But I then bought one cheap 2nd hand to try and have to admit it has made a significant difference and the looks aren’t that bad. Should have bit the bullet years ago, it would have possibly saved me about three screens worth of wasted £££.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Click on ...
 
#9 ·
Is the helmet shake specific to the ATAS, or do people get it on the AT as well?

That's one of the fist things I noticed about my AT, along with the smooth ride, was how I had zero buffeting on my helmet.

I'm looking over my windscreen. I'm 5'10", seat in low position. When I ride, I can hold my hand out behind the windscreen and bring it back to my helmet, then raise my hand up. It isn't until my hand is almost to the top of my helmet before I start to feel the win rushing by.

When I ride at night, my visor has little to no bugs, top of my helmet has a few. Front of bike will be plastered with them.

Must be the lack of height and lower position. Holding my hand over the fork area doesn't seem much different to me than right behind the windscreen.
 
#12 ·
Definitely the AT as well as the ATAS. I first came across the Swegotech shield in solving the issue with my 2016 AT. My wife has a 2017 AT. After the positive experience with the shields on those bikes the shield was the first mod I purchased for my 2019 ATAS.

So our experiences...

I am 6'2" and ride with an Arai XD-4. I have had the Swegotech on a 2016 AT and 2019 ATAS. I am very much a forward position rider.

My wife is 5'8" and has the Swegotech on a 2017 AT. My wife sits more neutral.

The only difference between the AT/ATAS isn't the air coming through the fork dam. That's about the same. But the shield itself is a different size/shape for the ATAS due to the different shape of the tank.

Hope that helps some.

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#10 ·
Good point CRracer712.
Two very different bikes when it comes to seating position and windshield. Would be helpful if people would note which model bike they ride.

I've got the 2018 ATAS. I'm 5'10 with a 32" inseam. Either seat position and I get helmet vibration bad enough to blur my vision, above 60mph with an Arai XD4.
Interesting thing is, with a Bell Moto 9 I don't get the eye vibration, just some buffeting, and a lot more noise.
Sitting the helmets side by side, they are very similar in helmet dimension and peak dimensions. Styling is definitely different, as is the eye opening. I've tried the Arai with the shield open and closed. Didn't notice a significant difference either way.
I just installed the Swegotech cover, but haven't ridden the bike with it yet. I'm going to try it this weekend, and try the XD4 with and without the peak.
I was moving my hand around to figure out where the turbulent air was at it's worst. It is very easy to feel the area of turbulence when cruising at freeway speed. It was worst, almost directly in front of my visor peak, coming off the lip of the windscreen.
If the Swegotech cover doesn't fix it, I'll try a clip on spoiler next.

There have been a lot of threads regarding this issue, but it gets jumbled up with posts that don't discuss what bike model. So I've really struggled to figure out an actual resolve based on the threads here. Lots of great info, with different choices, though.
 
#13 ·
I installed the Givi tall clear on my 2018 ATAS. I’m 6’2” with 34” inseam and ride with a Shoei GT Air helmet. It has reduced the buffeting significantly but I don’t believe you will ever get away from all the buffeting. I still need to try the fork cover as well, but am happy with the Givi windscreen. Revzilla.
56171
 
#14 ·
So 5'10" seems to be the sweet spot😁

Doesn't matter what helmet I use on my AT, none shake. HJC FG-17, i70 or Shoei GT Air. But that's understandable as there's no turbulence for me, directly in front of my helmet, even though I'd say the top of the windscreen is about at the bottom of my neck(I just checked). Turbulence starts at about ~1" below the top of my helmet. I've had it to 115mph, no difference. Stock windscreen, no fork shield.

My CBR's were a different story. I think changing the windscreen smoothed out the air that was hitting my helmet so my helmet kinda glides through it.

I had thought about the OEM optional screen, but I'm happy with the way it is, so I'll just stick with stock.
 
#15 ·
So 5'10" seems to be the sweet spot[emoji16]

Doesn't matter what helmet I use on my AT, none shake. HJC FG-17, i70 or Shoei GT Air. But that's understandable as there's no turbulence for me, directly in front of my helmet, even though I'd say the top of the windscreen is about at the bottom of my neck(I just checked). Turbulence starts at about ~1" below the top of my helmet. I've had it to 115mph, no difference. Stock windscreen, no fork shield.

My CBR's were a different story. I think changing the windscreen smoothed out the air that was hitting my helmet so my helmet kinda glides through it.

I had thought about the OEM optional screen, but I'm happy with the way it is, so I'll just stick with stock.
Yeah, in addition to every rider being different, every bike is different as well. Turbulence come from from many places. Sometimes through the fork dam, but sometimes around the screen, from the mirrors, the hand guards, tank bag. It's definitely a trial and error game.

I had a Triumph Sprint ST 1050 that I never could solve. I tried maybe 4 different screens, probably as many helmets. I loved that bike, but sadly it didn't love me [emoji1787]

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#17 ·
Reminds me of the ~2000 era GM trucks and full size SUV. Stock, they were fine. Put a bug deflector on them and all the sudden this left and right windshield moldings would flap at highway speed causing a rattle sound.
 
#19 ·
For anyone so inclined to answer (and because I’m neither a NASA scientist or a engineer), why would the AT with a faring have so much turbulence but my DRZ 400S with nothing but a headlight on the front and me wearing a open faced MX helmet have zero issues with helmet shake at highway speeds (although my handlebars will buzz until my hands go into a deep sleep)??? Please, in laymen’s terms...
 
#20 ·
Basically what happens is a low pressure area forms behind the windscreen and the airflow coming off the top of the windscreen separates and is partially pulled down into the low pressure area and swirls around causing the turbulence. That is why Honda and other windshield makers put a vent in the lower part of the windscreen to allow some flow behind the windscreen and reduce the low pressure area. This obviously does not work completely and depending on the angle of the windscreen and the position of your helmet the turbulence can catch the top of your helmet and cause the shake. I have also found that the incoming airflow from the sides of the windscreen can hit your arms and direct air up to the side of your helmet. Sometime a bigger or taller windshield is not always better as it can create a bigger pocket of low pressure and create more turbulence. Many have found that a shorter windscreen will stop the shaking as the airflow is coming in more directly and smoothly and although more air is hitting your helmet is is smooth air that does not cause the shaking problem.

Dan
 
#25 ·
Thanks Amigo!
This gives me great hope. Same height, same bike, same helmet, same mod.
Will get to see this Sunday. :)

Funny side story: I had a '19 Husky FE501. That bike is known to vibrate (and it really does), but I was comfortable on it with just changing the seat to something that wasn't carved from Norwegian hardwood.
Hop on the Honda, and boy was I surprised. The turbulence is so bad my eyes vibrate even worse
So much so, I thought it was me, until I started researching.
Will report back on how this goes.
 
#28 ·
Was able to get out for a ride this weekend. Speeds up to 70mph. Gusty crosswinds up to about 15mph, during section of road I tested on.
I'd give the Swegotech fork tunnel shield a solid 40% improvement in this environment.
Up to about 65mph the vision is clear. At 70mph there was turbulent air off the top sides of the windshield, but it was much diminished. Still my eyes had a hard time staying clear. Which is tiring for long distances.

I am very glad to have put the tunnel shield on. It will take care of probably 70% of the riding I do.
Will still look into either a different shield, or a spoiler.

When using my hand to figure out where the turbulent air is located, I noticed there is a lot of turbulence from the top sides, which buffets against the side of the visor and helmet. That has me thinking a different windscreen may help with that.
Before installing the tunnel shield, the turbulence was fully across the top and top sides of the windscreen.

Hope this helps,
 
#30 · (Edited)
If I can get out for a ride this weekend, I plan to try this. XD4 can be ridden with or without the visor.
The only downside, is I really like the visor. So will work to get the bike setup around it.

If I only road on streets, a street helmet would make sense. But for me the purpose of an adventure bike is getting off road.
The visor is great to keep the sun out of my eyes in the morning, and evening. It also works great to shade my eyes on dusty trails. Without it, the sun hitting all the dust on my goggles, glasses, shield makes it really tough to see through.
Kind of like driving a car without a sun visor.
It's also a darned good bit of protection when riding behind others on gravel, rocky, muddy trails.

Update 8/14/20:
Finally had a chance to ride the bike without the helmet visor. Buffeting was very minimal, and noise was noticeably lessened. Like happily liveable different, even with some pretty gusty side winds.
But riding without the visor on this helmet sucks. The sun comes in so strong, that even a good pair of sunglasses couldn't stop the glare. lol
So I will continue to pursue different avenues. :)
 
#34 ·
I have just found the perfect combination that eliminates helmet turbulence and makes long rides so much better. I purchased the Iconic adjustable windshield mount a few months ago and I like it a lot and was using a Puig touring windshield with it. I decided to try the mid height V-Stream windshield with the Iconic mount and took thousand mile ride this last week with this combination. The V-Stream widened the pocket of still air quite a bit around my head and eliminated the buffeting and I have found that with the Iconic adjuster I can lower the windscreen when it is hot and get some decent airflow or raise it up and have very good coverage. I am very pleased with this combination. The Iconic adjuster is great and I can raise and lower the windshield with one hand while riding. I am just under 6'ft tall with a 32" inseam.

Iconic
https://iconicparts.uk/shop/ols/products/honda-africa-twin-on-the-move-screen-adjuster-cfr1000
 
#36 ·
Hi Everyone! I also installed the fork shield shortly after acquiring my new left-over 2019 ATAS. The buffeting was horrible and gone now with stock screen although I still have much helmet noise. I am installing a GIVI Airflow screen today (and Altrider bars/skid plate) hoping the larger/adjustable screen will quiet the noise down some. I also noticed that with my tank bag the noise increases, hoping the screen will help with that too. I am 5ft 9inches tall riding with seat in low position using Arai street helmet.
 
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