wind blast

[T Man]

Hi everyone! New RT owner here with an 08 1200RT. This bike handles way better than my old 04 Nomad. I do get a a lot more buffeting at highway speeds (70-80) than i expected. I put on a medium CalSci windsheild with minimal effect (i'm 5'10) The front end feels light and tends to wander at highway speeds and I feel a lot of air rushing right up the forks to the underside of my helmet. havent ridden in the rain yet but im sure I would get soaked. Is there something to deflect the air coming up the forks or is this something that doesnt seem to bother other RT owners?

[DMilan]

I'll offer up my .02 worth...

 

I've had quite a bit of late model BMW experience

5'9

On my R12RT I've owned and ridden an Aeroflow, Cal-Sci, Stock OEM and various height and width Cee Baileys.

The best set-up for me in regard to reducing wind noise & buffeting on my R12RT is what I have now.

Cee Bailey's stock height + 3 or 4 width. However, many swear by other screens.

PLUS, if I'm going to ride on any highways at speed, it's foam ear-plugs for me. 30-32 dbl reduction.

 

And as a testimonial... I purchased the bike on e-bay. Had to fly out to Vermont and ride it back to Cleveland. 1.5 years ago late October. Rode back in some very poor conditions. Early winter storm. Pouring rain & upper 30's, snow 'round freezing. I was preparred with the proper gear, but the bike was amazingly protective. We bonded. Can't imagine much better accomodations on 2 wheels. Maybe on an LT, a Wing or some such

 

Though I do know what you mean about the air up the forks from the front end. I've noticed it at times but hardly ever think about it now. Maybe it's the screen. Don't know.

 

Don't read many complaints about wander, don't recall any really. Mine is very nice, solid yet responsive when needed. Tire pressure and rear suspension set properly?

 

One talked about trade-off of the telelever(sp?) front end design is a bit less road feel than a conventional fork, as your previous bike had. Maybe its not really wandering, it just feels a bit removed from the road as opposed to more conventional designs. Remember, on this machine the front forks basically just position the wheel, the suspension duties are mostly handled by an A-frame and a single spring and shock up under the front of the fuel tank.

 

Dmilan

[T Man]

Thanks for your thoughts. Maybe as time goes on I will be more used to the feel of the bike. This is a whole different animal compared to a Nomad. It is fun to ride, very nimble around town and the motor itself seems to love having the cruise set at 75.

 

So far I've added a powerlet port to the cover plate where the radio controls would go if I had one, an Adventure Designs tool kit just in case, and a Ram mount for the GPS. I think my next project will be a fuse box and to hook up my auto com that I removed from my last bike. Theres always something!

[RT Fan]

I find that the CalSci is perfect for me. I have the medium on my 08 RT and I have no wind buffeting, in fact I can now hear my radio/CD at highway speeds now.

[Yuro]

Hi everyone! New RT owner here with an 08 1200RT. This bike handles way better than my old 04 Nomad. I do get a a lot more buffeting at highway speeds (70-80) than i expected. I put on a medium CalSci windsheild with minimal effect (i'm 5'10) The front end feels light and tends to wander at highway speeds and I feel a lot of air rushing right up the forks to the underside of my helmet. havent ridden in the rain yet but im sure I would get soaked. Is there something to deflect the air coming up the forks or is this something that doesnt seem to bother other RT owners?

 

If the front feels unstable, it's because the rear damper is set too sloppy. Here's what to do:

 

Find the screw on the lower part of the shock on the left side. If you screw this in all the way, it's the most damping you'll get. From there, backing out will only be effective for two turns. The rest is just moving the screw and not changing the shock.

 

Got that? If not, it's explained a different way in the Rider's Manual. (RTFM!)

 

OK, now here's stock shock concept 2: As you tighten the rear spring preload, you need to increase (screw in) the rebound damping adjustment (that screw on the side of the shock). The spring is really strong on these shocks and the damping isn't, so it's possible to overpower the damping with the spring. If you turn the damping screw in all the way and you still notice that the back of the bike does the pogo-stick/baby buggy up and down thing...not enough damping...then you need to back the spring off a little bit. The spring preload adjustment is under the seat. Too much spring compared to the amount of damping will make the front end feel vague and unstable.

 

OK, now concept number 3. The higher the ride height in back, the more the bike will want to turn in. The lower in back, the more stable it will be in a straight line.

 

So you have to balance the turn-in...It'll fall into turns if it's too high in back, which will feel strange. It'll require a lot of pushing on the bars to get around the turns if it's too low.

 

Then you have to balance the spring preload with the damping so your bike is not harsh on bumps, which will not help it turn on rough roads, and will not be too underdamped and vague in front.

 

Once you find your sweet spot for rear damping, leave it alone. I've found that I can leave the damping where I like it and just make small adjustments to the spring for different loads on the bike, so long as I'm not adding a passenger. When I'm traveling with full gear, there's generally not a lot of hard turning, so I'll put up with a little softness in back and enjoy the softness. Then, when I unload at the motel and go riding, I'll just back the spring down a bit and the rear stiffens up enough to stabilize the front.

 

Best solution is aftermarket shocks, but the stock ones are OK if you get the rear set right. On my '05, the front is too stiff and is not adjustable. I think they fixed that on later year RTs.

 

I have Wilbers with the double adjustable compression in back and rebound adjustment in front now and they're better, but I like the Ohlins I had on my Oilhead RTs even better. Again, get any of them adjusted right and they're all pretty good. Not like the old stock Oilhead shocks.

 

Hope this helps!

 

-TB

[T Man]

My bike has ESA that is set for single driver. I have played between normal and comfort modes. Does the above apply to ESA?

[DMilan]

Short answer is No.

The options you get are the options you get.

Low, Med and High spring pre-load.

Comfort, Normal and Sport for shock rebound damping.

 

I briefly owned an '08 K1200GT.

It had ESA.

I did not like many things about the bike. One of them was the ESA. All suspension settings were too firm for me.

 

I much prefer the ride quality of my stone stock RT.

 

Maybe the next gen ESA is better in so much as they also adjust spring rate.

 

I guess that I'm really a candidate for aftermarket shocks.... I'd like to be able to adjust shock compression damping.

But then, I'd never stop screwing around with settings...

 

For my riding style, I'm really happy with my stock, non ESA '05 RT suspension.

 

more .02 worth = .04 worth.