Well I'm stuck with it for now so...

(copy and pasted from another forum)

I've had the Iron for almost exactly a year. In that time I moved from East Tennessee to Central Texas. Back in East TN I had no problems putting 8-10 hours in on the bike in a day. Stick to the back roads and just tool around at 55-60 mph. Aside from the beating from the lack of suspension and stock seat I was no worse for wear after a full day. I really never wanted to get off the bike. Out here where even the back roads are 70-75 mph it's a totally different story. I've had a couple big days and it takes three days to recover. I mean it's absolutely brutal.

I realize I bought the wrong bike to chase horizons but that's the type of riding I like to do. I just love to see whats around that next corner or over that next hill. Unfortunately when I bought the bike I didn't have my endorsements so I couldn't test ride anything to see what kind of bike I would like and at that time I really had no idea to the type of riding I would like to do. I guess the styling won me over.

So that brings us to the Iron and the fact that I'm stuck with it for now. I don't have the finances at this time to really upgrade the bike or get a bike more suited to the type of riding I do. So in an effort to make the bike more comfortable for these conditions I've decided to see what I could do for the cheapest amount of money possible. Because I'm broke

First on the list is wind protection. I'm fine up to about 60-65mph. After that is agony. So last night I started searching Craigslist for a cheap windshield. I found one for $40. The guy said he didn't have a clue what kind of bike it came from but looking at the picture I thought I could make it work. I really should have tried to get it for $20 because it is very scratched up and has some kind of thin coating that is peeling off. I didn't get any pictures of it before I started cutting but it had some kind of quick release brackets on it that would not have worked on a sporty.

I ran to Lowes with an Idea of how I wanted to mount it and after walking around for about an hour and a half I finally found everything I thought I would need and some stuff that I ended up not using. Total at Lowes was $38. I figure not counting the stuff I didn't use I have about $55 total in this thing. I'm sure someone has done more for less but this is the cheapest thing I've found. I bought two 2" conduit clamps to attach to the fork uppers. I got 2" so I would have enough room to use some rubber to protect the fork uppers. I bought two 1" wire clamps with a rubber protector to attach it to the handle bars. I bought four steel corner supports to attach to the windshield and a 3' stick of 1/2"x1/2" aluminum angle. I bought a 2" rubber plumbing connecter to sacrifice for the rubber to protect the forks and two packs of 1/4" machine screws and some wing nuts.

This is what it looks like mocked up

Here it is after I trimmed it to fit around the turn signals and master cylinder.

I didn't measure it but you can see how tall it is. I actually kinda like how it looks here but cosmetics are at the bottom of the priority list.

I've never ridden a bike with a windshield so I had no idea what to expect. I was amazed through town, the engine sound was so much more pronounced. I really couldn't believe what a difference it made. Heading out of town and upping the speed I was so exited to not have any pressure at all on my chest. All was not well however because at 70-80mph the wind was buffeting my helmet so bad that I couldn't even see. I tucked down behind the windshield and it smoothed out but I was getting no airflow through the helmet. So I sat up tall in the saddle and with my head sticking up into the clean air coming over the top everything smoothed out. So I knew I had to cut.

Here is after the first cut. This was done a little conservatively because it's relatively easy to cut more off but a bitch to add it back if I took too much;)

This helped tremendously but it's still pretty bouncy at high speeds. Feeling around with my hand I could feel the bubble of air. The edge of the smooth air was hitting me right about my eyebrow. I came back and took another couple inches off and found I had a partial can of black elastiwrap left over and decided to use that to try and hide the hardware.

Couple pics of how it looks now.

I still have a nice pocket of air that's not hitting my chest and the vast majority of the buffeting is gone. The biggest issue now is the increased wind noise. I may have to start wearing ear plugs. If I poke my head up a little bit it still gets smoother. I'm just not sure how much further I can go without increasing the amount of air hitting my chest significantly. I'm also not sure if it really needs to be that wide. The pocket of air extends out past my shoulders around four inches according to my expertly calibrated hands of measurement. I'm going to continue trimming it down slowly until I start to get negative results and then stop. Currently it is 16.5" wide and 16" tall from the center of the headlight. This should hold me over until i can afford a fairing. After trying it in the tall configuration I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like a big windshield. All I'm looking for is to take the majority of the pressure off my chest at 70-80mph. I kinda like the look of the Gauntlet fairing...

Got up this morning and decided to keep making adjustments. I decided to narrow it up and I also took another inch or so out of the height.

This was actually pretty good and I should have stopped there. But I didn't.

I was still getting a little buffeting and all I had to do was sit up a little taller in the seat to make it go away. I was still happy with how much pressure was being diverted from off my chest though.

The next cut went a little too far in the wrong direction. The helmet buffeting is completely eliminated however I little too much wind is catching my chest.

At this point I decided I was about tired of fooling with it for this weekend. I decided to cut the top off a little more flat and I'm going to take the cut off piece of the original top of the windshield and make a panel that I can up three inches from where it is now. I thought it was a good time to get everything painted up because I can make any further modifications with it mounted in place. I'm going to get the original top section cut down and get some slots cut in it for the adjustment. Just ran out of motivation today. Here is how it sits for now. Very ugly but even with it being a little too low it's still worlds better than without it at 80mph.

I'm going to play around some more with trying to deflect the air coming from under the windshield.

Looks good, Nick. Amazing how much such a small piece can punch a big hole in the air, isn't it?

You know I'm really impressed how well that turned out. Going from the first pic of it mounted to the last one is very surprising. Great work.

I'm with Cotton. I like it. I think you basically made a Buell fly screen fairing. Check it on the M2.

I think you'll be much happier on the bike with more wind protection. That'll let you stay in the seat longer. If you run into some cash, or hit a good second hand buy, a Corbin seat might be another option if your butt hurts after hours in the saddle.

Another option I liked was using bluetooth set of headphones in the helmet for having some tunes while I rode. Going cordless made them much less painful to deal with while working the handlebars. Music and/or some talk radio made time riding between stops nicer.

Some guys also like forward controls on HD stuff. I rode Buells but saw plenty of larger bikes with pegs more towards the front wheel. I'm not sure Sportsters are long enough for that but they might be depending on your height. That could be an alternative to a new seat. I'll bet you could find a set used on Craig's List or the Sportster boards if you look hard enough.

Dr.Linda got her bike in Lethbridge, Alberta and rode it home to Bryan, TX, by way of Los Angeles. We put the windshield on in L.A. and it made a huge difference in her comfort. Also cut 10 MPG off the gas mileage, but we still got >50 with the stock carb. >60, if I recall. Anyway, that helped a lot. Also, get some highway pegs. You don't necessarily need forward controls, but you do need 2 places to put your feet, so you can move them around a bit when you're on a long ride.

Planning on getting some highway pegs but they are big $$$. I may try to fab something up on the cheap. The stock seat is not too bad but long legged I would love to find something to set me up a couple inches higher. Also I'd like to have the ability scoot my but back a little bit in the saddle. Sometimes I sit all the way back on the bump and feel like sitting up that high is what I need.

Here someone did what I'm thinking of doing. Basically eliminating the actual seat out of the seat.

Look for a take off on eBay (GRM sponsor.) The same seat will fit just about all the modern Sportsters. The seat on Dr.L's bike right now is off a 20-something and her bike is a 1987. Look at the bottom of the seat, and if it looks the same, it will fit. Also, you can get the take off real cheap and then not feel bad about hacking it up. That's why Dr.L has that seat now, as I didn't want to hack up her original solo seat (in case I screwed it up), so I bought the takeoff to mod.

That looks pretty awesome. Are you still looking to get another bike or are you going to hold onto this and fiddle with it to improve it?

In reply to 92dxman:

Both, with the move happening at the end of the month and swmbo not having a full time job lined up yet it's too risky to be spending a bunch of money right now.

As much as I love this bike, it'll never be as good as something built for the type of riding I do.

In a perfect world I could keep it and pick up something else. Time will tell if that's feasible.

In the meantime I'll be trying to improve this one on a shoestring budget.

Try some of the aftermarket places around you. Look for take off's and stuff that got scratched and replaced. A lot of the scratched stuff just needs a little polish and is quite useable. What part of Central Texas are you in? I know people there, as I lived in Bryan for 10 years. Even a dealer might have stuff if you go in the back and talk to the wrenches. Things like highway pegs/bars are high replacement items. There's got to be a lot of scratched ones around. We got a whole extra windshield when all I wanted was a bracket. The dealer didn't have a bracket, but they had a take off windshield just like the one we bought in L.A. 20 years before, stuffed in the back in storage.

I wonder if the spring rate on the rear is really all that great a match for your weight. Front as well.

In reply to pres589:

Not likely to really matter with a half inch of travel

I'm scheming on ways to upgrade the suspension but again that's big money for me right now.

In reply to Dr. Hess:

Live in temple but work means I could be in Bryan/College station, Waco, Killeen, round rock or anywhere in between on a daily basis.

If you want, PM me and I'll put you in touch with a friend of mine in B/CS. In the HD community, he knows everyone and everyone knows him. He should be able to point you to some used parts somewhere, or certainly know where the aftermarket shops are. He might even have some stuff laying around. Bryan has the dealership, but they might be Big Corp, from what I hear. Talking with the wrenches might get you somewhere or some pointers. And in Austin, there's Bud's. They'll have something.

This is me reading your first post....

Ugh... Looks like A$$

That looks a little better

Dam, that last one looks pretty good!

Then I went back and actually read the words and was shocked that you didn't buy three different screens from HD. I like the all black mid screen. Pretty good deal for a generic craigslist buy and some Lowes hardware.

Very nice work, looks great on the bike.

Last weekend I was riding a rented BMW touring bike. Among other toys it had an electrically adjustable power windscreen. I played around with it and found that there was one setting, about an inch above the lowest position, that cut all the buffeting around the bottom of my helmet. Any higher and it got somewhat quieter but not enough to matter, but then I had to look THROUGH the windshield instead of over it which I prefer.

So I guess all I can say is that there is a sweet spot, and hopefully you have found it. Worst case if you went too far you can buy another craigslist windshield and start over.

Your riding a 883 Iron over 8 hours in a day, you sir and one crazy MOFO.

Any way you could get a suspended seat, IE tractor style that actually works. Roland Sands had one out for a while and the Chinese guys copied and sold it cheap on eBay.

wearymicrobe wrote: Your riding a 883 Iron over 8 hours in a day, you sir and one crazy MOFO.

At 75-80 mph I wonder how long the engine will last

Several companies make Spring solo seats, I've wondered how comfortable they are. Seems like they sit you up a little higher.

Looks good Nick. I've been thinking about putting a W/S on my bike.

I thought you painted the tank??

I met a 1200 Sportster owner in extreme southern LA Wed. afternoon. He came out of a work boat shop and was prob. a welder. I'd been admiring his bike when he walked up. He said "nothing like it to cool him off after a long hot day @ work. His bike was all black also. Looks right on a Sportster.

That motor will go a very long time at 80MPH. Dr.L's Sporty has >50K on it, most of it at 75 to 85, and that's a 4 speed, not a 5 and the motor is solid mounted. She has passed up many a twinkie out on the open highway. They see me go by, then they get passed by a GIRL on a SPORTSTER and they try to keep up, but very rarely can.

In reply to Graefin10:

It was elastiwrapped but I pulled it off because I was seriously considering trading it in.

nicksta43 wrote:

wearymicrobe wrote: Your riding a 883 Iron over 8 hours in a day, you sir and one crazy MOFO.

At 75-80 mph I wonder how long the engine will last

Forever, especially with the 5 speed. They are as reliable as gravity as long as you don't mod them to much.

Well did some more experimenting over the weekend. I added the top piece first. Test riding it in this configuration I was feeling around with my hand at speed and noticed that a large amount of air was coming up from under the shield. Blocking it resulted in much smoother air over the helmet.

I had a couple pieces of lexan left over from another project and decided to see what I could block coming under. Unfortunately I had to piece it together because I didn't have a piece big enough for what I wanted.

I also made the top piece adjustable.

Lowered

While doing some testing runs I stumbled upon a problem I unwittingly created. A couple weeks ago I pulled the visor off my helmet and never got around to putting it back on. Well I stuck my up to scratch an itch and by blocking the wind hitting the helmet everything smoothed out...

Back to the house, install the visor and sure enough it had a most dramatic effect. It actually reversed the effect of the position of the windshield. After the visor it was smoothest all the way up but without the shield it was smoothest all the way down. Still need some testing to fine tune it. It seems like it's very particular. And the lower shield made a tremendous difference. I need to take it out and ride it for a long time to see how big of a difference it's going to make after a couple hours but my short test blasts at speed have been most positive.

The parts are waiting for the paint to dry before I put it back together. I think it's getting way uglier but making it much better to ride. And at this point it's all about function over form.

Ok, now that I have the wind figured out it's time to make some changes to the so called suspension but I'm at that classic point of over thinking it leading to indecision.

The Iron unfortunately sits very low to the ground. It's too low, way too low. In the rear HD simply put on shorter shocks, I believe they are 11" eye to eye. That's easy enough to fix with some 13.5" takeoffs from eBay for around $40.

The issue is the front. If I just jack the back up it'll throw off the geometry and I'll likely have a serious problem with the death wobble or steering head shake. The way HD lowered the front was to shorten the damper rod. The longer damper rods from a roadster are available cheap enough through HD that I could gain almost 3" of suspension travel front and rear for right around $100.

Not bad, right? Well, maybe. Upgrading to the factory Roadster height cheaply sounds like a winner but it still leaves me with a crappy factory suspension. Sure I won't be bottoming out all the time anymore and I'll gain a huge amount of lean angle but nobody in history has ever described the factory damping as anything other than pure junk.

I just don't know if I should go through all the trouble of tearing the forks all the way down to replace the damper rods or break out the credit card and buy a real suspension for it since I'm going to have it tore down any way.

So cheap and within a reasonable budget? Or melt the credit card and do it right the first time?

Buell fork swap?