Bit by bit, joining the aero club

[JeffM]

Originally Posted by Otto

If possible, lose the barn door mirrors, replace with smaller, more aero shapes available pretty cheap on eBay, which also has combined mirror/turn signals. Also, note the mirror stalks' cross-section, and convert to teardrop airfoil shape.

Was planning on going to smaller mirrors mounted on the back of the windscreen near to my helmet. Alan Smith uses small mechanics inspection mirrors. Pretty easy to fab-up a mount and attache the mirror end.

Originally Posted by Otto

A tankbag is handy to carry stuff, and fills in the gap between rider and windshield, where a low-pressure bubble forms and collapses, aka von Karmann vortex........

I roll with a tank bag all the time.

Originally Posted by Otto

As others have noted, lose the rear hardbags and carry your stuff in your new tail section, ........

Luggage will go in the tail section behind the 1st bulkhead. It should hold 4 grocery bags worth.

Originally Posted by Otto

On my BMW I may delete the stalk mirrors entirely, and mount mirrors to the windscreen inside the upper edge, sorta like fighter plane mirrors mounted inside the canopy bow, for less stuff hanging out in the breeze......

I like the idea of mirrors inside the cockpit. Like this, no?

[Otto]

Originally Posted by JeffM

Was planning on going to smaller mirrors mounted on the back of the windscreen near to my helmet. Alan Smith uses small mechanics inspection mirrors. Pretty easy to fab-up a mount and attache the mirror end.





I roll with a tank bag all the time.



Luggage will go in the tail section behind the 1st bulkhead. It should hold 4 grocery bags worth.



I like the idea of mirrors inside the cockpit. Like this, no?

The canopy bow mirrors you show above are precisely what I have in mind. They're out of the breeze, so reduce drag.

And, thanks for noting the mechanic's mirrors, which also could be useful: Their telescoping stalks could be modified as windscreen stays or struts, so you can adjust the angle of the windscreen by using the telescoping mirror handles with some sort of clamps that lock them at a desired length. (I'd thought about using worn out gass-filled hood or trunk shocks, with one on each side of the upper windscreen, and adding a locking mechanism. Twist-lock telescoping mop handles area also considered.) But, now that you've mentioned telescoping mechanic's mirrors, maybe they could serve both as adjustable mirrors and as windcreen struts.

Some motorcycles such as BMW R1200RT have electric windscreen adjustment, which no longer seems a luxury after using for, say, 2 minutes behind a big truck. My R1100RSL bike has a manual twist knob adjustment, but it does not work well. I have no idea how your bike and windscreen works at highway speed, but this will be a major factor to consider if you travel much. Getting dope-slapped by buffeting is no fun, tiring, and noisy. So, any thoughts on improving windscreen adjustment are much welcome.

Here's a pic of a bike basically like mine, except for the lower fairing. Note the huge hole between the front fender and the headlight fairing. That thing is effectively a drag chute. I used a semi-cylindrical section of a plastic bucket and attached it to the front fork struts, making a D section there to smooth the airflow in that area.
http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&b...2&tx=105&ty=70

[JeffM]

Otto, how about these: Riderscan Mirrors.

I imagine it would work well in conjunction with a small bar end mirror for legality purposes.



I originally saw them on the Roadcraftnottingham YouTube channel:

[JeffM]

Found some great little bar-end mirrors that are made for bicycles. by taking off the bar-end fitting they fit perfectly and are completely adjustable. They are slightly wide-angle and even though they are very small, they provide a pretty good view because they are close to me.

I should have the tail mounted (after much thinking and revising the mountings hard-points and structure) in a week or two and hopefully on the road next month (crossing fingers and hopefully the snow will not be on the roads )







Cheers, Jeff

[JeffM]

More work done. I think I have the mounting system for the tail figured out. Some bits-and-pieces to figure out but the whole of it is there.

the front of the frame will tie into the main bulkhead and I will probably run a couple of braces from the back of the tail to the frame of the bike.

[renault_megane_dci]

Is the tail a little lower than your shoulder ?
Seems very tall to me.

[JeffM]

Originally Posted by renault_megane_dci

Is the tail a little lower than your shoulder ?
Seems very tall to me.

Top of the bulkhead is right at the top of my shoulder. I am 5' 10". I will be placing a "headreast" above that to hold my license plate and turn signals.

Jeff

[renault_megane_dci]

No seat height to be gained on foam thickness ?

[JeffM]

For now it is fine how it is. I'll probably do a few things different in version 1.1. Looking at the profile view I think I will change how far the bottom of the middle bulkhead goes down below the lower stringer.

[euromodder]

Are you going to fair in the rear wheel completely as well ?

If not, how about reducing the width of the lower part of the tail ?
It need not be any wider than the rear wheel (or swing arm) in that case.
You could also bring it closer to the far of the rear wheel.