Zero Gravity Wind Screens

Discussion in 'Gear & Accessories' started by michael, Jan 14, 2006.

  1. trav72

    trav72 New Member

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    Wow...I have a white 06 as well. That red DB looks great on there! Damn it...now I have think about selling my dark smoke DB and getting the red.
     
  2. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    Puma - you sound like a fricken engineer. Ok I confess - I are one too (mechanical)

    My two major pet peaves on bikes are first the aero - windscreen turbulence and protection and second the seat. Gotta take care of those on the bike before even thinking of doing anything else. My Vakyrie screen I have cut down little by little about 5 times - I'm still not there yet. It beats the crap outta me. Mostly I leave it completely off, but for trips a screen would be nice.

    Anyhoo - I have been thinking that everbody has there own perfect zone on
    windscreens. If I was a no money no object guy, first you would take photos of yourself sitting on the bike, build a FEA model and do some CFD and then build a custom part and verifiy in the wind tunnel would be the only way to get that perfect laminar flow for a quiet screen. Now that would be a great custom service for people. :cool:

    MD
     
  3. tombraider

    tombraider New Member

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    How much higher is the ZG DB over the VFR 99 stock screen. I'm 5'6'' and wanted to know where the wind will hit me.
     
  4. tombraider

    tombraider New Member

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    Does anyone know where to get a good 12v outlet?
     
  5. smitty

    smitty New Member

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    I found the Double Bubble greatly reduced turbulence and wind noise. Ironically, my passenger now says she gets much MORE turbulence.

    But hey, I'm the one driving! :smile:
     
  6. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat New Member

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    I also like the red one the best, Ron.
     
  7. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat New Member

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    Interesting. It's clear that you've changed the aerodynamics in some significant way. It's very hard to truly understand what is going on with changes to the airflow with different screen shapes, heights and designs without using a windtunnel and smoke slipstream. All sorts of factors are at play here, frontal area, Cd, plan area, laminar flow, parasitic drag, etc. I hate to say that this is rocket science, but it is, kind of. Just keyed an idea; since sharks have a very low hydrodynamic drag due to the denticles that make up shark skin that create a drag-reducing boundary layer, it would be interesting to see if one could create laminar flow off the top of a windscreen with a surface texture resembling shark skin. While this sounds wacky, it really isn't. Nike created a shark-skin based cycling suit for Team Discovery to wear while doing the Team Time Trial in the Tour de France. It reduced drag on the rider rather markedly.


    I think this really depends on one's height and body proportions. I must be close to Honda's "test person", 5'9 1/2", with a long torso, because Honda's stock screens always work better for me with respect to reducing wind noise and turbulence. Now that I think back on it, I put a Lockhart screen on my 500 Interceptor too, that was about 2" higher than stock, and had the same problem. I actually tried using my ZG DB on my F4i twice; the reason being that the lip of the stock screen blocked my view of the turn indicators on the instrument panel. In both cases, I went back to the stock screen. I guess Honda's OEM designs just work really well for me. The DB on the F4i, for me, was also considerably noisier. I played around with the turbulent airflow coming off the screen while riding, and noticed that the turbulent air flow hit me right at the sides of my Arai at the bottom edge of the helmet. If I cupped my hands over that part of my helmet, the noise was reduced.
     
  8. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    Although I havent done it in a while - I put the DB on top of the stock (off the bike) and my guess is 2 inches taller in the middle - so figure a 2 inch bump in aero. Want to test the idea? Assuming you have a stock screen - while going down the road, try to squat down about 2 inches from your normal position and that is a data point for the wind. Also keep in mind your speed has an effect too.

    MD
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2008
  9. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    Michael - something goofy here. I responded to Puma Cat's post #27 and my post inserted as a post #22. Just curious, what up with that?

    MD

    Hey - you got a 5th gen now? Hadnt heard that....
     
  10. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    After reading this entire thread all the way through last night, I made a conscious decision to pay a lot more attention to the way air moves around my helmet after I installed my second DB yesterday. I took a 180 mile ride today and rode on the highway, in town and on open two lane to do a little experiment. I also paid much closer attention to the airflow around my body and helmet at different speeds and types of riding and what my body positioning was.

    As funny as it may sound, the DB works better for me than the ST! No matter what speed I was traveling or how many or how few cars were around to stir the air up, the DB just flat out smoked the ST - Hands Down! It also seemed like the faster I went, the better it worked.

    I would have to assume that most of the development work that went into the DB was done by guys who were short or by guys who were always tucked in behind the screen at speed. I found that my normal riding position, with the Heli Bars I have, seemed to be optimum for the aerodynamics of the DB. Even when I purposely sat up very straight on the highway at 90MPH, it didn't make a difference - the DB just plain works for my 5'7" frame. Could I be on to something here?????
     
  11. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    Your probly right - the DB roots are from racing where the guys are at high speed and tuck in behind the screen. When the bikes frontal area year to year kept getting smaller, the riders were crying out for more wind protection at speed. Thus the birth of DB shape and Zero Gravity. Now there are several copies on the market.

    MD
     
  12. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat New Member

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    I think you're just going to have to try it, Tom, and see for yourself. Seems like it works well for most folks.
     
  13. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    I'm 5'7" and I like the air flow around the DB better than the ST. Just my $.02
     
  14. chomper

    chomper New Member

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    Hey Ron that red db looks awsome!........looks way better than st, i never would of thought that if you hadn't posted a pic and seen for my self...and what a bonus sounds like it works better for ya too..thanks for posting pic i might consider a db. still like my puig alwaysl nice to have a few options
    Jeff
     
  15. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat New Member

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    Yup! :loco:

    :biggrin:
     
  16. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat New Member

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    Nope, molecular biologist. We're even wackier than engineers!
    :biggrin:

    Well, except for some maybe....remember John Britten? Now that was wacky and brilliant engineer!
     
  17. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Thanks for the comments Chomper, I appreciate that. I liked the Red screen for quite some time and was kind of upset that I bought the dark smoke first. Everybody said, don't get a color screen, they look like shit. I'm glad I didn't listen and just did my own thing finally. The DB seems to hit the magic sweet spot for me, guess I'm just lucky.......
     
  18. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat New Member

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    The red one is definitely the hot set up, and personally, I like the look of it better than the touring version. The red windscreens complements the red Pazzo levers nicely.
     
  19. chomper

    chomper New Member

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    dose that mean ST screen is going on ebay
     
  20. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    No, I'll keep the ST in Light Smoke and the other DB in Dark Smoke hangin' in the garage, they aren't taking up any space and you just never know what idea you might come up with for them down the road. It will be hard to get the red DB off the bike though, it really does work and look great too.
     
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