My wife and I were recently exploring options to add toour new 2016 Harley-Davidson Road Glide Ultra (FLTRU) and we were reallyimpressed and curious with the quality of Windvest Motorcycle Products out ofMorgan Hill, Ca. We observed thousands of bikes at the recent Lone Star Rallyand the number of options for what shield to use is almost limitless. With theresurgence of the Road Glide, it appears every custom builder in the world isbuilding one. What we were looking for was less of a showpiece and more of ashield that looked great while performing better than stock. We had seen a fewbikes utilizing the Windvest over the past few years and have noticed thepopularity of the California windshield makers’ product and quality. Like mostconsumers today, we turned to the web for some information on the shield aswell as options. We liked their website as it contained information about theorigin, quality, and design of the shields as well as a FAQ’s section thatanswers a few of the little nuances necessary when choosing a screen or shield.Here’s a section that was on their website about the company itself:
In 1989, after a windblown, bug-ridden ride to Sturgis,the founder of WindVest, Norm Dober, had a dilemma. He wasn’t happy with theway windshields looked and performed. So he decided to build his own. Fashioned from a windshield rescued from a friend’s garage, he began to”tweak”.
After years of fine-tuning the windshield in his garage,the first WindVest was created, and the legend began.
Parts were built by a local machinist and then polished ina spare bedroom. The fledgling company was the talk of the neighborhood ascustomers began rolling in and the UPS truck appeared on an almost daily basis.As with so many small beginnings WindVest moved out of the garage and has neverlooked back.
Over the years, that one WindVest, grew into many, andWindVest Motorcycle Products now sells its sport windshields throughout theworld. Although WindVest is the leader in performance windscreens, the spiritborn from Norm’s garage lives on there today.
Today,WindVest is making inroads in other areas of motorcycle windshields with itsline of WideBody performance windscreens for Harley-Davidson and metriccruisers. More than a decade after the original WindVest made it’s debut, thecompany’s goal remains the same – to continue offering the best highperformance motorcycle windscreens with unparalleled customer service, yearafter year.
Moreinformation can be found about the company and available products by followingthe attached link or click on their logo on the homepage. http://windvest.com
Becausewe are senior board members of the Bikernet Interplanetary Coalition, I wasable to reach out to Bandit for a trial and review of one of the WindvestShields. Of course, he didn’t disappoint and we placed an order immediately forthe 12” Gun Smoke version. Our bike came stock with a 15” clear shield andwhile the performance was great for both of us, I wanted a change. Partlybecause of looks, but partly because of function. I had recently rolled mystock handlebars forward and the new location caused my bars to hit thewindshield at full turn. I really loved the feel of the new bar position butwasn’t crazy about possibly damaging my stock windscreen or creating an issueduring sharp turn or u-turn situations.
Withina week of my order, we received the box at our front door with enough peanutshells inside I was afraid they forgot my shield. Thankfully, it was nestedneatly inside with a small catalog, instructions for installation and care, anda handful of stickers to hand out to friends.
Iliterally spent 5 minutes removing the stock shield and replacing it with theWindvest 12” Smoke. The entire operation requires loosening the 4 stock scewsand sliding the old shield off before slipping the new shield on. The cuts inthe Windvest natched perfectly and it slipped right into place on the RGfairing. Initial thoughts were the shield was just as wide as stock, butdefinitely more stylish. I also liked the dark tint and couldn’t wait to ridethe next day to work testing out the shield. I was concerned with the height,as I didn’t want the wind to flip off the top of the shield right into my helmetedhead or my wife’s face when she’s in the back.
Iride using a combination of helmets depending upon my conditions and sometimesrun with a full face, sometimes with a beanie, and sometimes without one atall. I have since ridden win all 3 situations multiple times since putting onthe Windvest, and can pleasantly report the results are great. This team didtheir R&D before sending this shield into the market.
Notonce did I have an issue with wind buffeting using this screen for eithermyself or my passenger no matter which helmets we wore. My wife did notice alarger amount of wind with the Windvest, but nothing disturbing as the air wasvery “clean” and there was almost zero turbulence.
Thesounds of the radio could still be heard at highway speeds very easily, whichwas differential to when I used Harley’s Windsplitter 15” screen. While thatscreen looks good on the Road Glide, it’s performance was not as great as Iwould’ve hoped for. The turbulence was greater on the sides of my head whenwearing a fullface helmet and the music was very distorted because of it duringmy lidless rides. Overall the Windvest blew both of these negatives off theroad!
Theprofile of the bike now has a different tone and almost gives the bike anaggressive look. I like the fit and finish of the Windvest even after anevening bug0storm that put the shield to the test. I am happy to report my wifeand I weren’t effected by the bugs at all and can honestly say although theshield is shorter, it’s design worked at least as great as the stock largershield.
Since we put the shieldon, many in our riding group and friends have commented about the look andasked for information on the shield as there are so many options out there. Ifyou are considering a new windscreen for your Road Glide, shoot over and checkout their website to look at the different designs and sizes. They make optionsfor many of Harley’s models as well as some of the other motorcycle makescurrently being built. Give ‘em a shout and tell them Johnny from Bikernet sentyou their way. Thanks and continue to watch for different reviews from Johnny Humbleand Bikernet.com. This is one I definitely give a positive thumbs up!
