Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories Laminar Lip

Hi all, I have just fitted a laminar lip to my speedie sickle and whilst I'm still working out what the best location should be, the preliminary results are positive.

I don't know if any other member have one but my reason for purchasing was that my clearview screen was just an inch or two lower than what I wanted and the laminar lip option looked really promising, particularly after reading the heaps of testimonies.

The mounting procedure isn't too hard, but it did take me about an hour or so just because I wanted it central.

So for me I mounted mine so that it stood about an inch or so higher than my clearview, and on my first ride it was sort of weird cos it appeared like I was sitting in a bubble of low pressure. By that I mean my jacket sort of inflated around my chest which had definitely not happened before but I can guarantee that air flow was definitely way above my head and certainly more than the extra inch of height of the lip. It also did seem a lot quieter than before and the air was less messy.

After my first ride, I then moved it down to be about the same height of the clearview but it didn't feel as good as my original (above the screen) setting so I put it back.

Anyway, I thought I would post this cos it's raining today and I thought it an interesting topic.

So tomorrow provided it's not raining, I'll be riding to work and over the next week or so I should be able to report back on my findings. At this stage though like I said, it's looking pretty promising for around town type riding, but what will be really interesting will be highway cruising. I hoping though that this little accessory is going to be one of the best $100 I've invested and if so, maybe this post should be moved to the performance section

BTW, if there is anyone else who has one or had one, and you feel like telling us what you think then feel free.

PS: If you are interested here' a testimonial that best describes for now what I've. experienced so far.

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Richard C. 7 Nov 04 I have just returned from a 3 hour ride after putting a LIP on my BMW R1200-CL stock windshield. It was a windy but beautiful day here in NC. Part of the ride was on 4 lanes at 75mph with trucks to backroads at 55mph. Good test for a shield modification. Wow!!! This is a great product. I installed it with the top edge of the LIP about one inch higher than the dip in the middle of the stock shield, thus raising absolute shield height only an inch. I can still easily see over the shield (I'm 5'9"). The amazing thing is that It has moved the wind stream about six inches higher than stock and smoothed it out as well. Before the LIP I couldn't ride with my faceshield open and wind roar required earplugs, now there's just a gentle breeze in my face. I can't rave enough about this product. It's far better than simply getting a taller shield because it smooths out the air flow rather than simply raising it. For the first time I can hear my engine and drivetrain (wow what a noisy transmission). Stunned! -RC-

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Pics please

Staffo,
The Laminar Lip is very intersting. Could be an ideal and very simple solution to the windshield turbulance on the head problem. Waiting to hear results of cruising an higher speeds, like 80 mph, and if it also protects a passenger's head.

I found a fix by making special windshield lowers that extend under the headlight. However, the laminar lip sounds even better, and my produce a stronger laminar flow of air the faster you ride, thereby creating an even stronger, directed, airflow (like an artificial windshield extension) to further resist turbulence on the head.

Staffo, I don't understand the point of this. Doesn't the large Clearview pretty much eliminate buffeting as-is?

Jack

The large Clearview has much less buffeting than the Roadster but I still get some buffeting in cross winds and really strong head winds. Some may be due to my first generation Nolan with the buffeting due to the external sun visor.

I think buffeting is possible with any windshield under the right conditions.

sorry guys for taking so long to get back but been a bit busy and even too busy at the moment, but the report is going to be really positive.

Sorry guys for the delay in reporting back but I was waiting for a descent ride to come up and also I've been flat out everywhere else. I also have some pics on my camera which I'll download shortly but I'm at work now so it'll have to wait.

So, what are my impressions? In short and I don't say this lightly, very impressive. I should add before I go further that my reason initially for buying one is that my clearview screen had by default become too short due to a prob with my initial rear springs not being heavy duty enough when I ordered the clearview. Hence once the new shock springs were put on, it jacked up the rear and subsequently the screen became lower in comparison to before.

Anyway, on my first ride the thing that struck me straight away was not how well the lip went to compliment my clearview, but how different my bike felt regarding stability on the road. I'm not sure why but I did read this from the website but it stuck out like the proverbial and I wasn't even thinking about it at the time. In fact on my ride down the south coast (Aussie talk) from Canberra it was blowing a gale and I genuinely know that before having "the lip", there would have been times some of the winds gusts would have pushed me around more than it did. Again, it's hard to explain but what I can say is, I reckon I've finally got my suspension dialed in now and it didn't feel like that before. So the lip has just accentuated and improved how well my bike handles because the air foil effect places downward pressure on the front wheel and with it better handling.

Now regarding how it works to improve riding as a wind shield, well in short it works that well that I'll almost definitely be keeping it on and in fact I may even get the nylon nuts and bolts Laminar offer so that I can make it a permanent fixture.

This is because the air flow above my head is now at least 4 to 6 inches, although I should add the laminar now sits approx 2 inches higher than my clearview, so I would have expected that increase anyway but like many of the testimonials have mentioned, it actually now deflects even further than that.

Of course it doesn't mean that I now sit in some sort of bubble, void of any wind whatsoever cos obviously without lowers I still feel the wind coming up from below, but as far as the lip doing it's job, I have nothing but praise.

So yes I am particularly happy with this purchase and believe it performs even better than if I had just bought a screen 2 inches higher. For instance last night I had to ride home in a slight drizzle where again a little bit of protection from the elements was greatly appreciated. Well to verify again this thing works nicely in conjuntion with my clearview, when I took off my wet weather gear the only part of me that was wet was just above my boots and up to my knees. Everything else was dry as a bone.

As far as how the lip goes at 80mph+ speeds as asked etc? Well on my ride yesterday a good deal of it was at between 70 to 80mph and some of that was with headwinds. Anyway, I believe the lip not only helped with the protection from them by deflecting it over my head as mentioned, but I also think it helped eliminate some of the tiredness I have felt in the past after battling these elements.

The only other doubt that members may have might be how the lips sticks to you current screen. Well I found it was an easy procedure to fix the lip onto my clearview and it's also easy to take off and adjust. As far as how effective the 3M Dual Lock is in staying fixed and secure, well I think my ride the other day answered pretty well how good this system works. At least I'm confident it's not going to come off unless I pull it off.

So to conclude, I personally have been very much impressed with how the laminar lip has performed but not just as intended as an addition to my clearview shield. No, it's much better than that.

My findings do pretty much back up just about everything of what the website mentions, meaning for $84US plus postage you get a great additon to your current shield which enhances stability as well as give much better protection from headwind and whatever elements are out there to smack you around. You can't ask much more than that?

Sorting out the air flow around a bike seems to be part art, part science, and part luck. Even the helmet you wear or how you hold your knees makes a difference; early threads discussed the effects of headlight visors on rider comfort.

I went through the whole process. Started with the Roadster screen - found that a train wreck. Then bought the oversize (18 inch) Clearview screen, but still saw double. Probably the biggest change for me was adding lowers. The contradiction with lowers though, is that it stops the "tank air" that comes up from below the screen, but the tank air pushes the top of the bubble that I sit in higher. Adding the lowers stops the tank air, which is very nice, but the air from the top of the screen drops a lot.

I thought the Laminar Lip would help this, and ran it for a while. It didn't help much at all, in fact for me I found that the air from the top of the screen was more turbulent with the extra stuff stuck to the top of the screen, and tossed my head around a bit more. The Laminar Lip folks say that the laminar effect works best on screens that are 45 degrees, so I pushed the botton of the Clearview out 3 inches with some extra brackets. This helped some, but not enought to justify the exta work and the goofy look with the lower part of the Clearview out past the headlight bucket. Also cleaning the bugs from behind it is a real pain. I would have to pack a chopstick with the screen cleaner to push a rag up in there.

The best results that I find now is to have the Clearview screen in its normal position on the Triumph brackets, and the lowers that I've built. I still get very minor thumping from dirty air behind my helmet. It's manageable, and still lets me do the 2300 km long weekend rides.

This winter I want to play with a Slipstreamer SS32. Ray Birch (birchr) has been happy with it, and I like the idea that it covers my hands on the cold mornings.

All of this hasn't been to dampen your enthusiasm - it's a pretty interesting product, and I was hoping that it would have worked as well for me as it has for you. It would be interesting to hear what you have to say after you add lowers to your setup.

First off, here's the pics I took the other day which you may find interesting:









So as can be seen with these photos, I found the lip's best posi for me was about 2" or so above my screen. I did experiment with it slightly lower but it wasn't as effective positioned there.

I must admit Steve, I was surprised you found it even more turbulant than without it. Mind you, it did take a few goes for me to find an optimum position.

I also have never heard anyone say they

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still saw double

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after having purchased a clearview screen. In fact most of the comments I've read from people have been really positive.

BTW, I forgot to mention that a mate of mine has a new BMW 1200GS and the Touratech screen on it also has the laminar design. It was interesting too as on their website they say the laminar flow effect reduced buffeting,



So by itself I think their using these type of screens says heaps about how effective they (bmw) believe the design is and in my experience, I'd have to agree.

Getting back to you're mentioning

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It would be interesting to hear what you have to say after you add lowers to your setup

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,

Well I do agree they would more than likely make even more of a difference as it seems their is a fair bit of air flow coming up from below, and if I could get rid of that It'd be sweet as.

I just don't want to have a wall of perspex or whatever it is they are made of so I'll have to have a think about that one.

So there you go folks. That's the laminar lip both good and bad