New Brammo Empulse Accessories Catalog

[MichaelJ]

Get the tall if you really want to get the air off your chest or get some additional protection from the weather.

Thanks for publishing the accessories catalog and for the advice about which windscreen to choose, Brian!

Any measurements as to how much range the windscreen will give back?  Will the tall screen also reduce noise around the helmet?

--
Michael

[BrammoBrian]

Michael,

I don't have any official data on the range improvement provided by the windscreen, but I would say it will be pretty close to what others have experienced with their aftermarket windscreens - around 10% in ideal conditions. 

My experience with all windscreens on naked bikes is that they actually increase noise around the helmet, but it will depend on what helmet you wear and how tall you are as well.  If you "tuck in" behind the screen and you can get the air up over your helmet, then it will be quieter, but in the upright riding position, I find it to be louder. 

[Shinysideup]

+1 on noise around the helmet unless tucked. It's called "buffeting" and has nothing to do with all you can eat. I have found that additional small wings bolted on to the top of the screen (spoilers) smooth out the air stream and really can reduce the buffeting to almost smooth, but nothing is as smooth as no screen at all.

You can see one such solution on this photo of my bike (recently taken by Brian in SF):

https://www.facebook.com/BrammoInc/photos/a.10152183437570443.1073741911.108820970442/10152183438090443/?type=1&permPage=1

[Auslander]

Depends on the windscreen and where it directs the air, if you get caught in the laminar layer (noise, and buffeting. My old 1150GS-Adv made by head bobble around!).  Some lift the air over your head, some let it hit you in the chest (still nice in summer) and don't affect things quite so much.  Aftermarket add-on I'm sure most riders are familiar with or have at least seen:
http://laminarlip.com/

[MichaelJ]

[a windscreen will reduce drag by] around 10% in ideal conditions.  [...]  If you "tuck in" behind the screen and you can get the air up over your helmet, then it will be quieter, but in the upright riding position, I find it to be louder.

Oh, thanks for that insight.  I'll have to add earplugs to the list of things to consider. 

Having only experienced cruisers and scooters with a comfortable upright seating position protected behind a giant windscreen, I am pleasantly surprised by the comfort of the Empulse sport bike riding position and how leaning into the wind actually prevents back strain with the lack of a windscreen.  Or maybe I'm riding incorrectly?

The noise of the unprotected wind stream is a new concern with the Empulse.  I can easily listen to my music, podcasts, and my wife with my helmet radio earphones on the cruiser and scooter, but I can only hear my wife properly at full volume on the Empulse.  Custom earplugs that include speakers might be helpful.

Then again, adding a windscreen to save as much as 10% range would hopefully offset the additional drag of a pair of large Givi side cases... 

[Adan]

but I can only hear my wife properly at full volume on the Empulse.  Custom earplugs that include speakers might be helpful.

So is your objective to be able to hear your wife, or to not be able to hear your wife?

I just installed the sidebags, and so far haven't noticed a significant range penalty.  There must be one, just from the addition of weight alone, but it doesn't seem to change the numbers anywhere as drastically as adding a windshield.

The bags are aerodynamic, so while they will add some wind resistance, it's nothing like the magnitude of adding a screen.  When you add a screen, you're putting a relatively aerodynamic surface in front of an extremely un-aerodynamic surface (i.e., your body leaning forward).

With a screen and bags, the Empulse is a commuting powerhouse!

[Shinysideup]

+1 on "Commuting Powerhouse"!

I too have noticed the bags do little to change the range. In thinking about that today on my commute, it occurred to me that my knees and legs, which present a fairly aerodynamic surface (with the knee being the tip of a horizontal "V" shape) are positioned just in front of most of the bag surface, so the bags, like a passenger are more or less in the slipstream already.

Disclaimer: Results of my butt wind tunnel are no more accurate than results of my butt dyno.

[Adan]

+1 on "Commuting Powerhouse"!

Sometimes I wish I had two jobs, so I could commute-ride four times a day.  Twice is just too easy.

[Shinysideup]

Sometimes I wish I had two jobs, so I could commute-ride four times a day.  Twice is just too easy.

Or maybe a job like mine where I ride to work, ride all day long in San Francisco, and then home at night. Today, I put 63 miles on the Empulse and only 24 were strictly commute.

Of course, the joy on rainy, cold days... not so much.

[flar]

I don't need protection from the wind - I'm actually enjoying the wind after riding my RT with the pocket of dead air around me.

What I'd like is longer range.  Any anecdotal evidence on the impact of a wind-screen on range? (Never mind - I first wrote this before I noticed the second page of posts).

I had some buffeting on my RT with the stock wind screen.  Solved by buying a new screen from calsci.com - perfect laminar flow now.  I contacted them about doing a screen for the Empulse, but it is too low volume for them to consider and they don't make a generic screen. 

[MichaelJ]

but I can only hear my wife properly at full volume on the Empulse.  Custom earplugs that include speakers might be helpful.

So is your objective to be able to hear your wife, or to not be able to hear your wife?

To hear her, of course! 

We each ride our own bike and communicate via helmet radio (Scala Rider G4).  When we're not talking, we're listening to our own music over Bluetooth.  I'm sad that the unprotected buffeting prevents me from effectively listening to music or podcasts during my commute.

I just installed the sidebags, and so far haven't noticed a significant range penalty.

That's welcome news!  I was very worried about that.  I'll have to go ahead and order them now.  I'm coming up on my 600 mi maintenance appointment, so getting those bags installed at the same time will be convenient.

When you add a screen, you're putting a relatively aerodynamic surface in front of an extremely un-aerodynamic surface (i.e., your body leaning forward).

It makes sense when you put it that way, but when I look at the bulky rectangular saddlebags or ammunition boxes I see on sport-touring bikes, I can't help thinking that they're terrible for aerodynamics.

I love this forum.  Thank you for your feedback!

--
Michael

[flar]

My Schuberth is so quiet in the clean air stream of the naked Empulse that I regularly attend conference calls from it while riding on the highway and nobody on the other end suspects anything (until I wander into the conference room in full gear). And these are people who complain when someone is typing next to their phone...

[littlefreak3000]

When and where can I order the windscreen from?