A little background: I’m 6′ tall, have a 30” inseam (without shoes or boots), use a stock Roadmaster touring seat on my Springfield, which positions me such that the top edge of the stock Indian windshield is a couple inches below my sight line. With the stock windshield, I was getting buffeting at highway speeds. I added the Indian wind deflectors and they improved things so that I could cruise at 70mph comfortably. After that, the helmet (full face helmet) buffeting would increase significantly. This is what led me to look into flared windshields. I opted the 16” size because: 1) That’s only 1” taller than the stock height. After doing some mockups on my stock shield, I still had the clearance of looking over the shield that I prefer, and 2) I plan on getting a custom seat for the bike and all options I’m considering will raise my sitting height by about 1/2”-3/4” and will keep me in about the same position I’m in now. I also chose to add the Freedom clear wind deflectors to replace my tinted Indian ones. My thoughts on the windshield: It’s about 3/4” taller overall than the stock windshield, is squarer at the top than the “tombstone” shape of the stock Indian which creates about an additional 1.5” of surface area at the top corners. Driving around town, I didn’t really notice too much difference in the windshield or the fork-mounted wind deflectors. However, as soon as I headed onto the highway, I could feel the difference…or more accurately, it’s what I didn’t feel -the turbulence around my head. I prefer to ride w/ the visor up on my full-face helmet but doing so with the stock windshield, I couldn’t cruise too much above 70mph. If it was at all windy, I’d likely have to close it to cruise at 70mph. With the Freedom shield, I can cruise EASILY 80-90mph w/ the visor up and there have been times I’ve thought I needed to shift up only to realize I was already in 6th gear and cruising at 85mph. Hitting 100mph with my visor open is not unusual. I’ve may/may not have done that a few times. 😉 I did a couple of rides back-to-back to compare the Indian wind deflectors to the Freedom version and I did notice there was a little more airflow around the feet which seemed to help move the heat away from the legs. If my Indian deflectors had not been tinted, I’m not sure I would have ordered the Freedom ones, but I wanted clear and as noted below, others had recommended them over the stock versions. Through the years I’ve learned to listen to the advice of others who have experienced similar things that I’m going through. Buying a Freedom Shield is another one of those times. I wanted to enjoy highway cruising without my head feeling like a punching bag and I kept reading about others who have had this experience and then when they bought the windshield, everything improved for them. Now I get to share the wisdom of “just get a Freedom shield and forget about it.” It’s nice to be able to set the cruise control at 80 or 85mph to give your wrist a break and not worry about being bounced all around by the wind during a 300+ mile ride. Placing my hand above my helmet and feeling for the airflow, there’s a good 4” of clearance before I start to feel any kind of wind. I’ve also installed a Cardo system in my helmet and do not have to turn the music up to hear it over the wind noise as there isn’t any. If you’re looking to smooth out your ride, be able to cruise at highway speeds including needing to pass comfortably, ride longer, I highly recommend getting a Freedom Shield and enjoy the ride.
Review By: Lee – Fort Thomas, KY
