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I took my previous Shark RSR helmet out for a spin yesterday to revisit an item designed to cut wind noise on helmets I had purchased some years ago.
Called the Windjammer II from Proline Sports UK I first purchased this to use on a KBC helmet I previously owned that was particularly noisy. On that helmet riding the Buell XB Lightning I found little change so discarded the Windjammer until unearthing it recently.
The idea is the Windjammer affixes to the lower rim of a helmet and is held in place by a combination of elastic and sticky material where it grips the helmet, inside the helmet there is a neoprene skirt that cuts the wind roar. I can vouch the sticky elastic grips well and can be moved from helmet to helmet and has not lost its effectiveness despite being a few years old. I can also say the Windjammer when riding my Buell Firebolt works well.
To experience the idea behind the Windjammer next time you are riding place your left hand palm down below your helmet under your left ear and note the effect on reducing the wind noise.
So why did not not work before? I think the effectiveness is limited by the way the air flow is around the rider related to each model motorcycle. On the Lightning the air blast was crazy, the small screen in front of the instruments seemed to actually focus the wind on the rider’s neck and head. By comparison my Speed Triple and MV Agusta Brutale both had defused wind around the rider’s head thanks to well designed instrument pods/screens. The Firebolt with it’s bikini screen is similar having a defused wind flow at the riders head but at highway speed there is still enough wind to create a that familiar wind roar noise. The Windjammer did reduce this in testing yesterday.
I found it slightly annoying putting the helmet on and off but you would get used to that and find a way to make that easier. However if your not wearing earplugs your damaging your hearing when riding and the noise reduction from this is not comparable. If your using ear plugs then this is probably not needed so where does it fit. Well if you refuse to wear ear plugs then this is worth a try. If you listen to your iPod or use comms devices while riding then this may be of assistance too. I think some helmets are offering this sort of skirt on helmets so it may come to be a regular feature in future but again the effectiveness will vary bike to bike.
