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Küryakyn Airmaster Rear Airfoil Review
I would like to begin this review by introducing my wife and myself. My co-rider and spouse is Stephanie and my name is Manny Carrillo.
On May 29, 2008, I took my 2007 Goldwing to Family Powersports in Lubbock at their request and had the Kuryakyn Airmaster Rear Airfoil item # 1384 installed on my Goldwing. The purpose for having the Airmaster Rear Airfoil installed, which I will refer to as Airfoil, was to evaluate the performance of the product and report my findings to Family Powersports in order for them to pass this information on to their consumer’s by way of their newsletter called the Ride Report.
The appearance of the Airfoil I must admit took me a little while to get used too. The appearance and the curvature of the Airfoil do complement the Goldwing in my opinion. We have not received any negative comments about its appearance to date. The Airfoil turned out to be quite a conversation starter. During the trip our riding companions and other motorcycle riders we encountered during our trip, questioned us if the Airfoil made a difference.
Kuryakyn’s item description claims that the Airfoil will reduce air buffeting, and annoying back draft by redirecting the airflow resulting in a still environment for both driver and passenger. My wife and I put this product to the test while participating on a road trip to Red River New Mexico on May 30-June 2, 2008 with the Hub City Wings, which consists of a fine group of people that love motorcycling as much as we do. The entire road trip group consisted of 10 Goldwings and 3 Goldwing trikes. The total miles traveled on this trip came to a little over 1200 miles. We encountered temperatures ranging from 38 to 104 degree’s Fahrenheit and winds that blew around 45 mph or more.
The Airfoil performed as described by Kuryakyn when the wind was blowing in at a frontal angle or directly into our direction of travel. My wife and I are comparing the results to a 3600 mile trip we took last summer into 5 different states of which Wyoming was one of them. If you have ever ridden in Wyoming, then more than likely you encountered their winds and you know what I am talking about.
My wife and I utilize a voice activated microphone system in our helmets. During windy days the wind would cause buffeting of her helmet and also blow up past her chin while riding into the wind, which ultimately would activate the mic. She typically would have to move the mic further up inside her modular helmet (by her eye) in order to reduce the wind from activating the mic. During this trip she noticed that she was able to leave her microphone in front of her mouth without the wind activating the mic and the wind buffeting of her helmet had also greatly been reduced/stopped. We both experienced a significant reduction in the amount of turbulence when passing a semi-truck and an increase in gas mileage by about 2.5 miles per gallon. We averaged 45 miles to the gallon during our trip with the bike fully loaded.
The Airfoil performed very well when the winds were coming at us from a frontal angle or directly into us, which is what it was designed to do, but it did not appear to help much when the wind was blowing in from the side. My wife did however state that the buffeting of her helmet and the amount of wind blowing up into her helmet was reduced in comparison to our last trip without the Airfoil. Another problem we encountered with the Airfoil was the foam insulation/weather strip that is placed between the Airfoil and the wall of the trunk. The strip is applied to the trunk with a two-sided tape. One side of the tape is applied to the strip at the factory and the other side you have to peel off the protective cover and apply it to the trunk during installation. The adhesive on the strip did not perform well during its exposure to the 100 plus degree heat. The adhesive stuck well to the wall of the trunk, but the adhesive tape slid off of the strip causing the strip to bunch up and pop out over the trunk behind the Airfoil.
When we returned home I called Kuryakyn customer support and described the problem I was having with the adhesive on the strip and they immediately sent me a replacement free of charge. I have installed the new strip and it appears to be holding so far.
It seems that Kuryakyn has again produced a product that is both innovative and functional. The Airfoil retails for $ 119.99 and is carried in stock at Family Powersports of Lubbock or can be ordered from any Family Powersports store.
We would like to thank Family Powersports of Lubbock for the opportunity to try the Airfoil and for their sponsorship, contributions and continued support of our group the Hub City Wings. Please stop by any of their 5 Family Powersports locations and visit with their friendly staff and support their fine establishments.
Sincerely,
Manuel & Stephanie Carrillo
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