Laminar Lips

We used to say if you ride a Goldwing or some other motorcycle that requires you to look through the windshield then you don't need a LIP. If you ride a fairing-equipped bike and you look over the top of the windshield, then perhaps a LIP would make your riding more pleasant. We have found that even riders that look through the windshields and their passengers can have a more pleasant ride with a LIP.

The design of some fairings allows the wind to flow around one side then the other creating buffeting at the rider's helmet. LIPs are designed to trap the air from flowing around the sides of the windshield and redirect it to flow over the top, lessening or eliminating this buffeting.

The LIP is an inverted airfoil located above the top edge of the windshield, attached to the front of the shield. As air flows between the windshield and the LIP, it follows the underside airfoil of the LIP and is redirected more vertically. This air eddy then diffuses the oncoming air, in effect, to raise the blast of this oncoming airflow. The end result is that there seem to be three different air speed zones as you ride along at a set speed:

Because all fairings and windshields are different, the effectiveness of the LIP may vary model to model.

Another feature of the inverted airfoil is that it increases down pressure on the front wheel. As a motorcycle proceeds down the road, air pressure (effectively from the front-- although the air really is not moving, the bike is) tends to rotate the motorcycle around its roll center lifting the front wheel and loading the rear. The LIP opposes this action to some degree.

The LIP does all this without your having to add a larger windshield. In many cases it works better than the taller replacement accessory windshields, because although they may be taller, they do nothing to control airflow. Sport bike riders also can benefit from the LIP. When cruising along normally the wind pressure will be raised, and when flat on the tank behind the LIP turbulence will be much less.