Dan's RoofE Version 3.5 Page

Pictures of the BikeE with side panels.

I've always wanted to have a fully enclosed bike. And this is as close as I've come so far. I used coroplast again, with a few trial and error adjustments here and there. The bulk of the weight is hanging on the handle bars. I cut a hole where the handle bar would go, and "fit" it over the handle bar. It's just taped to the rest of the front Zzipper fairing. However, I needed a third piece in the front that holds the front sections away from my feet (using zip ties).

It looks a little strange near my feet because on my first outing I was on my way to work, and I kept hitting the bottom edges with my pedals. So I stopped and cut out where my feet needed to go. Then when I got back home, I attached that front piece using zip ties. The stiffness of coroplast holds it away from my feet. If I was to do it over again, I would use the pattern that is now on the bike, and cut it from one 4x8 sheet of coroplast (with the center of the sheet being the center of the front). I've attached the rear of the panels to each other using surgical tubing (loosely, and one side is tied with a half bow after I get in). The panels being suspended by the handle bars and duct taped and zip tied to the steering move with the steering of the bike. All this does is limit how sharp of a U-turn I can make.

The only trouble I've had is traveling with 35 mph gusting cross winds. They forced me to stop about four times during my one hour commute home. When I say stop, I mean coming to a complete stop and bracing against the wind for a few minutes until the gusts died down. Otherwise I would end up being pushed over by the wind. Other than that, I've had numerous positive results. I've ridden in freezing weather and stayed warm without a coat. No more annoying "up drafts" due to the extended windshield. The rain, even heavy rain never touches me. More details here.
(oh, that would be my newly acquired truck in the background.)

Front view of the laminar flow (woosh)

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