Become a Member: Get Ad-Free Access to 3,000+ Reviews, Guides, & More

Curse of motorcycle beard lift

beard
A beard "ponytail"

There is nothing more comical and embarrassing for a big tough biker than “beard lift”.

You’re trying to look super-cool on your big cruiser, but as soon as you accelerate beyond suburban dawdle, your beard lifts straight out in front of you. It’s hilarious if you’re a passerby, but it’s embarrassing for the rider.

It’s caused by turbulence behind the windscreen. As you go faster, the windscreen pushes the air away causing a negative air pressure zone behind the windscreen and right in front of the rider. Air rushes in to fill that vacuum and it lifts your beard.

Find out how to grow a beard fast!

beardIt not only makes you look comical, but also causes buffeting which is noisy and jostles your head around. It’s no joke, either. Over long distances, it can cause neck pain from the constant jostling as well as fatigue from the noise. And with beards now very trendy, it is a serious issue.

Riders with long beards have come up with several strategies for beard lift. Some plait their beard, some use a series of elastic ties, some tuck it into their jacket.

Motorcycle companies have also spent a lot of time researching aerodynamic windscreens to reduce beard lift and buffeting. The turbulence from large windscreens on big touring bikes is the most difficult to resolve, but the best solution seems to be to allow some air to flow up behind the windscreen to negate the back pressure effect.

The Honda Goldwing was the first to use this method with a vent the rider can open. Harley-Davidson also added an adjustable vent on its Rushmore Project Touring bikes.

I don’t have a beard, but a neck scarf replicates the effect.

Normally I have to tuck it into my jacket like a hirsute rider does with his beard.

So you could try tucking in your beard, wearing a face mask or putting your beard in a soft of reverse ponytail or plait!