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I give up...

flyrider

Morning Person
Replaced stock windscreen with Ztechnik VStream 16", hoping for wind noise relief. What I got was: Different wind noise (loud), reduced chest pressure (meaning more work for me to stay upright), and negative handling effects from larger windscreen surface area. Not the VStream's fault...just saying what I experienced. Love the look of the screen, but the stock screen went back on.

When I say "I give up"...I mean, there probably is no good wind noise solution for this bike other than ear plugs.

Anyone have a good solution that doesn't involve a large windscreen?
 
and regardless of which screen you decide on, ear plugs are a wise chioce. unless you don't care about your hearing, in which case.... whoosh on.
 
Anyone have a good solution that doesn't involve a large windscreen?

Over the years I've experimented with lots of after-market and OEM windscreens ... some larger, some smaller, some more upright, some more swoopy, the Laminar Lip, some just plain weird windscreens ... all in attempts to get a quieter, better ride. These searches were on a variety of different bikes. Bottom line for me: I always went back to the stock screen as being the best overall for me. I figure the manufacturers spend a fair amount of wind-tunnel time getting the "right" windscreen on their bikes, and as far as I'm concerned, they get it about right ... for me, at least. Your results will vary.
 
Replaced stock windscreen with Ztechnik VStream 16", hoping for wind noise relief. What I got was: Different wind noise (loud), reduced chest pressure (meaning more work for me to stay upright), and negative handling effects from larger windscreen surface area. Not the VStream's fault...just saying what I experienced. Love the look of the screen, but the stock screen went back on.

When I say "I give up"...I mean, there probably is no good wind noise solution for this bike other than ear plugs.

Anyone have a good solution that doesn't involve a large windscreen?

What type of helmet are you wearing? I just dumped my modular and went back to my old full face and the wind noise is cut in half. It has a noticeably thinner profile and fewer joints to create air leaks. :thumb

I thought a modular would be great but for me, not so much. The wind roar, even with custom molded shooting ear plugs, wears me out.

I'll be going back to a 3/4 open face with a bill type visor come warmer weather.

Screw these echo chambers posing as helmets. :banghead :brad

I'm just wondering if I will still be allowed to ride my Beemer if I don't wear a full face helmet? :scratch :blah
 
Hey Flyrider.
I have a ZTechnik on my 2007 F800st and I'm pretty happy with it. However I have the touring model Z2431 which is 19" tall and 17" wide, wear a HJC CL-16 helmet and I still wear ear plugs. It is much better than the stock windscreen I.M.O. but still have some, not much, wind buffeting on the top of my helmet but the noise is less. The bad news is that you may have to keep buying to see what works.....the good news is that there is always E-Bay to sell what doesn't work.
 
Over the years I've experimented with lots of after-market and OEM windscreens ... some larger, some smaller, some more upright, some more swoopy, the Laminar Lip, some just plain weird windscreens ... all in attempts to get a quieter, better ride. These searches were on a variety of different bikes. Bottom line for me: I always went back to the stock screen as being the best overall for me. I figure the manufacturers spend a fair amount of wind-tunnel time getting the "right" windscreen on their bikes, and as far as I'm concerned, they get it about right ... for me, at least. Your results will vary.

EXACTLY the conclusion I came to. Stock screen is tolerable and with my earplugs, the ride is fine.
 
What type of helmet are you wearing? I just dumped my modular and went back to my old full face and the wind noise is cut in half. It has a noticeably thinner profile and fewer joints to create air leaks. :thumb

I thought a modular would be great but for me, not so much. The wind roar, even with custom molded shooting ear plugs, wears me out.

I'll be going back to a 3/4 open face with a bill type visor come warmer weather.

Screw these echo chambers posing as helmets. :banghead :brad

I'm just wondering if I will still be allowed to ride my Beemer if I don't wear a full face helmet? :scratch :blah

Shoei Multiec. Noise isn't from the helmet construction...it comes in at the base of the helmet in the rear...vortex turbulence. If I shrug my shoulders I can block it, but that is a short term fix. However, with my earplugs installed, I rode 100 miles at 50-80 mph in the canyon/mountain route today, and it was fine. Did I hear wind? Yes. Was it intolerable? No. In fact, it was a hell of a great ride. Stock windscreen on bike. VStream back in the box. May sell it...or cut it down.
 
2 things cause wind noise: helmet fit, and exposure. For example, with helmets most fit too big. I have a long oval head at 23 inches. Both Arai's signet q and shoie's qwest size me for a large. But, with an oval head, I have 1/4 - 1/2 of space open on the sides. Wind gets in my ears from these gaps. A medium will fit my head snugger but causes pain in the temple after 5 minutes. I purchased a 22" wind screen from baileys and it works great lowering the wind exposure my 6'5" body gets on my RT. On calm days, I can ride comfortably without ear plugs for about 45 minutes at 65 mph. But, as high winds increase with weather or speeding wind exposure increases. In my opinion a custom fit full face helmet would reduce most the wind noise issues people report.
 
I have a Laminar Lip on my F650GS SE (come with stock F800GS mid height windscreen).

Works well, adjustable position, excellent craftsmanship, reasonable price. Have had it for 8,000 miles, all speeds on and off road.

Very stable in high cross winds and when passing semis too.

Windshield effeciveness is dependent on many factors and no two riders will have the same outcome. Body position, height, speed, helmet shape all affect the airstream so unfortunately it's very difficult to make good pre-purchase comparisons.
 
The solution for motoring down a highway without need for earplugs is ... a car.

Best even then that you keep the windows rolled up.
 
I have a Madstad with the wings and it's quieter than my RT. I've even rode with my flip up open at 80 and could still enjoy my music. The wings are what create a GIANT dead air spot. I highly recomend this combination. Requires some tweaking in the installation to get the angle just right but it did not take more than a hour to straighten out that situation. Best shield I've ever owned and I've been riding for over 45 years.
 
Do you go to the gun range without ear protection? No. In fact, most ranges won't even let you out there without ear protection.
Should you ride ANY motorcycle with ear protection? Yes.
There is too much noise out there and it ain't no good for your long term hearing. As you get older, you go deaf.
Now as to the noise on the 800. I always used ear protection and the stock screen.
I found it to be just fine.
However, when I wanted less wind, and more comfort, and all that, I sold the 800 and went to the RT.
A wise idea.
dc
 
GSA - calm air

I'm very fortunate that on my 1200GSA, there's a beautiful pocket of calm air behind the windscreen at any speed. I don't know if it's my height, etc., but it works perfectly. If I flip up my helmet visor, there is barely any wind in my eyes. Wind noise is minimal. This is with the stock Adventure windscreen.

However, I'm making plans to get an F800GS instead. My days of pleasant contentment in the air might be numbered.

I made my comment earlier because one of my riding pals is on an endless quest to cure his wind troubles. It seems he fails to understand that there will always be some wind while riding a motorcycle. :scratch I liked the car analogy because it would fit for this guy. ;)
 
I'm very fortunate that on my 1200GSA, there's a beautiful pocket of calm air behind the windscreen at any speed. I don't know if it's my height, etc., but it works perfectly. If I flip up my helmet visor, there is barely any wind in my eyes. Wind noise is minimal. This is with the stock Adventure windscreen.

However, I'm making plans to get an F800GS instead. My days of pleasant contentment in the air might be numbered.

I made my comment earlier because one of my riding pals is on an endless quest to cure his wind troubles. It seems he fails to understand that there will always be some wind while riding a motorcycle. :scratch I liked the car analogy because it would fit for this guy. ;)

Now is the time to take several measurements on your GS. For starters:

1. Seat where your butt sits vertical to top of windshield.
2. Horizontal distance from your face to the top of the windshield.
3. Width of the windshield.
4. Angle from vertical of the face of the windshield.
5. Radius of side-side curvature of the windshield.

Then when you get your F800 you have the baseline dimensions of an air pocket that is perfect for you. To fit a new shield to the 800 you try to find a shield that matches those dimensions.

One tricky part is the height of the shield because they describe their height as top-to-bottom irrespective of how high it mounts on the bike. Another is how forward or aft the mounting point actually is relative to where you sit. Take a look at the Parabellum shield and mounts for the F650 (single) Dakar and ask yourself why they mounted it that way, way forward.
 
When I was 20 I didn't care about wind noise or how loud my helmet was. Maybe that's the solution - maybe we all just need to go be 20 again :thumb
 
cheap way to get a taller screen

Some years ago I had a cut-down "tall" Aeroscreen on my K75. No buffeting, but wondered if a bit taller screen would keep those bugs off my face shield. Decided to duct tape a piece of cardboard to the top of the screen, two inches taller but same shape.

Turns out it worked perfectly, and I didn't like it. Well, the taller screen might have been great in cold weather, but in the summer I decided that dead air around my head was just too hot.

If you think a taller screen might be the ticket to happiness, duct tape and fairly stiff cardboard is a very cheap way to experiment to find the perfect height.
 
If you think a taller screen might be the ticket to happiness, duct tape and fairly stiff cardboard is a very cheap way to experiment to find the perfect height.

I like the way you think ..............
The neighbors all think I'm a nut-job as it is so no problems there with me riding around with a hunk of a "Florida Oranges" box on the front of my bike ... :thumb
 
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