The best aerodynamic windshield for highway use?

I just ordered the large V-Stream (Z2403) from A&S. I'm apprehensive about the huge size, particularly the insane 8 extra inches of width, but I didn't want to buy protection on my shoulders and sacrifice protection on the top of my head -- the Wunderlich Vario takes my stock screen up to about 28" in the middle, and that seems perfect.

A&S kindly agreed to a return if it's unblemished, so I'll wrap it in clingfilm when I take it for a test ride. Fingers crossed.

I was at my local dealer the other day, and I noticed that the 2014 RT WC has a wider screen at the base (where I think it counts), and more overlap with the winglets above the mirrors. BMW isn't standing still, it seems.

Anyone know if the 2014 shield fits the Camhead?

Is this really a stealth "best oil" thread?

Nothing stealthy about it!

another 2 cents

this topic has always fascinated me. When I first started riding I thought I'd be able to get a screen that just made it all comfy cozy all the time, and that it would not only look cool, but add panache, horsepower, and improved gas mileage.

As others in this thread have indicated, it's variable. With the prevailing wind at your back,one of those old-fashioned, bar-mounted plexi-screens can give you a lovely pocket of still, DRY air, and allow you to watch it rain outside your bubble. The full fairing with a big screen that keeps all the air away can be miserable when you're stuck in traffic in the heat and humidity of a midwest summer. Test fly an airhead RS on the Kennedy in August rush hour traffic.

But here's one thing I've learned that I've found to be helpful; those screens with a cut-out at the bottom, like the Aeroflow and some of the Parabellums and others allow the back pressure to be a little better balanced. That seems to do a fair bit to lessen the effects of buffeting; the noise etc, as well as help to push the air flow from the front of the screen a little higher. You can aid this by finding a way to attach another smaller piece underneath/behind the cut-out. It's sort of the upside-down version of those wings that get attached to the front top of some screens like Paul g mentioned above. The first one I tried like this simply used the piece that had been cut from the original ( Charley Perethian was kind enough to send it along), tucked in behind the screen about a quarter or half an inch behind. This creates a venturi that speeds up and directs the air flowing up the back side of the screen and allows the screen to move the air even higher while set at a lower angle. I've used old face shields as well and found them to be equally helpful, and just about the right size and flexibility. I've tried attaching with that 3-M velcro-like stuff; dual-lock, I believe. And that separates the two pieces just about far enough.

Look at what Aeroflow does to the big K-bike screen as an example. maybe the K12 tourer? I forget, but I think he stole the idea from me.

I'm still searching for the right mounting jerry-rig for the Aeroflow on my R1100RT. let me know if you figure it out.

26667 said:

But here's one thing I've learned that I've found to be helpful; those screens with a cut-out at the bottom, like the Aeroflow and some of the Parabellums and others allow the back pressure to be a little better balanced. That seems to do a fair bit to lessen the effects of buffeting; the noise etc, as well as help to push the air flow from the front of the screen a little higher. You can aid this by finding a way to attach another smaller piece underneath/behind the cut-out. It's sort of the upside-down version of those wings that get attached to the front top of some screens like Paul g mentioned above. The first one I tried like this simply used the piece that had been cut from the original ( Charley Perethian was kind enough to send it along), tucked in behind the screen about a quarter or half an inch behind. This creates a venturi that speeds up and directs the air flowing up the back side of the screen and allows the screen to move the air even higher while set at a lower angle. I've used old face shields as well and found them to be equally helpful, and just about the right size and flexibility. I've tried attaching with that 3-M velcro-like stuff; dual-lock, I believe. And that separates the two pieces just about far enough.

Click to expand...

A picture or sketch would be most helpful

yes, but...

I'm about 2k mi. away from my bike and it's a pita to try and post pix on this forum anyway...BUT

check out: http://www.aeroflowscreens.com/R1100RT_R1150RT/R1100RTR1150RTProducts.htm

and notice the black bit underneath the cut-out of the screen. (perhaps a'flow has added this to the 1150 RT screen) that's about the position and size of what I was describing above. On the 1100 RT, as in Mr Conway's original pic, there are two "grooves" or "slots" built into the painty part of the fairing that extends under the windscreen and back toward the guages and sort of covers them . In the Aeroflow pic, notice the black piece that covers part of that painty section of the fairing. If you could mount a "wing" inside there, just behind the windscreen, overlapping (or in this case underlapping) the cut-out of the screen itself, you can help push the back flow a little faster ( see: venturi effect) and therefore help the air passing over the front side of the screen to go a little higher. Theat allows you to leave the screen, assuming it's adjustable, in a slightly lower, more aerodynamic position. So you you don't get that "barn door" effect and all the buffeting that's caused by having the screen adjusted to its full upright position.

I hope that's clearer. (smiley face goes here)

My findings on the large VStream: in short, I'm keeping it.
I've only tried it for 16 miles, at speeds up to 75, with a headwind. Much less flapping on my sleeves, no drumming on the sides of my head. I don't think there was much improvement over the small, but certainly no worse, so it's staying on.

There's a constant stream of soft air on my face, running up the inside of the shield. (At this time of year that includes lots of tree cotton!)

It's not quite tall enough that my whole head is out of the airstream, or even remotely immune to choppy air, but it was the best so far. We'll see how it goes when I take it on a long open highway stretch.

I'll also need to poll the pillion, see what she says.