Benefit of a screen

Recently there was some discussion in the pictures thread about a screen sported by Fross's Interstate – it was established that it was a Givi A210. I just wanted to expand on that a bit, but thought it'd be a bit off-topic to do so there, hence the new thread.

I got myself one of those screens a few weeks ago, fitting it was essentially as described by Fross. The clocks had to be swivelled towards each other a little, but not too much. A small handful of things I'd add, though. I found that the slots in the screen's brackets had to be opened up by about 1mm to fit over the indicator stems, which are stainless replacements. Therefore I can't swear that the slots wouldn't fit over original indicator stems without needing attention, especially since I don't have any of those to hand. Also I was worried about the screen brackets possibly abrading or locally distorting the headlamp brackets, so I fitted rubber washers between them, and glued a bit of inner tube to the little attachments via which the screen is also made to 'rest' on the top of the headlamp brackets. I feared that they might get little dents hammered into them.

Thanks to the idiotic parking restrictions imposed late last year by the brain-dead local authority, it has taken until today to try the thing on the road. The ride is transformed at speed, as I hoped, in that it's not only more comfortable but also there's less 'hanging on' against the wind and more control – this with standard footrests and European bars. So far so good, thanks again Fross for the inspiration!

Would you say , you have removed most of wind pressure off your chest ? .... and still have smooth flow of air for your head and shoulders, thanks

Good move adding rubber cushions. I use split rubber hose to cushion headlight contact. I had two screens, a normal size one and a very large one, liked the huge one best for extending ride conditions, just more drag delay before passing speed ups. Note a good wind screen conceals wind blast sense of speed to be aware of entering sharper turns. A tall enough screen can allow looking over it a few inches, not through it, with blast going a few inches above eyes open hitting helmet top w/o buffeting. Some say their fork mounted screen upset fork action but my 2 only dampened the forks from wind blast like semis turbulence.

Craig said:

Would you say , you have removed most of wind pressure off your chest ? .... and still have smooth flow of air for your head and shoulders, thanks

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Wind pressure is completely gone from my chest, I would say – the feeling was so great on fast roads that I went around my usual 'quick blast' circuit of about 22 miles again! Instead of having to hang on tight to the handlebar grips I was able to relax and concentrate on controlling the bike, so the ride was more comfortable both physically and psychologically – particularly since the screen is small enough that you still feel the wind as you say, on head and shoulders, although I felt a bit of buffeting on my helmet much above 80mph. BTW the literature that came with the screen says it's only suitable for 80mph max! But it didn't seem to mind 85–90, beyond which I didn't go – nor did the handling seem to be affected at that speed. HTH

Thanks .... that Givi A210 screen is somewhat larger ( higher ) than one I have mounted on the Griso , it too delivers break from wind on chest with no helmet buffeting and allows for unlimited ride time .... wonder if there is something similar only smaller that fits our Commandos .... guess I just don't do enough online shopping , which is only way I would see new/similar products , no local places to look ....

Craig said:

[snip] .... wonder if there is something similar only smaller that fits our Commandos .... guess I just don't do enough online shopping , which is only way I would see new/similar products , no local places to look ....

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No problem – what I found difficult in choosing a screen was the abundance of choice on the internet, with minimal information on fit. It was just my lucky day when Fross posted his first picture! BTW, of course appearance is a personal thing, and I was a little worried about the visual impact of adding a screen to my bike, but when a couple of neighbours who also have bikes saw it the first thing I heard was 'Ooh, smart!' – I'll go with that!

Oh yeah , the screen looks great , that what caught my interest !

A couple of other things just occurred to me to be worth mentioning – all the hardware that comes with the screen is stainless, which I think is a huge bonus (did I ever mention that I live near the sea?!); and the securing screw for the headlamp rim remains easily accessible, so you don't have to disturb the screen if you need to get inside there.

I mounted a late model dunstall fairing which attaches to the bike's frame because I'm 6'2" and the wind buffeted my chest at hiway speeds when the bike was without a fairing. I get no wind pressure on my chest now at speed. If I go really fast I can easily duck down out of the wind behind the screen. When I sit normally, only my head is in the wind. It makes hiway riding much more pleasant.

Another test is how well can see past/through in nasty wet conditions from gritty traffic road spray to fogging and where the water streams off. Be cautious diddling mounts on/off with the clock glass faces so easy close to strike. Could look around for top mount on air deflector to have nil air buffet eyes or helmet. Also screens in summer get too hot fast so might consider the air craft wind screen vents that open/close. I put wing nuts on direct screen fasteners to make tooless on/off when the mood strikes, sometimes away from home about to dice it up with others.

Also inspired by member Fross, encouraged by NortonMKIIA850, then dissuaded by cliffa, I mounted a new Givi A210 and found much more noise in the helmet.
Used the bracket holes as reference points to put some "straight" lines on it with painters tape:

Cut off 2'', test run, then cut off another inch, for this result, which will get a good workout in a couple of days:

Mr. Rick,
You have made a lovely job of that, and I genuinely hope you get good results. Can I suggest that before making any further changes to the height I would also experiment with removing the chrome headlamp eyelid ( I can't remember the proper name for them), as that may be having a negative (or positive) impact on the airflow over the screen.

Cheers,

cliffa.

Thanks again, cliffa.
Your suggestion is noted, and it may come to that. but I like the look (obviously) and that thing (eyebrow?) is a bear to mount and remove.
So we'll see how it goes for a while. I don't foresee any further height reductions; there's not much left !

Have been looking for a screen for a while and there was not much info about mounting to a Norton. I just saw this thread and went right online and purchased one. It should be here in a couple of days. I do not do a lot of long rides on this bike, mainly because it is fatiguing with the chest pounding. It will be nice to be able to take a longer ride. Thanks for the heads up.

I took the bike out for a thrash yesterday, and despite having trimmed 3+ inches off the top, it's still pounding my helmet.
It is, however, making the bike itself a little more "stable", for some reason, and I'm gonna go another 1.5" down, when I get back from the coast.
What's the expression? Measure once, cut three times?

If I were at the beginning, I might try that special trim which purports to raise the air current and inch or so...

I had to smile about the screen. I made my own fork yolk mounted fairing c/w flip up top screen over 15 years ago, I am able to ride all day with the bottom of visor just above my eyes and get just about no wind even at 80mph-it looks pretty rough now so I will have to make another one soon.

Bernhard said:

I had to smile about the screen. I made my own fork yolk mounted fairing c/w flip up top screen over 15 years ago, I am able to ride all day with the bottom of visor just above my eyes and get just about no wind even at 80mph-it looks pretty rough now so I will have to make another one soon.

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I have had many different screens on my commando
The very best was one I made from the top screen of a full race fairing it ended up in an almost upright position
I have tried two others that were higher they look like they would work but don't,too noisy too much buffeting
I had a bikini fairing fitted but I split that in two when I went through it
So at present no screen fitted however on my trident (see above photos) I have a universal puig fly screen that works quite well,fits well to the headlight etc so I may get one of these for my commando

Perhaps the best screen/ fairing design in the late 1970s was the one fitted to the BMW R100RS boxer- which was designed in a wind tunnel in Italy by of all people, the guy who designed bodywork for Ferrari , Iso Grifo and Maserati cars,- Pininfarina which is where I attempted to make a copy of to fit my bike, I claim it was successful after the 3rd attempt!

http://www.properbikes.co.uk/pages/bmw-r100rs-1978

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Pininfarina.+design++fairing+for+BMW+R100RS&FORM=HDRSC2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pininfarina

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Pininfarina.+design+cars+&FORM=HDRSC2

Bernhard said:

Perhaps the best screen/ fairing design in the late 1970s was the one fitted to the BMW R100RS boxer- which was designed in a wind tunnel in Italy by of all people, the guy who designed bodywork for Ferrari , Iso Grifo and Maserati cars,- Pininfarina which is where I attempted to make a copy of to fit my bike, I claim it was successful after the 3rd attempt!

http://www.properbikes.co.uk/pages/bmw-r100rs-1978

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Pininfarina.+design++fairing+for+BMW+R100RS&FORM=HDRSC2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pininfarina

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Pininfarina.+design+cars+&FORM=HDRSC2

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Didn't the advert for these say "keeps you dry at 25mph" or similar?
There's one little drawback with these fairings they are butt ugly in my opinion
And I speak as a r100 rs owner
Cheers

I only make a small but enlarged ( OK its BIG!) handle bar mounted fairing- as for butt ugly ....it is practical to the extent I can ride with my visor up all day, can you on yours?