Being the saga of ever improving wind protection...
I bought a 2002 ST1300 in January. For a ten year old bike it was in great condition and I loved the effective weather protection. It was one of the early fixed screen models though, and I knew it wouldn't be staying that way for long. I soon had an electric screen kit on order from David Silver Spares, and being able to fine tune the screen height was a great improvement. I still found though that I was getting a lot of wind noise through my Shoei Multitec (flip-face) helmet at all screen positions. Not good!
Next to go on was a VStream screen, purchased from an importer here in Australia. This screen works extremely well for me, the turbulence and wind noise are reduced to a point where road noise from the front tyre has become a major irritant! My pillion was less impressed with the VStream, she was getting a fair bit of turbulent air around her helmet and I could not find any screen position that solved it. I had an idea that the airflow coming past the mirrors was pretty turbulent, and curling up towards the helmet of the pillion. I didn't figure on spending any money until I had proved or disproved my theory, so I made some deflectors from a spare piece of perspex and velcro'd them to the underside of the mirrors and to the side of the fairing.
The upshot of my experiments: the deflectors are staying on! They may not be the prettiest, having been cut approximately to shape using a router, but in conjunction with the VStream I and my pillion now both sit in turbulence-free air, with just enough of a breeze to keep us comfortable on a ride in sunny Queensland. I cannot imagine that much improvement is possible for us over this setup, unless I go for larger deflectors some time in the future. Really though, that would be nit-picking and, for the first time in forty-plus years of riding, I am finally happy with the wind protection on my bike.
The only variable I am still experimenting with is the screen mounting brackets. The setup works well in either bracket position, but there are minor differences. The higher mounting keeps the screen at a flatter angle and there is absolutely no turbulence, but it does sit a little high for low-speed manoeuvring (I have ducks disease and come in at a lowly 172cm), tends to move around very slightly in the breeze, and being held slightly further from the bodywork lets a fair bit of low pressure breeze past the dashboard. Using the lower mounting point brings the screen to a slightly more upright angle and causes a small amount of turbulence until I raise the screen to just under eye level; I think the bike may also be a fraction less economical with this setup. I cannot decide which setup I prefer, so they must both work pretty well!
Anyone else tried a similar setup?
