nicksta43

I've been reading and it seems Madstad and several other places recommend a 60° layback angle for windscreens. So last night I thought I'd try to reach that. The most I was able to get without really tweaking on the Givi mount was 50°. But man what a difference in the ride into work this morning. Absolutely zero buffeting whatsoever, of course that's in the soft morning air. The ride home will be more telling but I'm certainly calling this a major win. The wind noise is smooth, no low rumble just the soft sound if smooth rushing air. It seems to hit my helmet just at the top of the visor or about where my eyebrows are. I'm super happy with how it performed this morning.

There a big difference between spending a couple bucks and a weekend tinkering with junk I have laying around versus spending Madstad money. I like to tinker.

I know most people consider the stock shield a lost cause but I decided to see if I could make it work for me. In stock form it's really bad for me in regards to buffeting and noise. It just takes all the joy away from riding the bike. For the winter I've got the big Givi Touring shield. It does a great job of blocking everything when the temps drop with just a little bit of buffeting that is not a deal breaker. For the summer I have been running my little home made screen. I like a naked bike but living where I do, with most roads outside of city limits being a 75mph limit even back roads, I've grown weary of the wind blast beating me up and getting my head whipped around all over when I do a lane check at higher speeds. However with the temps already hovering just under the 100 degree mark I need to have some airflow to my body so the Givi is a no go. What I want is just enough airflow to keep cool but very little buffeting and noise and to be able to turn my head without it being ripped off. I thought I would try to mount the stock screen to the Givi mount. I wanted to test the screen in several different positions on the mount prior to committing to drilling four giant holes in it for the Givi grommets. Luckily I had previously drilled holes to lower the screen on the stock mount so with all those little holes in it I was able to securely zip tie it to the Givi mount for testing. Testing was done on a 75mph section of road run in both directions for about 3 miles with the temp around 98. For the first test I mounted it as low as possible without covering the headlights while adjusted to the lowest setting. That put the widest part of the screen in a position to block too much wind from my body. The buffeting was much worse than stock and it was very noisy. Raising it to the top adjustment didn't effect the buffeting and noise but did allow slightly more airflow to my body. Next I raised the screen as high as possible without exposing any mounting hardware from underneath. This allowed plenty of airflow to my body. The buffeting was nearly the same but the noise was much worse. It sounded like a Clydesdale was galloping on my helmet. But I also was having no issues turning my head for a lane check and I decided to mount it to the bracket as high as possible and worry about the buffeting and noise later. While I was drilling the holes I decided to round the top corners of the screen off. I figured a rounded corner would be less likely to produce turbulent air than a sharp corner. Unfortunately this made no perceptible difference in noise or buffeting. I didn't take away any height only rounded the corners. I'll just have to get used to the new look. It's a bit different. I ran down to the hardware store and bought some longer bolts and 1" Nylon spacers hoping that playing with the angle would help the noise and buffeting. First I put the long spacers at the top and the 1/2' Givi spacers at the bottom to stand the screen more upright. This was the worst buffeting I've ever experienced. My vision was blurred it was so bad and it sounded like someone had an air chisel against the helmet. Next I reversed the above to lay the screen more backwards. Now we are getting somewhere. Considerably smoother air and the noise level is much reduced. It's still a little louder than with my shorty screen but it's a different sound. No air rushing sound but a deep bass thumping sound. Better than with the stock mount for sure. I can easily turn my head without any change in pressure. Definitely on the right track. I think I can play with the angle a little more to get it where I want it but it's livable for the time being. Or maybe one of those little clip on deflectors may help. I measured the angle and it's at 45 degrees at the top. It's a different look for sure. I like the looks of the stock setup but I bought it to ride not to look at so I'll get used to it. BTW, I'm 6' tall with a 34" inseam. I have switched the seat from the tall setting to the low setting and it is a little better noise wise but my legs are a little cramped. I may raise it back up.

Where did you get those?

I like that a lot.

Nick, I'd have to check the garage, but I believe I've got both the front and back covers. You're welcome to them. If you do that would be excellent. Should be enough there to cover everything. I haven't been able to find anything close to the factory material yet.

Just curious as I've not turned anything up but does anyone know if a source to buy the factory seat cover material?

I tried to find a used one but came up empty. I'm not paying new prices for one, but that was the original plan. If I can find one for a decent price I'll buy it and build the fiberglass box off of that. As for cheaper, I doubt it. I've got about $30 in this so far and that's for just the box. Everything else is scrap and leftovers I had from other projects. I don't count the time as fabricobbling is what I like to do. I'd I wasn't working on this I would have just been watching YouTube.

I still may build one that way eventually. Especially if I can't get this one too look decent.

No it does not. I'm hoping it will look a lot more integrated when I'm done but it's still not going to be sleek. To me though an integrated storage compartment will look much better than a bag strapped on, not to mention be much more secure. I've never liked the look of a tail bag nor a big rack hanging of the back with a big ol ugly top box. I don't mind the look of the side cases but they are excessive for the storage I need for my daily commute. To be honest though I don't find the styling of the FJ-09 particularly attractive to begin with.

My wife will not ride with me. And she refuses to let my son ride with me as well. So the pillion seat is useless to me. I've often thought it would be a perfect spot for some on board storage. I seriously contemplated making a custom box out of fiberglass and almost went that route. However, I noticed Harbor Freight is now selling cheap Pelican case knockoffs and there medium sized box fits perfectly in that area. Just enough room for my daily commuting essentials in the summer (Lunch, sunglasses and such). The added benefit is that I don't have to design hinges and latches as that's already taken care of. The downside is that I'll have to figure out a way to make it not ugly. I wanted to make it lockable so I set about re-keying the extra lock from my hard bags to fit the bike's key. Then I set about mounting it to the box. I had to fabricate a new latch arm and latch plate. I also had to modify the lock cylinder to allow it to mount with a spring clip. After those were painted and the latch plate riveted to the lid I set about mounting the box to the bike. My goal was to not modify the bike at all. It has to mount exactly as the factory rear seat does. First order of business was to locate some rubber bumpers on the bottom of the box as that would allow me to locate the box correctly on the frame and allow me to properly eyeball the correct angle for the rear mounts. I bought some rubber plugs that are meant to go on the bottom of chairs an used those. On the rear they fit perfectly and I just bolted them to the bottom of the box. On the front I had to make some spacers which I made out of some scrap 1/2" PCV pipe I had laying around. The rear mounts are simple. I took a couple pieces of 1/8" x 3/4" flat steel and bent them to the correct angle. I made sure they just touched the factory contact points with all four rubber feet touching the subframe. I painted then riveted them to the box. I covered them in some thick heat shrink tubing I had left over from another project to protect the factory contact points. The front mount took some time to work out. I settled on a design and set about fabricating and some more eyeballing. After some test fitting and an extreme amount of luck it fit perfectly. Just enough tension to keep it securely in place but not enough to put any stress on the factory latch. It goes on and off just as easily as the factory rear seat and it locates perfectly every time. This is a major victory and exactly how I wanted it to work. Here are a couple pics of it on the bike. And that's where I'm at currently. Now comes the hard part, figuring out how to make it not look like hot garbage. I've got some ideas, we'll see if they pan out. If not I'm not out much money and the stock seat just goes right back on.

If it were clear and dry, I’d be out on the bike right now. But it’s grey and wet today, unfortunately... I ride for fun, and Friday’s forecast looks ‘more funner’ I got suited up and rode down to Salado yesterday to test rode an electric bicycle. It was around 38° according to my phone. With the heated grips and giant ass windscreen I was perfectly comfortable at 90mph. My legs weren't even cold and I only had jeans on under my mesh over pants. Really, I could have rode all day I was that comfortable. I froze my ass off in that bicycle though. Ten minutes at 23mph and I was done.

(A) He is. (B) - I wish I understood a word of this...... :-S Yeah, that makes sense.

You should be in politics ?

If you need me I'll be over in the no beak nation. You'll recognize me by how good the front of my bike looks ?

Flushed the brake fluid and changed the coolant. Also took the time to clean it for the first time in a couple months.

Reworked the locks on the bags to work with the bike key. Not as bad of a job as I was expecting. I did lose one spring and had to steal one out of the extra cylinder. I'll have to try and remember that if I ever need it for anything.

Love that red paintwork! Is that a standard colour, or an after-market repaint job? Woddever, it's nice! I'm really digging that stripped down look with just the tank and tail bag. I think next summer I'm going to do the same. I need to have lots of room during the winter for changing temps throughout the day and the factory cases are wonderful for that but come summer time I'm going to minimize. Thanks for the inspiration. Which rack do you have?

Just a bit...

Winter mode fully engaged.

Finished installing the Oxford grips then test rode it for a while seeing what it's like with the new Givi touring screen at each different height at 75mph. Some very loud buffeting in all heights but it's much quieter with my helmet visor open in all positions. With it closed it sounds like my head is inside a bass drum. I like the sight lines much better with it in the low position but it buffets nearly twice as badly than in the highest position. If I slouch slightly with it in the highest position I'm completely in clean, quite air but I have to look through the screen which I don't like. I think some fettling will get it sorted. It is much better than stock as far as blocking wind and the loudness of the buffeting.

Installed my new Givi barn door. I think it looks good but I don't really care about how it looks. What I care about is how well it will block the cold morning air. I'll find out how well it works on the way into work tomorrow.

Put the handlebars back in the correct orientation as the tech that did the recall had them rolled about five degrees too far towards me. That sumbitch tightened the crap out of the Allen bolts. I thought for sure my Allen wrench was going to snap trying to get it loose.

Installed my battery tender pigtail, installed a RAM mount, went on a four hour ride and cleaned and lubed the chain.