Anyone ride without windshield?

[Dennis in NH]

It was pretty hot here in NH this weekend (about 52F ) and I figured I'd give this a try. It was really fun. There's something about riding and not seeing a windshield in front of you (even below eye level). For some reason, I don't feel like I'm leaning all that far without the windshield. Apparently, the lines of the windshield give me some sort of reference point that the bike is tilted. I also feel the bike has less resistance when accelerating (maybe just all in my head).

I didn't ride at highway speed but under say 50mph but it was fun. I remember the wind pushing me back and was glad to be wearing my full face helmet.

So any reason not to ride without a windshield? i.e., any weird consequences besides the usual bugs, fatigue, etc.

This time of year, there are few bugs and after a while, you learn to get used to the wind pushing you back -- not to mention, I really like standing on the pegs while cruising around (to see over walls and stuff ).

The only thing I did (due to lack of better solution and temporary nature of the experiment) was to remove the windshield and reinstall the W shaped plate and added some masking tape to keep things from vibrating and rattling.

Anyway, the reason I went without windshield was my Two Brothers pipes seemed very bassy loud. I theorized that the bass was just bouncing off my big Vstream windshield and hitting me in the head causing some interior helmet buzz. I got aftermarket pipes on an FZ6 (small windshield with Scorpions) one time and it sounded good. I got an aftermarket pipe for my Vstar 1300 (with big windshield) and I got the same bass loudness. I figured that if there's no windshield to bounce the bass, it will seem better. And it was. The other problem was I needed new earplugs.

Anyway, I found riding without windshield really fun and really considering a really short windshield at some point for the Summer days.

Dennis

 

[HotRodZilla]

Lots of people make shortys out of their OEM shield. Haven't heard of anyone just taking it off, but after some get-offs, plenty of guys have ridden home without it. Probably not much different than just cutting it down.

 

[raitchison]

I want to pick up an OEM and make a shorty out of it for summer riding.

 

[Intech]

Apparently, the lines of the windshield give me some sort of reference point that the bike is tilted.

One of the main reasons I didn't like the Yamaha touring windshield. It seemed like it was right in the way of my cornering line of sight. Vstream doesn't give me that.

 

[wfooshee]

My 2003 OEM shield, being 2 inches shorter than following years, is a cut-down OEM without the cutting.

I win again!

 

[Blind Squirrel]

I want to pick up an OEM and make a shorty out of it for summer riding.

I have an OEM made into a shorty that I am still trying to sell. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=144019

*EDIT* Sorry! I see that you have a Gen II. Mine is a Gen I.

 

[RadioHowie]

I have an OEM made into a shorty that I am still trying to sell. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=144019

Well Hell, Squirrel....if you weren't asking so damn much for it, you'd might sell it!!!

 

[Dennis in NH]

Hopefully, one day I can find a shorty for Gen II for the Summer. So that crappy OEM shield does have its place -- as a short shield that gets you a lot of air. It's even more valuable if you cut it down apparently.

I may give that shieldless thing another try. I'm trying to figure what I can mount there in place of the shield just to keep the W bracket from rattling. I might have some spare plexiglass somewhere and maybe will cut it just to fit some thing there.

Dennis

 

[Fred W]

Dennis,

PM forum member BkrK12 (Dan) from Hooksett, NH. He's been running a very cut-down version of the stock shield on his '06 for a couple of years now, and he really likes it. He back-painted his black or maybe just a really dark tint, and it actually looks pretty good. I think running around with the windshield brackets flopping around probably wouldn't look quite as good.

I've been running the stock shield in the hot summer months, but with a rifle tuning block on it. Sorry that's a 1st gen only gizmo, but you might be able to do something similar on a second gen. The beauty of that is that the shield is tilted way, way down when fully lowered, but if it starts raining you can still raise it up high enough to get some weather protection.

 

[BkrK12]

Dennis,

My cut down OEM shield extends just about an inch above the tips of the W. It results in my helmet being in clean air and very quiet. At highway speed, you can raise the shield about an inch and it takes all the pressure off your chest.

Since it's not currently on my bike, you are welcome to try it out for a couple of hours. We can have it on your bike in about 10 minutes. Let me know.

Dan

 

[Dennis in NH]

Dennis,

My cut down OEM shield extends just about an inch above the tips of the W. It results in my helmet being in clean air and very quiet. At highway speed, you can raise the shield about an inch and it takes all the pressure off your chest.

Since it's not currently on my bike, you are welcome to try it out for a couple of hours. We can have it on your bike in about 10 minutes. Let me know.

Dan

Thanks for the info Fred -- I'm tempted to remove my Laminar Lip (off my OEM shield) just to give me less obstructed view up front. When it's all the way down, it's pretty good but still there. Without the Lip, it will be even less there.

Hey Dan, actually, I remember you last Summer -- I remember you showing us your small shield and I thought how peculiar it looked. Ever since I rode around this weekend without my shield, I searched around this forum and saw pictures of other bikes with a similar setup and the short shield has really grown on me. Perhaps when a nice weekend shows up, I can meet you somewhere and take you up on your offer -- thank you! Can't remember where you live except it's in NH. Yup, windshield swap is pretty easy on these bikes. For really hot days and in town riding, I think it's the way to go.

Dennis

 

[HotRodZilla]

Hopefully, one day I can find a shorty for Gen II for the Summer. So that crappy OEM shield does have its place -- as a short shield that gets you a lot of air. It's even more valuable if you cut it down apparently.

I may give that shieldless thing another try. I'm trying to figure what I can mount there in place of the shield just to keep the W bracket from rattling. I might have some spare plexiglass somewhere and maybe will cut it just to fit some thing there.

Dennis

I'll tell you what...I have an OEM shield off an '07 that was totaled in a crash. The shield has some scratches on it from the crash, but those won't be there anymore if you cut it down. It was sent to me for the cost of shipping so that I could cut it down and make a shorty shield.

Truth be told, I'm not really interested in a shorty shield. I like my EOM shield, and when it is in it's lowest position, I get plenty of wind. I'm also not interested in changing out shields every time I go on a long ride or the weather changes. For me, and the area I ride, that is way too much of a pain in the ***.

So...All that to tell you that I have a shield you can have for shipping costs. PM me your address, and I'll box it up and send it to you. You PayPal me or send me a check back in return. I'll have to buy a box and ship it, but Hell, if it's only a few bucks, you may not even need to do that second part. It'll almost be worth it to get one more thing out of my garage.

Lemme know.

 

[Bounce]

I ride without windshields... on bikes that didn't come with one. Since dumping my cruise habit, not so much. It's worse fighting the wind and having my jacket act like a sail than it is to deal with frigid temps below 60.

 

[someguy]

Hopefully, one day I can find a shorty for Gen II for the Summer. So that crappy OEM shield does have its place -- as a short shield that gets you a lot of air. It's even more valuable if you cut it down apparently.

I may give that shieldless thing another try. I'm trying to figure what I can mount there in place of the shield just to keep the W bracket from rattling. I might have some spare plexiglass somewhere and maybe will cut it just to fit some thing there.

Dennis

california scientific makes a very sweet shorty and it's a bargain...

 

[Dennis in NH]

Hopefully, one day I can find a shorty for Gen II for the Summer. So that crappy OEM shield does have its place -- as a short shield that gets you a lot of air. It's even more valuable if you cut it down apparently.

I may give that shieldless thing another try. I'm trying to figure what I can mount there in place of the shield just to keep the W bracket from rattling. I might have some spare plexiglass somewhere and maybe will cut it just to fit some thing there.

Dennis

I'll tell you what...I have an OEM shield off an '07 that was totaled in a crash. The shield has some scratches on it from the crash, but those won't be there anymore if you cut it down. It was sent to me for the cost of shipping so that I could cut it down and make a shorty shield.

Truth be told, I'm not really interested in a shorty shield. I like my EOM shield, and when it is in it's lowest position, I get plenty of wind. I'm also not interested in changing out shields every time I go on a long ride or the weather changes. For me, and the area I ride, that is way too much of a pain in the ***.

So...All that to tell you that I have a shield you can have for shipping costs. PM me your address, and I'll box it up and send it to you. You PayPal me or send me a check back in return. I'll have to buy a box and ship it, but Hell, if it's only a few bucks, you may not even need to do that second part. It'll almost be worth it to get one more thing out of my garage.

Lemme know.

Cool. PM'ing you.

Dennis

 

[Dennis in NH]

...

california scientific makes a very sweet shorty and it's a bargain...

Hm... went here: https://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/FJR1300prod.html and see the shorty is a +0. I think that's still too tall. Is there another one?

Thanks

Dennis

 

[Dennis in NH]

...

Cool. PM'ing you.

Dennis

Thanks for sending this HotRodzilla! I got this shield cut and mounted; I cut about 4.25" off the top with my jisaw. I also added my Laminar Lip.

Turns out with just the shortened shield, it was nice -- but on the highway, it was just too much wind and actually detracted from the enjoyment (at least for me) of riding. With the addition of the Laminar Lip (which I removed from my OEM shield), it gives a nice balance of low windshield to feel like there's nothing obstructing my view of the world in front of me and high enough windshield to keep the wind noise down during commutes and other highway travel esp. when the disposable earplugs are nearing their end of life.

I rode with the shortened windshield with Lip a bit today on both backroads and highway and it was great. I know it has scratches but don't really look through the windshield much anymore so not a big deal; also, when the windshield is at its lowest, you don't notice the scratches with asphalt as the background going by. Also, I'm not quite ready to paint it black. At this point, I'm still in the trail phase (trial is going well so far) but only have a day and a half into the trial.

The benefits include: sportier look, more wind in the helmet vents for a cool head and air in the jacket inlets, an almost windshield-less feel (like you get on a naked bike), etc.

The only downsides are obvious -- more bug guts on helmet, added noise fatigue, etc.

One more benefit, with Two Brothers mufflers, there's no bassy buzzing in the helmet like there was with the Vstream; still not 100% sure it was the windshield change (but I'm betting it helped a lot).

By the way, there's a sticker on the front of the windshield, what's it for? I'm kinda thinking I'm going to leave it there and maybe buy a Yamaha tuning for stick to go on top of it.

Dennis

 

[HotRodZilla]

Haha...Glad you like it.

Donno what the sticker is, maybe one of the previous owner's clubs or organizations? I never read it.

Auto parts stores sell spray-on tint that goes on with an opaque look. Not full black, so you can still see through it some. Maybe try that!

 

[Bounce]

Blacked out is most excellent on an ultra-shorty shield, too.