Consequently, Gray's offer meant I could see what it would be like to have an extended screen with a 'flip' curve about three inches from the top. This particular screen also has a red tint, the attractions of which are clearly a matter of personal taste. I found out some time ago that T-Cut Metallic works very well as a polish for some plastics. So it turned out with whatever the red screen is made of (I'm guessing it is acrylic).
The pictures below show how the two compare from the front. Apologies for the quality - I'd leant my normal camera to my son so was using my old phone today.
When I first mounted the red screen, the difference in reds really clashed. I don't think of myself as particularly fashion aware yet it offended even me. The standard clear screen has black section where it attaches to the upper fairing. This hides the relatively unattractive underside of the clocks and inner trim. I decided to do something similar with the extended red screen, with the simple expedient of running strips of black electrical tape along its lower edge. Two thicknesses did the trick. It meant the two shades of red do not directly overlap and, in my view, made all the difference to its visual acceptability.
I mounted the red screen with stainless fasteners because the Allen heads in the originals were a bit loose. And I hate rust so I don't need much incentive to reach for stainless steel. Having sorted out the fixings, I headed out for a ride. Some friends were going to Sammy Miller's 'MotoItaliano' Day and thought it would be nice to ride down in the afternoon to show them what it's like to have a bike with soul that does not fall apart in normal use :-) I'd visited Sammy Miller's recently and really enjoyed it as well. It should have been a triple win.
I confess I had not fully thought this through. We have been experiencing the biggest heat wave for years. And I was fitting a longer screen to reduce the amount of breeze I'd be able to enjoy ... Doh! The trip started well, with little hindrance before Salisbury. The screen has moved the turbulence up by about four inches, I'd say. It is hard to be precise because the place it hits my helmet seems to vary with road speed. I found I could duck down out of the wind blast completely without the silly neck contortions of yore. It still is a crouch though so not something I'd want to do for an extended period. Visibility through the screen was good, except for where the flip begins - it was distorted there. Not hard to avoid that though.
I took a wrong turn in Bournemouth, ending up trickling along in holiday traffic from suburb to suburb with the Mighty 1180cc T300 doing a good impression of Drax. Double Doh!!
I got to the museum just as things were packing up, so triple Doh then. However, I found another T300 owner there. I think he was a volunteer or helper at the museum but I'm not sure. He had a 1998 Trident in silver and blue with only 7500 on the clock. So we chewed the fat for a bit. I also got a good look at the Moto Guzzi V8 racer. Just extraordinary. There seemed to be as much bike in front of the handlbars as behind! I hadn't previously realised the V8 was fore-and-aft, in effect two transverse fours coupled together. Really, an amazing feat of engineering.
I came home a different route, via villages and B roads from Ringwood up to Shaftesbury. I stopped to take in the views and enjoy my little flask of tea on the edge of a wood, where I saw a sign for a classic bike company. I don't know anything about it - the website doesn't help much. Cool sign though.
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| BUGAD Classic Bikes |
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| Profile from the right with high screen |
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| Rider's view through high screen |
4 comments:
That looks to be the same screen I had. Interesting that you don't find it overly noisy given we're the same build. I've taken it down to just about where the screen changes rake and it's better IMHO. When we meet up perhaps a quick screen swap would be interesting.
I've gone back to the standard screen for now. Offering the original screen up to the flip, I can see it comes to just where the flip begins - so it could be that your mod is to have created a standard height screen. Then again, I think you are talking about a Sprint rather than a Trophy flip. Are they interchangeable?
You are indeed correct and no I doubt they're interchangeable. My gold fish level brain had kicked in. It's almost as if I'm getting old or something!
When my bike was in Trophy guise I replaced the flip with a standard screen because I found the flip so noisy. I never could find a happy "quiet" position. I wonder how much helmet design has to do with it though?
Cheers
The standard Trophy screen leaves my head full in the breeze, just above the turbulence, with the deflected wind hitting me at about shoulder/neck level. The flip puts the turbulent air at about visor level. I can duck out of it but it requires a significant duck to do this. I think the flip screen could do with extending about 4 inches to deflect the air above my helmet when I'm sitting up normally. I've seen a company advertising adjustable screen extensions in Practical Sportsbikes. I'm tempted to give one of these a go. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether the width of the deflector would be adequate. The Trophy screen is not very wide so there is wind coming around as well as over.
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