Screens Again(sorry)

It's horrible. Utterly, utterly horrible.
I'll stick with my medium MRA flip top screen and earplugs.

A word of warning for you if it helps you avoid what struck me in 1993.
I was doing 25k miles a year on a K BMW tourer around my territory tuning pianos in Devon.

I was silly and failed to wear earplugs to protect my ears from LOUD wind-noise in my Crash Hat, and added noise funnelled up from the barn door fairing and after a long 400 miles journey one day, I got back and my ears were screaming with Tinnitus - high pitched whistle with built-in White Noise. This happens to the Police riders too if they do far too much high speed work.

Usually a nights sleep would find the ringing subsided by next morning but on that occasion it was here to stay.
I got very very scared and when it was still with me at around 65decibels 24/7 I went to see a Consultant ENT Surgeon and several Audiologists and they found that I'd damaged the Cochlea hair cells that are responsible for hearing certain frequencies - through unprotected noise-input. Also the damage had sent me partially deaf. The ringing is the damaged hair-cells sending phantom signals to your brain and you hear masses of ringning, whooshing, high pitched screaming - but it can't be measured using a microphone in your ear because it's not real sound - it's nerve-path creating noise that wasn't there before.

All my motorcycle riding from then onwards was done with sponge expanding earplugs in place, to prevent more noise damage. Helmets are notorious amplifiers of wind roar. Typically at about 80mph the noise levels are around 95db which is 10db louder than you would be allowed to work in, on an 8 hour shift without wearing hearing defenders (by law).

It does make sense to use plugs. I noticed when Kevin Schwantz won the British Grand Prix in the early 1990s he threw his helmet into the crowd and then took two blue earplugs out of his ears. A surgeon at Plymouth did a test of the hearing of many Grand Prix riders and all of them had measurable hearing losses.

Believe me it isn't nice to find that you have ringing in the ears 24/7 and it still hasn't gone away after 18 years! It was a struggle to remain sane I can tell you. Now the only thing that busts through the ringing is wearing digital hearing aids that amplify the environment so much that it covers up the ringing.

So I hope you don't get stricken with it permanently. It's the roar of the wind mainly that causes it and it's the same damage that even young people can get being exposed to very loud speakers at Rock Concerts. Bear in mind that 105db can't be endured for longer than about 30 seconds a day before damage occurs. 90db you can get away with about 30 minutes a day.

It ain't worth it, even though bike riding is a drug, and I won't give it up, I do now protect whenever I'm going to ride fast more than about 5 minutes riding. Good biking to you.
Laurie
--
Plado

Happened to me as well and I did wear ear plugs, although only the sponge ones you can buy in the dealers. I now wear the ultimate ear bespoke moulded plugs, cost me 65 quid but well worth the money as the attenuation is really good.

I have 80% hearing loss in my left ear (confirmed by ENT specialist and audiologist etc) and suffer from tinnitus too, however, Mrs Saga was searching on the web about 3 years back and found advice that said zinc tablets help to reduce the ringing that comes with tinnitus. Since then, I've taken a zinc tablet every day and without a doubt it does help; they don't cure it, nothing can, but it significantly reduces the volume of the ringing.

I started with the standard screen
moved on to the yam tall touring screen
bought the vario sport touring screen
Now I have a powerbronze flip screen (i'm 5ft 11) It is the best I have had. Got it in january and I have have done over 500m now. It is quieter than the above from 40mph on and at 70mph (or the speed the fast lane is doing) I can crack open the visor and let a small draft in, but could not open the visor wide
It is fairly cheap, certainly when compared to the vario. I got it in iridium red (apparently a rare metal) which seemed a good idea at the time. It does however give me the oportunity of buying a drebble? drevill? dribble? and trimmind a couple of small arch out near the base and seeing if it will get even better. If nothing changes I can live with this.

Don't go out and buy a vario sports tourer, they are silly expensive and I have one . Knock on the door screw it on and bring it back

Hey this sounds great. Can you expand a bit on that Powerbronze flip screen please? Where do you buy them?
Can I see what it looks like? What bit flips? Does it have to be flipped up at a certain speed?
Is it easy to fit - that kind of thing. I think I'd like to get one for my TDM 850

A previous TDM I had was fitted with a tinted tall screen and it was a bit off-putting having to sit up so high when you feel like relaxing down a bit. An adjustable height seems like a much better solution.

While I await your answer I think I'll go a-googling on the Powerbronze name.
Thanks
--
Plado

How much zinc is in that daily tablet I wonder?

I used to try Zinc as well as having a go with Ghinko Biloba the oldest known tree in the world was a source of this herb and the Chinese doctors recommend it for Tinnitus relief but it never did anything for mine, nor did Zinc. Ghinko was a strong vaso-dilator and made me nearly pass out when riding so I dropped that idea.

What worries me about Zinc is that our normal diet containing shellfish; red meat; chicken; whole grains; dairy; cereals and nuts all give us more than enough for a daily amount. Apparently our bodies can only absorb 30% of any we take in.

9 to 11 mg per day is supposed to be enough. Safe limits are 40mg but take too much and you get toxic side effects.
Nausea; fatigue; messed up immune system; mouth sores; which are obviously a result of far too much.

Anyhow as you say nothing cures tinnitus (yet) they're working on regenerating hair-cells in the cochlea but that is about as tricky as finding a hair restorer that works!

I think I might get hold of some of those hi-tech earplugs for my future riding. Sounds like a good idea.
--
Laurie

The tablets I take are only 15mg and I get them in Tesco. Don't know much about the science, biology never interested me at school apart from the practical!

I cut me screen .. some pics in me gallery... Moved the wind and battering for me Head to me chest and shoulders.. Like being back to riding the nakeds...got rid of a lot of the noise thought....

I just ordered the powerbronze flip. It was showing zero stock, so should be here in 28 days. One weird thing, the price was £55, but changing the delivery address to IOM brought the price down to £45. So it was actually cheaper including postage than getting it delivered to UK mainland.

I'll do a double reply here. First Saga Lout - that amount of zinc sounds perfectly safe to me. It's just a shame that I found no effect from zinc at all. In the end digital hearing aids in each ear was the only thing that brought any relief. I don't wear them inside a crash helmet though as taking it on and off is in danger of ripping the hearing aids out of my ears and dropping them on the floor.
So I just use earplugs. They work well for me and I do now limit my riding to screaming around locally in South Devon and I don't intend to do long blats touring any more I'm getting too old!

OK now WhichWayWasIt must respond to your kind reply too.
I have indeed found Powerbronze website and sent them an email. They have replied but it has thrown up some more questions.
Some confusion existed over the screen for the Yamaha TDM 850 2001 year model. The pictures shown on the website show it as a flip-up screen but the company emailed me back to say it's a fixed one.

But that doesn't bother me as it looks good + it extends the screen higher than the meek little excuse of a screen on the TDMs
I think I can fit one myself so I'll get an order in for one pronto.

Thanks for the tip as I was wondering what screen to get and where to get it.

The other thing on the TDM I want to upgrade is the weedy Horn. They all suffered from a 12volt horn that sounds more like one you get on a kiddie-car ! 'Neeeep' feeble load of nonsense. My last TDM I bought a 110 decibel horn from the Harley Dealer at Three Cross in Dorset and I had to fit it on rubber mountings to isolate it from the chassis but it worked and blasted the heck out of drivers when I needed it.
Trouble was it stuck out a bit between the fork legs and if I had to do an emergency stop the front mudguard would most likely thump it from below. I reckon I need a small but loud baritone honk so I'm on the lookout for that now!

Cheers
Laurie

Re: Horn.

I believe a lot of people use these (link is to Halfrauds, prob be able to get it cheaper elsewhere...)

LINKY DINK

eBoo Linky Goodness

Edited by dmmsta, 11 February 2011 - 04:09 pm.

They've been on offer at halfrauds for a few weeks now, and there sold out at almost all the branches

after postage from ones on ebay there not a bad price really

Lew

Thank you for the kind words Laurie, can't give a guarentee some screens seem to fit some people. As I have said before, If you want to try before you buy, I will let you screw it on and nip up the M1. However if you want me along it will cost you a coffee somewhere
frank

I'm with Jim. On my 2001 I cut 25mm off the screen and it solved all the problems I had. No more buffetting and quieter too. Your head sits in almost clear air. I started with 10mm, then another 10, then 5 more. I don't think removing more will get any better. But maybe it would!

If you are going to order a higher screen then you lose nothing by cutting down the original as an experiment.

I have old Mk1 which I lowered the steering head on the front forks by 25mm. Not only did the around town handling improve but the wind noise and buffeting on the open road dropped substantially, obviously due to increased screen angle. Any-one with a newer style fairing tried this? I would be interested to hear comments.

This is an endlessly fascinating topic for sure. There are two threads at the moment and they tie together a bit that i can see.
The "flip" thats been referred to is the final upward bend at the top of the screen. Its this flip that partly imitates the dropping of the forks perhaps.
Except that dropping the forks affects the angle of the whole fairing and therefore has a greater effect on airflow than just a flip. Then to, the amount of 'flip varies with makers and as it does flip the air flow higher then the height of the screen is very important.
I reckon the whole problem is because the fairing and sreen combined are at a shallow angle and just deflect air off the end of the screen to the rider (and at higher speed). The combination of higher and flip should put it well over the head but maybe turbulence will still be a problem. This is maybe where the double bubble, and i mean one with a high centre might help by peeling the air to either side.
Any of the really big screens will work but then its the looks that become important No offense to the Tiger screen but i reckon the best ive seen is the Eagle 475mm with lip. As i said in the other thread i have one on order for riding in the cooler months andi have added the "relaxed" shape to my specs.
That is, 475mm, extended with flip and relaxed. I cant put a pic here but have put one here iof interested.
eagle
This screen also seems to have a fairly high centre line that might help also.
Will let you all know in due course but as said in other post, its too hot for the warmer months as i understand it.
cheers Graeme

the extended relaxed form. Smooth name sort of roles off the tongue. (sounds like something you would buy when out in your raincoat)
Looks like a mixture of bubble and flip, gets dafter by the minute.
I think as most, the bubble deflects wind around the side. Having a flip, I suspect the flip introduces turbulence into the air stream of the top of the screen, thus diffusing its force.
With this screen it looks like the bubble sends some force around you and although the top of the bubble doesnt seem to have flip, the sides do which would defuse force there.
Looks like a possible winner, would like to see a few pics on a bike and know how much in england

So have you checked out the new version then ? I believe the new version looks much better, still does an amazing job & doesn't stress the fairing( I've been using one for 2.5 years now & absolutely zero problems).Be aware that ANY lip/flip/whatever at the top of a screen only makes things worse by creating turbulence.Also IMHO the Eagle screem is an ugly Mutha.Personally MRA screen I reckon my new version TigerScreen Mk2 looks better & doesn't require the use of earplugs at all!

It was costing me more, £60 incl p&p,

I decided to try 1 of these,

Airblade

At £ 43 incl p&p its not to dear and it will be interesting to see if i find much difference between it and the Yamaha touring screen i have on now!

I wear ear plugs all the time so wind noise will not bother me!

Edited by paddy900, 04 May 2011 - 10:34 am.