Screens

hi guys.i have a standard 2001 850 with standard screen on.i have had a yamaha touring screen on and that was no good. i made a taller one out of an old suzuki one that i had and that didnt work.i am 5.11 tall .i have just done 2500 miles in france italy and switzland and it nearly made me deaf.i have had ear plugs in and out.i took the screen of at one point and that was a bit better.i love the bike but if i cant get a screen that works better then i will sell it.so any help would be great

Noise was never an issue when I started to experiment with different screens. Buffeting and turbulence was. I found the unpredictable buffeting and turbulence causing by the tall Yamaha screen almost life threatening! It was just awful and when it was windy outside I hesitated to take a ride, even a short one. It was that bad. My head moved back and forth and I felt that someone was trying to tear it off.

MRA Vario helped, but none of the settings provided the effect I wanted. Talking about noise… The Vario screen is noisy, no setting changed that as far as can tell…

MRA Racing (double bubble) is a good screen, perfect fit and provides a good effect on headwinds; smoother airflow that hits me on upper chest/shoulders, less turbulence around the head. While riding I traffic (behind cars in 80 – 100 km/h) there's still some buffeting/turbulence, but far from what the Yamaha Touring screen was causing.

SECDEM double bubble looks nice (typical French?), is taller than MRA Vario (main screen, that is…), MRA Racing and Powerbronze double bubble and it's also slimmer/narrower on top than the others (take a look at the photos in this thread…).
SECDEM provides lesser wind pressure than MRA Racing and Powerbronze. The weather protection (rain...) is also fairly good. I didn't get big splashes of water on my helmet while riding in heavy rain. And I can't say I noticed any big difference on MRA Racing and Powerbronze even though they're not as tall as the SECDEM screen.

My experience so far is that double bubble screens of different height and width is the best solution for TDM. There are only minor differences between the screens I have been trying out.
Aesthetics is also something that counts; some people like the looks of one screen while others fancy another...

My conclusion is that you have to try more than one to find which one that suits you needs the most.

I am 6"5 and using the OE screen which works absolute top for me: even long lasting 100 - 110 mph trips go well without too much wind pressure, turbulence or noise. Interesting though if I duck down a bit things are not so quiet anymore. So rather than trying a higher screen like most seem to do, why not try a lower screen instead? You may get a bit more wind pressure but that's usually easy enough to get used to (unless you want to smoke a pipe and read the Guardian while riding of course ), while turbulence is a "nuisance-for-life" and can effect the road holding as well.

Had started a reply a few weeks ago, where I mentioned measuring sound levels with wing at different angles, Then site shut me out again.
On the way back to Dublin, there's one long downhill straight where you can see miles ahead. So naturally it's time to open throttle fully. Very light cross breeze from left. Front end got very light and began to lift. Adrenaline over-dose.
I had the little air slot at the bottom of screen blocked, which I've been told would cause a negative air pressure to build up.

Quite frightening whatever the cause. Slot finally cleared today. I may expand it in next few weeks

Where did you buy your SECDEM screen?

Vincent

here http://www.baglux.co.uk/secdem.php seems like baglux have bought out secdem there is a link to the secdem website which has a choice of 2 screens for the TDM 900 one a lot taller than the one AJ has called the high protection.

I bought it from a retailer in Sweden - Axcess MC-Tilbehör... Don't have the web site address here right now, I'm afraid...

are you gonna buy the taller one then AJ the high protection, or has the yamaha high screen put you off such types.

after i have my bought my new chain and sprockets and oiler system, i may fork out for the high protection one to see what its like it's gonna take a few months though before i can get the finances together

No, I'm not gonna buy the tall one. And yes, the Yamaha tall touring screen put me off. I got scared more than once while I had than one fitted...
I'm happy with my SECDEM screen, but I haven't ruled out neither the MRA db screen nor the Powerbronze. Whenever I feel like it I'll gonna use those too from time to time.

Edited by AJ_Blizzard, 09 July 2007 - 10:45 pm.

I had the same feeling with the high touring screen of Yamaha. (I'm 1.95m tall)
Sometime a had the feeling that the whole front of the bike wanted to go from left to right and back again. A lot of vibration on the steering.

That's why I bought the MRA Vario. But still I'm looking for something better and I want to give the SECDEM a try after following this thread.

Now the only thing seems that getting such screen is some kind of mission in The Netherlands.

Vincent

Very curious to find out what "negative air pressure" is. Less then vacuum? If your front wheel got light on full throttle on a downhill stretch (which doesn't sound very odd to me) I suggest you start looking at your suspension, not your screen. And whatever slot you have on your screen, closing it is not going to have any measurable effect on stability. If anything (in a very theoretical situation, if there would not be a piece of dashboard with the same angle as the screen right behind the slot), the blocking would only cause more downforce, not less.

Tall screens can often have the effect of pushing the rider left and right. Like with a flag the wind flaps in a turbulent way behind a screen. Moving the rider ever so slightly, especially one unaware of countersteering, will make the rider give input via the shoulders and arms to the handlebar, causing the waving. The ST1300 has this problem as well with the screen in the top position. If you try to let go of the handlebar, or at least try to make sure you're not leaning or pushing on it, it should probably become less.


This site seems to be the only one that Secdem themselves mentions as an online source with languages that pretty much cover western Europe: http://www.fanbazar....98401068870751f
That link is for the Secdem Bullster


There is also the Secdem Bullster HP (high protection that is... not hard porn...tss):
http://www.fanbazar....98401068870751f


A tall screen AND a "doubele bubble" shape, that you don't see very often. But the effect is probably very similar to the tall Yamaha (or any tall) screen (buffeting and noise).

It comes in 15 colors, that you don't see very often either.

I can't figure out how to delete this double post, the site seems to crash all the time and posted above message twice. Perhaps someone can delete this one here?

Edited by E-njoy, 11 July 2007 - 02:12 am.

Looks OK from here, Emile. Useful to have you on board re. aerodynamics btw!
Where've you been getting to lately?

Me? Well, with the F50 it's just a handful of locations. Most of the times I fly up and down to London City and Dusseldorf. Did have a nice ad hoc charter to the south of France few weeks back though, to Toulon:



It was a bit cloudy when we got there, but still dry and nice. Was able to stay for about a day, mainly saw the hotel pool and the nice little (medieval) town:



The captain likes the change of routine as well:











Yeah, it's a tough job... but sometimes it has its benefits

I've been to some very nice places with the TDM in the last few weeks/months as well, but I'm still sorting and editing the hundreds of pictures. Will post when finished of course... you will enjoy them for sure...

Nice photos, Emile...
But a little off-topic, don't you think...?

and we care!

just look closely at those 2 screens, if one was to buy the high protection and not like it (after testing) it could indeed be cut down to be the double bubble one .

one is just a shorter version of the other with the same bubble in there.

just a thought

Well, so is Picts (and your post), isn't it? I don't mind getting to know people on a bit more personal level around this virtual campfire now and then , do you?

I'm still curious why your Secdem sreen is smoother than the MRA variotouring with the spoiler in the lowest position, even though the Secdem is apparently taller and perhaps also steeper angled? What I find important in a screen is that it's wide enough to keep my wide torso and upper arms out of the wind at speeds around 140 - 160 km/h (probably get the death penalty for doing that in Norway?). The MRA runs wider than the stock low screen, but the Secdem seems to run slimmer. This might also explain the reduced turbulence / noise, even though the corners of the screen are more squarish (generally a cause of extra turbulence) compared to the MRA. So how is the pull on the arms at speeds of 140km/h+, or is that a speed regime you hardly encounter?

Pardon my sheep going astray.