169 replies to this topic

[MCBodge]

I've now managed to obtain the standard screen from the guy I bought the bike from.

I removed the Ermax touring screen and rode up to collect the other one.

Riding without a screen:

• A feeling of 'space'/good visibility/smaller bike -It felt as if I was riding a big supermoto like a Hypermotard
• No buffeting and only a bit of wind-noise from the helmet. I could hear the engine at motorway speeds.
• At an indicated ton on a private road, I was having to hang on hard. It was basically like riding a naked bike (how quickly you forget what it's like!)

I fitted the standard screen and rode back.

• less buffeting than with the Ermax, but more than without a screen
• Sitting up a little lifted my head out of the turbulence.
• Similar wind protection to the Ermax screen.

I'm tempted to cut down( like Graeme's) the Ermax as I don't think it offers any advantage over the standard screen.
Cutting out a slot across the bottom and fitting a plastic sheet á la Geordie Guy could be the way forward.


Has anybody else got pictures of their cut-down Mk2 screens for ideas?

ps. I must be getting soft, but If I come into money and get a big capacity muscle/street bike it'll need a bikini fairing at least

Edited by MCBodge, 22 September 2009 - 09:09 pm.

[sidestand]

Went up to watch the Internatial Gold Cup racing at Scarborough on Sunday - 130 miles each way
Had me TDM Toraneko Tiger screen on the niner - brilliant ! ..........could ride with me helmet visor up at 70mph no bother
Only problem was riding into the sun on the way home - quite a bit of glare as I have to look through the screen, not over it !


Well worth it though .........it will be great for long distance touring .

Edited by sidestand, 22 September 2009 - 09:06 pm.

[TimH]

I've now managed to obtain the standard screen from the guy I bought the bike from.

I removed the Ermax touring screen and rode up to collect the other one.

Riding without a screen:

• A feeling of 'space'/good visibility/smaller bike -It felt as if I was riding a big supermoto like a Hypermotard
• No buffeting and only a bit of wind-noise from the helmet. I could hear the engine at motorway speeds.
• At an indicated ton on a private road, I was having to hang on hard. It was basically like riding a naked bike (how quickly you forget what it's like!)

I fitted the standard screen and rode back.

• less buffeting than with the Ermax, but more than without a screen
• Sitting up a little lifted my head out of the turbulence.
• Similar wind protection to the Ermax screen.

I'm tempted to cut down( like Graeme's) the Ermax as I don't think it offers any advantage over the standard screen.
Cutting out a slot across the bottom and fitting a plastic sheet á la Geordie Guy could be the way forward.
Has anybody else got pictures of their cut-down Mk2 screens for ideas?

ps. I must be getting soft, but If I come into money and get a big capacity muscle/street bike it'll need a bikini fairing at least

Took my screen off yesterday and went for a ride too - definitely removes the noise/buffeting, but it puts a fair amount of pressure on the upper body, that would get tiring after a while.

I emulated Geordie Guy's mod by putting strips of duct tape (credit to Azza for that idea!) across the fairing behind the screen, then lifted the front of the screen by screwing the bottom 3 screws into the fairing (leaving them sitting up slightly), then sitting the screen on top of the screw heads and putting the other 4 screws in as normal to secure the screen. This left a gap the width of the screen and about 8-10mm deep along the bottom edge of the screen.

This noticeably reduced the buffeting and noise, however the noise is still significant at highway speeds. A rigid insert rather than just duct tape would be better I think (the duct tape vibrated in the wind channeled up under the screen, which would have created it's own noise), as would a larger aperture in the screen. I will duct tape a sheet of rigid plastic in it's place, and lift the screen a little more, then see how that goes.

While riding around experimenting I noticed that most of the noise is coming up into my helmet from my neck area - if I put my hand across the base of my helmet to block the wind it removed most of the noise. I will try to get hold of a helmet Windjammer or similar before this weekends ride, as I think that may make enough of a difference to make it comfortable touring. (hmm... duct tape?? )

I suspect the cut down screen as Graeme has done might be the way to go for a proper fix... just need to get used to the appearance...

[mecrox]

Mecrox,

I used the back of a A4 folder from college in the picture.

I am sure I've seen some semi-ridgid black sheet somewhere, which I will try next.

But it is going to be a perminant fixture now.

Cheers, Ivan

Good idea, about that A4 folder. If I find something better, I will report back here.

[MCBodge]

lifted the front of the screen by screwing the bottom 3 screws into the fairing (leaving them sitting up slightly), then sitting the screen on top of the screw heads and putting the other 4 screws in as normal to secure the screen. This left a gap the width of the screen and about 8-10mm deep along the bottom edge of the screen.

Maybe the bottom of the screen was fluttering slightly too?

I'm going to cut my screen away until the buffeting stops. It looks fine with a small screen in my extremely valuable opinion.

Took my screen off yesterday and went for a ride too - definitely removes the noise/buffeting, but it puts a fair amount of pressure on the upper body, that would get tiring after a while.

I was talking to a chap the other week who reckoned he'd seen ~150 on his unfaired CB1300.

Edited by MCBodge, 23 September 2009 - 03:14 pm.

[Studley Ramrod]

Went up to watch the Internatial Gold Cup racing at Scarborough on Sunday - 130 miles each way
Had me TDM Toraneko Tiger screen on the niner - brilliant ! ..........could ride with me helmet visor up at 70mph no bother
Only problem was riding into the sun on the way home - quite a bit of glare as I have to look through the screen, not over it !
Well worth it though .........it will be great for long distance touring .

That sounds perfik fer touring, pipe n all

I bet it'd keep a lot of foul weather off you too. Shame they don't fit a mk1.

[MCBodge]

I bit the bullet and cut down the Ermax touring screen level with the fairing sides. Here are the results:







I'll be giving it a run out tomorrow to try it.



It may be effective to space the bottom and mount the standard screen over the cut-down screen instead of using an A4 folder:

[Geordie Guy]

Would be interested in the results of the test ride and how you get on with the the double screen.

Well done for having a go and biting the bullet.

Neet Job

[MCBodge]

Would be interested in the results of the test ride and how you get on with the the double screen.

Well done for having a go and biting the bullet.

The motorway was very slow this morning so I only managed to get up to speed on the slip road before filtering.

The wind now hits me in the throat and, although it's possibly not as bad as with the taller screen, there is still some wind buffeting. There is probably more 'dirty' air now getting under my helmet.

So, the initial findings weren't as good as I'd hoped

I suspect that, with a screen in place, the mirrors also contribute to the turbulence.

The next plan is to space the bottom edge.
If that doesn't help, I'll try fitting the standard screen above.

Edited by MCBodge, 24 September 2009 - 10:01 am.

[MCBodge]

...think you just need to cut another inch or two, i know yours is a bit different to mine but really urge you to try cutting flatter across

How similar is the 900 fairing height to the 850?

hitting the neck is soooo close but not quite-----should feel it on shoulders.

I know what you're saying, but pushing too much on the shoulders isn't necessarily a good thing when sat up at high cruising speeds.

I will try lifting the bottom edge before cutting it any further though
-I can always re-fit the standard screen if cut too much, probably on top of this one to create a laminar screen.

For those who aren't sure about doing this, I do quite like the look of the cut-down screen.


ps. I wonder if the hand-guards add to the turbulence?

Edited by MCBodge, 24 September 2009 - 02:18 pm.

[kvist]

Hi all,
I´ve just bought a TDM850 -96, and as many others I don´t like the loud noise from the screen.... tried without the screen and it was very nice and quiet, but a little windy...
So my questions, would cutting the top of remove the noise? and have anyone tried the drilling mod on a stock 850 screen? result? perhaps one need to booth drill and cut the screen down?

just needed to ask because I dont have any extra screen in case I mess it up;)

[MCBodge]

I lifted the leading edge of my shortened screen a little and took the bike for a short ride.

At motorway speed, there is a some pressure on the shoulders and the neck, although nothing like as much as without a screen at all.
Turbulence is defintely less of a problem than with a full screen and the bike actually felt more stable.

Standing slightly does lift me out of the air stream, so there might well be an advantage in trimming the screen slightly lower in the middle.


I do like the visibility allowed by the shorter screen.

Edited by MCBodge, 25 September 2009 - 08:36 am.

[kiko]

My other bike, a KLX400R (DRZ400E), has Renthal CR HI bars installed. It has been the only bike that I have been riding for the last 5 years and so when I got the TDM I felt uncomfortable with the handlebar setup as to the amount of pullback that the bars have and also the angle of the bar ends on your wrist placement. So I installed another Renthal CR Hi to try out on the TDM. These bars are 3" wider and the bar ends have less angle. The Renthals pull me forward, down a bit, and over the tank more, especially since I am only 1.67m. (Note I looked up that metric conversion, for my fellow carpies since I only know 5'6")

After some adjustment and a couple of naproxen sodium, I went out for a 200 mile ride on street/dirt. The new bars are confidence inspiring and the riding position somewhat more forward over the tank has improved the handling and control of the bike a lot for me. Could be because I am used to these bars already and have not been street riding much in the last 5 years.

Also, even with the stock screen on the bike now, the wind turbulence problem is not noticeable due to the new riding position. On a side note, I got caught in a hellacius thunderstorm and rode about 90 mph on the autopista trying to escape it for 20 minutes so I wasn't really paying attention to the turbulence issue. If you love the upright riding position of the stock TDM, then this would not be an option, but if you don't mind leaning down and forward a bit over the tank, this is worth trying.

d

[Geordie Guy]

Bloody Hell KiKo,

You mean after cutting and drilling screens for Two years, trying to reduce buffeting and Noise.

The answer was to lean forward !!!!!

[MCBodge]

....

Edited by MCBodge, 03 October 2009 - 05:47 pm.

[MCBodge]

Having now ridden the bike a few more times:

Buffeting is reduced and I can now hear the engine at ~60mph. It was drowned out at 40mph beforehand.

Although there is still a bit of turbulence (possibly involving the hand-guards and mirrors), I wouldn't want any more pressure on the shoulders at Autobahn speeds, so I've decided not to cut the screen any further.

I'll try fitting the standard screen over the cut-down at the the weekend.

Edited by MCBodge, 02 October 2009 - 08:17 am.