First off - it works.
People might remember that I have bought and tried almost everything that's out there, and ended up with a DIY cut down screen.
This was/is OK but having worked through the various screens and fittings I think I have sussed the problem and from what I had read of the Madstad they had too.
For me - and I can't emphasise that caveat enough - the problem has nothing to do with the height of the screen and everything to do with the width. And just as with any adventure bike, the screen is too vertical causing massive turbulence off the edges. It's worse on the Africa Twin because the screen has to have cut-outs at the sides to avoid the handguards colliding with it.
The symptoms are buffeting and peak vibration. Ok I'm using quite a wide helmet in the Nolan N40 but hey it can't be much wider than most other shells.
The Madstad screen solves the problem by taking the screen forwards and away from the plastic fairing which allows them to make it wider (by probably 75mm overall) but just as importantly they can build in an adjustable rake (55 to 65 degrees). And because there's such a gap at the base of the screen they can do without any vacuum prevention slots and cut-outs in the screen itself.
.... and it works for me - it's almost perfect. In fact it's reduced the buffeting so much that at first I found I was riding 10mph faster everywhere. I said almost perfect, because there is still a deep bass rumbling caused by minor vortices tumbling off the edges. And I think they could have gone another half inch wider each side which might have eliminated those, but it's good enough. I did 8 hours in the saddle yesterday and could have carried on for another hour or two.
The screen and brackets are beautifully made particularly the quality of the acrylic or perspex blade. They advised the 20 inch which looked to tall for me as I was fitting it, but they were spot on. In the position I prefer - lowest height, I can see the road 20 metres ahead. In the highest position I'm really looking through it so I don't think I will use that one. The real difference on the road though was being able to rake it back which made for a much smoother ride than with it upright.
I will add some more thoughts later but in the meantime here's a pic - for such a big screen I don't think it looks out of place on the AT at all.
Mike
People might remember that I have bought and tried almost everything that's out there, and ended up with a DIY cut down screen.
This was/is OK but having worked through the various screens and fittings I think I have sussed the problem and from what I had read of the Madstad they had too.
For me - and I can't emphasise that caveat enough - the problem has nothing to do with the height of the screen and everything to do with the width. And just as with any adventure bike, the screen is too vertical causing massive turbulence off the edges. It's worse on the Africa Twin because the screen has to have cut-outs at the sides to avoid the handguards colliding with it.
The symptoms are buffeting and peak vibration. Ok I'm using quite a wide helmet in the Nolan N40 but hey it can't be much wider than most other shells.
The Madstad screen solves the problem by taking the screen forwards and away from the plastic fairing which allows them to make it wider (by probably 75mm overall) but just as importantly they can build in an adjustable rake (55 to 65 degrees). And because there's such a gap at the base of the screen they can do without any vacuum prevention slots and cut-outs in the screen itself.
.... and it works for me - it's almost perfect. In fact it's reduced the buffeting so much that at first I found I was riding 10mph faster everywhere. I said almost perfect, because there is still a deep bass rumbling caused by minor vortices tumbling off the edges. And I think they could have gone another half inch wider each side which might have eliminated those, but it's good enough. I did 8 hours in the saddle yesterday and could have carried on for another hour or two.
The screen and brackets are beautifully made particularly the quality of the acrylic or perspex blade. They advised the 20 inch which looked to tall for me as I was fitting it, but they were spot on. In the position I prefer - lowest height, I can see the road 20 metres ahead. In the highest position I'm really looking through it so I don't think I will use that one. The real difference on the road though was being able to rake it back which made for a much smoother ride than with it upright.
I will add some more thoughts later but in the meantime here's a pic - for such a big screen I don't think it looks out of place on the AT at all.
Mike