RE: WRS Sport screen - 2

The WRS "Sport" screen arrived yesterday. It's a really nice-looking screen, and the tint works beautifully with the Black Storm bike color. The screen came all the way from where it was manufactured, in Italy, via WRS USA, then to me. The quality is excellent. Uses the BMW screen hardware, which meant removing grommets and bushings from the OEM screen and putting them on the WRS. Then a simple bolt-on to the bike. An additional "aesthetic" element is the "WRS" logo at the bottom of the screen - it sits just above the "RS" logo on the front of the bike. Like they were made for each other.

I mounted the screen (which is 13" tall) in the lower mounting holes. My experience has been that each lowering of the OEM screen produced an incremental decrease in wind noise, so my assumption was that a low screen in the lowest mounting position would solve my wind noise problem.

It wasn't to be.

Somewhat dismayed (having been down the windscreen rabbit-hole far too many times with far too many bikes), I returned to the house with the unsettling and unwelcome feeling that the only way out of this noise dilemma was to affix a barn door screen to the bike. That prospect did not sit well, especially since WRS's "return policy" states that an opened, used windscreen cannot be returned, and even if you meet the "unused" requirement, there's a "re-stocking" fee. That meant it either works, or you're out almost $130 (screen plus shipping).

Then I had an epiphany of sorts. In my closet full of motorcyle bits and pieces from prior bikes was a tinted MRA "X-Creen" Sport wind deflector. With nothing to lose (except my sanity), I moved the WRS screen to the upper mounting holes, and affixed the MRA X-Creen to the top of the WRS. The tint of the MRA and the WRS matched, a bonus. But that's a faint positive if the combo doesn't work.

With absolutely no expectations, I mounted up and went for a ride. The very first thing I noticed was that for the first time in the 600 miles I've put on the bike since delivery a few weeks ago, I could hear the engine instead of wind noise. This was promising. The next thing I noticed was a level of quiet that had me thinking I could definitely ride this bike over long distance. With the OEM screen (and the WRS without MRA), there's no way I could endure the wind noise without headache and ennervating fatigue. And, yes, I DO wear earplugs (custom).

I'll try to post a photo of the get-up later, but for now I am vastly encouraged. Too bad I've got 600 miles on the bike and a first service that's 12 days away. I'm constrained on how many miles I can run up on the ODO before that service, dang it!

EDIT (later) - photos:

IMG_3912 (1024x768).jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)IMG_3913 (1024x768).jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Same results here, BEARR. CalSci Shorty with the X-Screen Sport has been the best compromise for me.

Well...anyone ever hear of the "3-legged stool" problem? You take a stool with 3 legs that wobbles a bit. So you saw a little off one of the legs to make them all equal, but in doing so you create a different wobble. In the end you wind up with a stool with no legs...the ultimate "perfect solution".

What, you may ask, does this have to do with windscreens? If you've asked the question, you're either new to motorcycling, or you're on the same level as the Abominable Snowman...one of a kind.

So, as detailed earlier, I found what I thought was a solution to the windscreen/wind noise problem on my RS. After a bit of metaphorical "sawing", I reduced the wind noise leg on my motorcycle "stool". What I failed to notice in so doing was the lengthening of one of the other legs of the stool - cockpit heat. Yes, it was a warm day (80 degrees), but I've ridden in 90-100 when I had my RR, and the airflow kept me cool. The MRA wind deflector on my WRS screen blocked all my airflow and I was HOT.

Now what? Reduce the noise...increase the heat. Reduce the heat...increase the noise. Maybe Occam's Razor applies here...but I digress.

With the WRS in the upper mounting holes, I decided to try it without the deflector. Previously I had the WRS in the lower mounting holes. So I stopped on my ride today, removed the deflector, left the WRS in the upper mounting holes and resumed my ride. What kind of condition was the 3-legged stool in now?

First of all, the look of the WRS is awesome by itself. And in the upper mounting holes, the sound of the wind is a muffled sussuration, compared to the rattle and hum of the stock screen. Not as quiet as with the MRA deflector, but thank God for cooling air. I now have the WRS in the upper mounting holes and lower position. I think it works pretty well, looks fantastic, etc. The test will be a longer ride.

How do you guys with big screens survive the heat?

I know all this is TMI...but I view it as a kind of "therapy" after twisting myself in knots trying to level the 3-legged motorcycle stool. No need for replies...I feel better now. LOL!

Sounds like your making progress, just a suggestion if your happier with the new screen than the stock one.
You may want to sacrifice the stock screen by either cutting it down or drilling new mounting holes to get
that prefect height. Then have AeroFlow or somebody make one to your specifications.

Zitat von Mark im Beitrag #19

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You may want to sacrifice the stock screen by either cutting it down or drilling new mounting holes to get
that prefect height.

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More testing of the WRS today, without the MRA deflector. Mounted in the upper mounting holes, the WRS is quiet in the upper position if I drop my head a little. So, above 65 mph, that position is good. In the lower position, I get clean air that isn't awfully loud. So below 65 mph I use that.

In the upper position, it gets warm in the cockpit and the chin vent if open makes noise. Clearly the wind coming over the screen in that position is hitting the chin vent. If I close it, I get hot. This position is OK for higher speeds and short distances.

I don't know why this is such a conundrum, but it is. If I want quiet, I have to be hot. If I want cooling air, I have to accept some noise.

I may get some new custom earplugs.

May even try the stock screen again. BMW made it the way they did for a reason...right? Right?

That was going to be my next suggestion, that your ear plugs may be full
of noise and need replacing. Marilyn at Plug Up dose great work https://www.plugup.com/

Zitat von Mark im Beitrag #22

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That was going to be my next suggestion, that your ear plugs may be full
of noise and need replacing. Marilyn at Plug Up dose great work https://www.plugup.com/

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Looks, and perhaps some wind tunnel testing?

In my 15+years experience of working for a German engineering company - very different to BMW and not bikes but electronics - they are actually very cautious and methodical by nature. Things tend to evolve slowly and risky leaps into the unknown are avoided. Most likely there is a guy in the design department who does the screens, and what he says goes.

I am happy with the standard screen but I keep it low and out of the way. Ear plugs always.

It is adjustable so that ticks the relevant marketing box

Zitat von Ali-bear im Beitrag #24

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Looks, and perhaps some wind tunnel testing?

In my 15+years experience of working for a German engineering company - very different to BMW and not bikes but electronics - they are actually very cautious and methodical by nature. Things tend to evolve slowly and risky leaps into the unknown are avoided. Most likely there is a guy in the design department who does the screens, and what he says goes.

I am happy with the standard screen but I keep it low and out of the way. Ear plugs always.

It is adjustable so that ticks the relevant marketing box

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Zitat von BEARR im Beitrag #25

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Zitat von Ali-bear im Beitrag #24

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Looks, and perhaps some wind tunnel testing?

In my 15+years experience of working for a German engineering company - very different to BMW and not bikes but electronics - they are actually very cautious and methodical by nature. Things tend to evolve slowly and risky leaps into the unknown are avoided. Most likely there is a guy in the design department who does the screens, and what he says goes.

I am happy with the standard screen but I keep it low and out of the way. Ear plugs always.

It is adjustable so that ticks the relevant marketing box

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Thanks. Any guesses what that "lip" at the top of the screen does? I agree your statement about methodology, so there must be a solid theory behind the presence of the lip. A "spoiler" of some kind? Disrupt the airflow...? Seems like it would add turbulence...

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Zitat von Mr. 36654 im Beitrag #26

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and 2) Disrupts the formation of von Karman vortex sheets.

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Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #27

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Zitat von Mr. 36654 im Beitrag #26

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and 2) Disrupts the formation of von Karman vortex sheets.

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I had to look up Karman Vortex Street :)
Our K1200RS was our only BMW that had a shield without a lip at the top. Some had a lip and some had a couple inch turned up portion.
My 1984 RT had a rubber edging completely around the edge. I didn't like it and removed it.

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Zitat von Mr. 36654 im Beitrag #28

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[

The turned-up lip or reverse curve on the various K75 shields (you may have seen them in museums,) is found on many of the Aeroflow shields.

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Wow, is THIS interesting...and one of the reasons this forum is top-notch. You guys are really great.

Today I got to ruminating about this windscreen problem of mine, and that led to an obvious conclusion - that BMW had a rationale for this screen design. So after trying a VStream and a WRS screen, I decided to swap back to stock for comparison purposes and went for a ride. My initial impression was that the stock screen is quieter than those other two.

So then I made an appointment with my audiologist for this Thursday, to have new custom plugs made, and will leave the stock screen on the bike. My existing custom plugs are probably 8 years old, and my ears have likely undergone some structural changes in the interval since plugs were made. I can get a good seal with them, but it doesn't "hold" for long. I hope to get good impressions that will produce more efficient plugs. The money we spend (or at least, I do) on motorcycling...

Then there's the tooth crown I found out needed replacement today. But that's another kettle of fish. Getting it done next week.

EDIT: I had a Suzuki GS550ES in 1983. Fun bike. I wore no earplugs, just a helmet and gloves, jeans and running shoes (that was then...). Ironically, I don't recall ever having a problem with wind noise on that bike. It was 40 years ago, though...maybe my ears didn't notice wind noise then...?