Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Well, it’s been a longish journey for me, but I think I have stumbled on the best combination for me and I thought I’d share my experiences, and possibly save someone a lot of time and quite possibly money in the future. This post is obviously directly concerned with the F800GS, although I could apply most of it to my experiences on the Adventure when I had it for a week.

Everyone wants one, a bigger screen that is going to magically take all the wind off you, decrease the wind noise and cause no buffeting at any speed. And some do find it, but for most of us the perfect screen simply doesn’t exist. My research has led me to believe that the best screen in terms of noise and buffeting is no screen, seriously, next time you flying along the highway at 140kph, stand up, you will see. Unfortunately, not the ideal thing for fatigue on a long day in the saddle.

I must mention here that my helmet of choice since I got into this rather expensive hobby has been the Aria Tour X. It just looks cool when you are riding an Adventure bike. It’s also a very good helmet. I really like it a lot.

I must also mention that I have absolutely no buffeting issues with the Aria and the standard shorty screen on the F800GS, the wind hits me high on the chest and therefore I get no head buffeting whatsoever, but obviously have a little more than “usual” wind noise and I tend to get a little tired after a long day in the saddle. Wind noise is also not only created by the screen, it is created by many things, including the mirrors and Leatt Brace.

But I kept hearing how much better some screens are, and I was egged on until I was convinced and decided that I will find one for myself. The magical screen specially designed for “The Ellwood”. But no rush as this could get expensive. I have heard many stories of buying and selling screens because, “it didn’t work”.

So started a few months of testing different screens and messing about with adaptions. I borrowed a few to try out, we made a few to try out, we added things to the standard screen and finally Trevor ordered a Britannica screen from across the ocean and gave me his MRA screen which he swears by, he also made other fittings for it to try………….and we did try, different adjustments, heights, angles……..but alas nothing seemed to work as I expected.

As soon as I changed the screen, no matter if it was a bit higher or much higher, the noise, buffeting and in some cases actual vibration from the peak, was just about unbearable. Just by the way, that expensive Britannica screen ain’t exactly doing the business either as I understand.

I then spent about 10 hours reading blogs, forums and reviews from all over the world and after many hours of thinking “surely not”, I came to the conclusion that it could be the helmet. Out of every ten, it seemed that eight were having problems with the Aria and the peak when they put higher screens on.

So back to the research and many more hours pondering if I were to try another helmet, which would it be.

Definitely no peak as I had just about decided the peak was the problem and the fact that now at the age of 45, I don’t have to look cool anymore, this despite seeing helmets like Nolan’s new DS helmet. So the decision was down to flip face or not. The flip face made a lot of sense to me and I spent time looking at each one, including checking all the ratings on the Sharp ratings website. I never knew so many different flip face helmets were available.

Anyway, I was out in Stellenbosch and decided to visit the guys at Donford as I had never actually been there. I must say they are bloody good salesmen there as a cup of coffee later and I was walking out with a new BMW System 6 Helmet, which I was happy to have as it was near the top of my list but I still am not sure how it all happened.

Armed with a new helmet, supposedly the quietest flip face on the market, I was lured into testing some different screen set ups again with the standard and MRA Screen. The one thing I noticed immediately was no buffeting or vibration (must be the peak then), but the noise was incredible with some settings on the MRA screen, it just didn’t work. So back homewards with thoughts of had I just wasted money on a new helmet?

So the next trip was with the original shorty screen back on with no adaptions and the System 6 helmet. It was also here that I discovered that a lot of the noise I was hearing “on top” of the helmet, came from the front air vent on the System 6, not nice at all. Front vent closed, not bad, front vent open standing up, not bad at all (very quiet helmet in clean air, read no screen). This was a nice combination but didn’t really solve my problem as now I just had a new helmet. So “screen research” continued. I wanted to get the air of my shoulders, Leatt brace and all the other places the turbulence and noise was originating from.

My path eventually led to some You Tube clips on the ZTechniek Screen. It looked good in theory, the emphasis on a wider screen as opposed to a higher screen.  The whole V Stream thing made sense, but would it work, I certainly did not want to throw any more money at a possible solution.

A quick phone call and I had a demo screen for the weekend. I chose the short touring screen based on advice and the fact that the other two were just too tall and seeing as I don’t really like the black stuff, would be in the way when riding off road.

My first impressions were good, the first time ever I had put an aftermarket screen on and immediately felt a difference. Although the air was hitting me sort of mid visor at speed, I could feel that my shoulders, Leatt brace and the bottom or open end of the helmet were sitting in relative peaceful air. The noise was still quite bad though when seated and the vibrations were still there when I tried the Tour X again.

I was discussing this with Trevor one night and he came up with a plan, to put a stainless steel rod under the peak on the Tour X thereby making the peak very sturdy. I was a little skeptical, but when the epoxy had dried I got a chance to take new screen and new Tour X for a spin.

Still a little noisy, but other than that, wonderful, no vibration at all, even at 180kph.

So now I have two great helmets and a nice screen that takes most of the wind of my body, which the original didn’t do, and is possibly a little quieter than the original. I do find though that when on a long stretch of tar at speed, I can crouch down just a little and I have relative peace and quiet behind the screen. We also put an extra spacer under the body mounts, 3mm at the bottom means 1cm at the top further forward. It is also not big enough to worry me at all when riding off road. So it’s a bit of a compromise but it works for me. Please though, if you are ever considering one of these, don’t buy those mirror extenders; they are a waste of time.

The one thing that all this research and testing did make me decide was to never again ride for any period longer than down to the shop without earplugs. If you aren’t wearing them, you are asking for trouble later in life. I did long rides with and without earplugs and the fatigue is much higher without them.

With my earplugs in, either helmet is nice enough to sit and ride all day and with minimal wind on the body, I don’t feel quite as smashed after a long day of exploring. I also think my training and getting fitter has helped on the fatigue side. Can’t handle the wind, add a couple of sets of bench press to your routine.

So that’s my story………………

………… and then just when I thought I had everything sussed, I came across a fellow called Sterling Noren.

Not only an avid adventure rider, but a film maker sponsored by Touratech. I found quite a few You Tube video clips of him and his F800GS. Now obviously, someone who is sponsored by Touratech is sure to have every imaginable gadget made by them on his bike, and he just about does, except, he still has the standard shorty F800 screen , makes you think, doesn’t it.