Ummm.. well, I have more time on the shield - with two different mounts.
Overall - I had hoped to be more impressed.
That said - I've been quite happy with my early CB shields mounted to a modified BMW touring mount that tips the mounting position back to about where a 1-1.25" DonC block would put it. I've haven't felt the need of putting the largest of my CB shields on (a 20") this winter since it hasn't been THAT cold in NJ, and I've grown fond of the 18". My 16" is out on loan to a friend who has been waiting for the new shield to be released.
With that background, Chumley and I have been PM'ing, and I think my PMs from the past few days to him pretty much sums up where I am with it at the moment:
First I wrote:John,
It arrived today - spotted it on my porch when I got back from a lunch ride. Immediately installed it on my modified bracket (which leans back about the same as a 1" DonC block does..)
Impression on that mount.. not so hot. There was a good breeze (probably about 20 MPH) from the west. Found some buffeting. Noise level wasn't bad, but wasn't really much different from the 18" old CB screen on that mount. Buffeting was worse. Also the top edge did some dancing around. Did a big loop, with local riding and some highway (up to around 75MPH) with the wind behind me.
Came back and swapped mounts (takes a few minutes since my GPS mounts to my mount)..
Impression on a non-modified BMW touring mount. Better - but jury is still out. Did the same loop as the first ride. It is a bit tall for me, and I suspect the top of my helmet is ending up just about at the top of the wind envelope, so any buffeting is going to be quite noticeable. The top edge of the windshield was rock solid, so that was an improvement. Noise level was fine, buffeting - dunno - might have been the wind - so jury is still out on it.
I did try lifting myself out of my seat a few times to raise my head up 2-3 inches. I got more air on my helmet - and it did seem to help with buffeting. I suspect the shield may be a bit too tall for people with my build (5'7" with 27" inseam, on a low seat - ie - dwarfs, fat dwarfs...)
I don't mind air around the helmet (even when temps get into the low 30's) as long as it's laminar and not turbulent. The Shuberth helmet is very quiet in clean air. I know I'm getting less air to the helmet with the height of the new windshield since my faceshield started fogging up, and I had to run with the faceshield cracked about 1/2". Usually the wind would just close the faceshield - but with this windscreen, it stayed open, so less air is getting to my head.
As I said - jury it still out. It's supposed to get colder the rest of the week, but I should still be able to get out for a few hours with it. I want to try it on a day when there isn't a big wind. I also want to try it without my tankbag (which may be the reason the original CB shield worked well for me once I tipped it back, it might deflect some of the air coming up from around the fork leg openings.)
From the looks of it (I asked for the shortest one) it looks as if Joe could easily trim 2-3" off the top edge and still keep the basic shape. As it is - it would might be too much shield for me in the summer (where I run the 16" old CB) - might be too hot. This time of year I have been running the 18" old CB, which despite giving me lots of air in the face, the air was smooth enough that that wasn't bothersome, and kept enough air off my body so I could ride down into the 30's. The 18" is 4" lower (I measured it.)
One good thing - I noticed very little sail effect, which is noticable with the 20" old CB that I have. Passing cars/trucks or going sideways to the wind - it was barely noticeable. That's a big plus to me.
Then I wrote:
I later wrote:More thoughts after spending about an hour with it.
It's got more turbulence then the (old) 18" screen on my modified (tipped back) mount. There is some turbulence off the top, but much more off the sides. When riding along at around 70-75MPH, if I put my hand near the opposite shoulder I can feel it, and follow it right to the extended edge part of the shield. It hits my shoulders which causes enough shake in my head to slightly blur my vision.
Noise isn't bad, probably a bit quieter then the 18" screen. Turbulence has always been my bug-a-boo.. it really gets annoying on a long ride, much more so to me then wind noise (which good earplugs take care of.)
Dunno if that would be any different if the shield was shorter, I rather doubt it since it's coming off the sides. Other shields suffer from turbulence coming off the top edge - not so much with this one. There might be a bit - but it isn't at an annoying level for me. I did some more truck passing - and there is some sail effect, probably about the same as when I run the 20" old style CB screen. It's noticeable but not scary.
The top edge is a bit higher then I usually like - I can look over it easily enough, but if I scrunch down in the seat at all I'm looking through the top of the screen. In a normal sitting position, I'd guess I look over it at about 40' up the road.
Nice things about it - no light piping that I could see (it was getting dark when I got home last night) it's just far enough behind the headlight lens so this doesn't seem to be a problem. The additional belly near the upper mount points makes it easier to pivot my GPS so I can easily read it.
OK -- so that's the Cliffs notes version. I should note that my bike isn't "standard" - but then I doubt if many bikes owned by forum members here are standard. Things that might be effecting my results:
1. I run a tankbag - all the time. From comments people had about the early CB screens, this may be an advantage with the early screen. It may not be an advantage with the new screen. I've got to take it off and go for a ride, only thing that's delaying me is figuring out how to keep the front straps/buckles from flapping around and beating up the tank (or jamming the steering head.)
2. I have an EZPass mounted on my touring mount(s) - it mounts right above the headlight on the cross-bar above the bottom mount point of the touring mount. It is tipped so it should channel air up behind the screen. This may be helping with the older CB design, not certain how it would effect the new design since it is more exposed with the higher up bottom of the new design. The EZPass is a 1/2" thick transponder about 3" x 4" in size.
3. I have my GPS mounted on a cross-bar I install between the two uprights for the touring mount. It's a BMW Nav-III, so it's somewhat bulky and I'm sure it changes the air pattern going up on the inside of the screen. It's possible this is causing the side turbulence.
In order for a screen to work for me - it has to work with the three items above. The older CB design does, and once tipped back it's been quite acceptable. I should also note that I
like air around my head/helmet, as long as it isn't turbulent.
The new CB screen is about as tall as a 22" one in the old design would have been (the top edge is 4" higher then the top edge on my 18" old screen.) That is really higher then I like. I don't like looking through the screen even for closer then 10' from the bike, and I think it blocks too much air for me. Once I learned how to keep my head warm in cold weather with wind hitting my helmet (balaclava), I saw no reason not to have air around my helmet. The old CB does that nicely when tipped back without any real noticeable turbulence.
I mentioned I tried the new shield on two different mounts. The results above were mostly with the unmodified stock BMW touring mount. As mentioned earlier, I have a modified mount that tips back the screen more (probably about 10 degrees or so..) I tried the new screen with the modified mount. I didn't leave it on for long. The comment about turbulence - about the same. It seems to be coming off the sides of the screen not the top. I did notice the turbulence was enough to actually cause the top edge of the screen to start a rhythmic dance when "at speed" (around 75MPH.) It was noticeable and seemed to be in beat to the turbulence I was feeling.
I think we've learned how well any screen works for someone depends on LOTS of variables.. not only the accessories you might have on the bike, but also the relationship in height of the screen and the riders head, and what the rider deems important in a screen. I really hate turbulence, and it's been the problem with almost every screen I've tried on the R12R. It seems to be greatly minimized (to eliminated) with tipping the screens back more then the stock mount puts them. In the case of the new CB screen, I didn't see this effect - I suspect because the turbulence isn't coming off the top of the screen, it's coming off the side "wings". I think the belly design is good - it puts the shield airflow about where the old design was on a tipped back mount.
I'd love to try this shape (with the belly it has) with less height, and less straight area (the "reverse curve") above the belly, and perhaps without the upper wing bumpouts. Just as a WAG - I think that might work quite well.
I'm rather tempted to take a saw to the screen and start whittling away at it - but before I do, I'm going to ask a few friends to try it out and let me know what they think. They're different heights then I am, so it will be interesting to see if it works better for someone taller then me.
I'll also be taking it out for some more rides this weekend - trying it with the GPS moved and the tank bag removed - and you never know - that might change my opinion of it radically. In looking at where my GPS mounts - it must block some air coming up behind the screen, and that might be causing the turbulence off the sides of the screen. I'll move it so it allows air to travel up the screen unencumbered and see if that, or removing my tankbag,
or both make a difference.. so you can expect to see an update, probably by Sunday.
I want to thank Chumley for arranging for me to get the screen to try out... that was
much appreciated, and I also want to thank Joe at Cee-Bailey for not only really making an effort to solve our screen needs, but also for providing a test screen. I have discussed this review with Chumley who encouraged me to post it.. he promised to post his review shortly.
So - right now - I'm still "ummmm.." but gonna try a few more things. The early CB screens didn't work as well as they now do for me without some modifications.
As usual - it's my opinion only - and I may be a raging baboon or a complete lunatic.. YMMV,
