Sunday, May 9, 2010

Madstad Windsheld Bracket & Mother's Day

Preferring to take roads less travelled, mainly the backroads of the Pacific Northwest, I thought my factory windshield bracket sufficent. I often take the freeway home from work and I notice a lot of wind buffeting but I don't think it is any worse than on my previous bike (Suzuki SV650nK4 with universal W/S) which I rode to Kelowna last year. I'm getting my bike ready for a summer trip and thought I would purchase an adjustable bracket, just in case

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(Suzuki Madstad adjustable windshield bracket)

On the Stromtrooper.com forum, many V-strommers have adjustable brackets and they say that it does reduce the amount of wind which reaches your helmet, and many have this farckle installed on their bike. In addition to this bracket, most also purchase the GIVI screen as it is slightly larger than the one that is supplied as standard. For the moment I will forgo purchasing another screen and see how this works

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As with most things, the instructions are not very clear and it takes a few moments to figure out which way to install it. There are 4 bolts to remove the W/S, and another 4 bolts to remove the stationary fixed factory bracket. All the holes line up without much fuss and soon it is in position ready to use.

The hardest thing to sort out is what position to use as on the bike you can install it at different heights. I used the highest ones.

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From the front, all looks stock as the plastic trim strip covers the W/S screws

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My Windshield can now be adjusted while sitting on the seat. There are two knobs on rails which permit the windshield to move up or down a few inches, and also allow for a few more degrees of rake for smoother windflow.

From what others have done is to move the screen up a bit so you are still able to peer over the top lip, and angle it back a bit so more wind can travel under the screen which eliminates some turbulence. For the highway I plan to raise it a bit in the hopes of funneling the air over my helmet instead of directly into it, as it does now.

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Sometimes you try to make a perceived improvement and it makes other things worse. Not that I had a problem to solve, or need to spend money to purchase something I may not need but my GoProHD which was in perfect position before, is now blocked a bit by the wider rails of the Madstad bracket. I need to figure out a different way to mount my video camera. Over the years I have learned one thing. "If it's not broke, don't fix" It seems that this time I did not follow my own advice.

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The Hero GoProHD factory supplied adhesive brackets rattle when going over bumps. They do supply a Thingy to absorb the vibrations, but I am trying my own solution. I have a surplus of small elastic bands which I have tried to wedge between the sliding plates. It is just a matter of determining how many times to wind

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I think I had it working quite well until the foot of my plate broke

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Today was Mother's Day so we went out for brunch and later went for a ride near the border

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(Zero Avenue, Surrey, BC)

We ended up on Zero Avenue which runs along the Canadian US border. Zero Avenue is in Canada, but the green on the right side of the road is on the US side. Further along there are homes along both sides, the left being in Canada, and your neighbour across the street is in Washington State.

Today I noticed very heavy traffic everywhere. It was no exception in White Rock. I thought that I would take a few photos of the main tourist area for SonjaM, but the traffic was so backed up . . .

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(8th Avenue, White Rock, BC)

we decided to turn around and head back to town for a family dinner get-together. So sorry SonjaM, perhaps we could ride out here together one day soon on your new to you, F650GS

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Eventually we have our Mother's Day Gourmet Pizza dinner in Kitsilano with our family

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and top it off with a decadent double chocolate brownie with whipping and ice cream

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Hope you all had a good Mother's Day too

8 comments:

  1. Nice farkles Bob and a belated happy Mother's to your Family. I didn't take "Mother" out this year, choosing to cook a gourmet meal for her instead AND no food poisoning in sight! I did get her a nice piece of garden art by a local potter so harmony reigns.

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  2. The wind shield adjustment system seems to be a cool farkle though I wouldn't count on being able to adjust while riding. Seems as if two hands are required unless you want to decrease the angle. Then the wind will provide the second hand. My old BMW has a simiar adjustment and playing around with it has reduced wind noise by changing air flow.

    Nice looking pizza. I hope you all had a great Mothers Day.

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  3. Dear Bobskoot:

    Clean-looking mounting for the additional adjustment options! Sounds like it didn't present much of a challenge for you to mount.

    I took my riding buddy Dick Bregstein out for Mothers Day, as he is one of the biggst Mutha's I have ever met.

    Fondest regards,
    Jack • reep • Toad
    Twisted Roads

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  4. Elvira is the first bike I have ever owned with an electrically adjustable windshield. As time goes on I am realizing what a blessing it is.

    I have found on previous bikes that if I set the windshield so I can just look over the top, it works well in most situations.

    Great looking pizza!

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  5. Bob, glad you and Yvonne enjoyed Mother's Day. That decadent dessert looks fabulous! But, isn't it just a slight bit out of character for you???

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  6. Dear Bob, it looks like you and Mrs Skoot really enjoyed Mother's Day. White Rock is certainly on my list of things to do, once I have learned how to deal with the local traffic. However, come Saturday, I will be back on two wheels, rain or shine (although shine would be preferred on my first ride on new rubber...)

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  7. bobskoot, I'm looking forward to reading a review of the shield. I'm been thinking of the GoPro but leaning toward the ContourHD.

    That pic of the pizza trigger hunger bunnies. Nice post! Sounds like a nice Mother's Day for you and yours.

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  8. Where is the college located that people attend especially to go on to a career writing bad instructions? I might become a part-time lecturer there to try to improve the standards. Or is it, that they just pull people off the streets to write these types of instructions?

    The traffic looked bad.

    THe pizza looked good.

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