But it can be done.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Conversely, Brit guys posting here may grasp just how really HOT weather can be.


I fitted an AeroFlow screen to my bike, a very reliable BMW, to cross Iran from the south one July. At that time of year, the area around the Persian Gulf meets accepted definitions of extremely hot and humid. The screen did what it was intended for to reduce wind noise and buffeting and it was in no way a dangerous nuisance.

Stephan

Humidity in the Iranian desert?

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Patrick
As OldBMW says, we are basically in agreement: on road: faired, off road: not.

However, your dangerous nuisance comment was in the following paragraph:

“The Brit guys posting here may not really grasp just how hot really HOT weather can be. To them, 80f is hot. To me, 110f is hot, now add 90% humidity, something that doesn't exsist in the UK. I know Oz has both, extreme temps and humidity. In hot humid weather air flow is vital. A big screen is a dangerous nuisance.”

The paragraph is about climate not road conditions so forgive me for misunderstanding your point. I quite agree that a tall screen off-road could be a dangerous nuisance. I found that out on a ride-out at the Lumb Farm HU Meeting in 2004.

On road, in high heat and humidity it did not exhibit any life-threatening qualities and served its purpose.

The Persian Gulf, which I referred to, has very high humidity in the summer. The Encyclopaedia Britannica calls it ‘notoriously unpleasant’. You are very welcome to come out and visit the wonderful scenery around here; better to come in the winter months though. As you know, there is a very active off-road riding scene here which I think you would enjoy.

Below is one of my favourite photos recently taken by Lars (ontheroad | Lars auf Abwegen) when he visited.
Stephan

Thanks for the replies guys, you have given me some things to think about. I reckon i will keep the screen off for a while and see how it goes, i will be doing a 350km ride soon and i see how i like it then.
My XTZ660 has a pretty decent fairing anyway and that alone seems to give a wind break about to my shoulders without the screen, but yeah it will see how this ride goes and take it from there. As mentioned i will play with the screen angles next if i eventually feel i need it.
But at this point it time i am really enjoying it without it there!.
Cheers guys.

I'm currently touring without a screen and wouldn't want one. Don't need it, either, I just ride a little slower. Back in NZ I have a K100RT. My ex-girlfriend sat behind that in complete quiet and comfort, but me being rather tall there was no way I could modify the screen to make it high enough for me, so that I didn't HAVE to wear earplugs above 60 km/h.

I believe there is a fundamental problem with modern screens: too flat. Fairings and screens have to displace and redirect air. Flat screens direct the air upwards, so you get more and faster air onto your head. A rounded screen should direct the air mostly sideways where I don't care too much if it makes a few turbulences or noise.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

Hi Brad
I ride a VFR which has a flip up screen, but when I put it up all the wind is directed at my head, which is very turbulent and noisy, so I keep it down. I think this is mostly because it is designed to look good rather than work! I guess it depends on your height and the riding position.
Bruce

I had no idea there was an off road scene at all.
Sounds good!

Tyda guy's (Eric) rally?

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Well, just to clarify. I am on the southern side of the Persian Gulf in the UAE where there are a lot of off-roaders. The only off-roaders I saw in Iran were goats.

Lumb Farm is where the UK summer HU meetings are currently held.



Stephan

I ride a very cushy BMW K1200LT, it may have the plastic personality of a Hoover vacuum cleaner but it has one of the best windshields I've ever had the pleasure of riding behind, it's curved and sheds the air-rain-sleet-snow just beautifully. When I bought the Teutonic Tin I thought - electric windshield?? What pissy-pants would want that option? Turns out to be one of the best features of the bike. The neat part of the story is that I probably owe my life to that screen after taking a very well fed seagull smack dab in the centre of the screen at 145K. It was really quite a sickening thud that left the bird shattered. The point of the story is that if the screen wasn't there the seagull would have hit me high in the centre of my chest. I was in the middle of the prairries and if I was lucky I probably would found out what central Canadian trauma centres were all about. Now I can't speak with any authority about hot weather riding, in Canada 'hot' is somewhere around 25-30C so I do appreciate your dilema, but hot or cold, I'd still opt for something between me and all nasty things airborne...

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Ride Safe...Stu

Rode round OZ in 96/97 22000miles on a HD sporster had my luggage as back support which helped . A screen might have made it easier but i did enjoy the cool breez when it was hot . Have just come back from a 8500m ride round N/W Africa on a BMW 1100gs i added a bit of perspex to make the screen taller for the long & cold road sections & this worked to & was great at high speeds . Dont know if thats any use to you . Have a good trip & if i can help with any info just ask .
Kev

We regularly get 45c here (Ex Brit now living in West France) in the shade in summer, two years ago it was in excess of 50c for several weeks. True not the high humidity. But no way would I choose to ride on tarmac with an unfaired bike. Mind you I like the heat, it is the cold I can't take. Even I was flagging in the 50c+ haymaking. Not so much the making of the hay, carting the bales up a ladder (12 bales high) in a tin roofed barn was a somewhat sweaty affair Because i ride a faired bike it allows me to ride with an open faced helmet ( forced on me because I have never found any other type that allows me to use my glasses). Offroad I think I would choose a naked bike. So I guess we are mostly in agreement

Living in France?

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!