Laminar Touring Screen and Lip for the Multistrada
by
Multidude
This is a review
of the Laminar windshield and Lip combo. I really just wanted the shield
but I had a feeling the lip would be necessary – it is. By way of
background I’m happy enough with the regular DP and ZG shields for one
up riding, however, two up is another story. No previous combination
(except no top fairing) was comfortable for my wife. Her experience
ranged from moderate but constant pressure to almost unbearable
buffeting. Crosswinds and headwinds were especially bad. Sometimes in
quartering headwinds her head and mine became aerodynamically entrained
and I had to either struggle to keep my head still or duck down.
I first tried the Laminar shield alone. Riding single it’s obvious the
shield moves a lot of air. Air hits me on the outsides of my shoulders
and across the top of my helmet (I’m 5’9” with 30” inseam). If I ducked
my head an inch or so it becomes very
quiet. In any case it’s quieter than the Zero Gravity ST. I was fairly
happy with that performance and hoped two up would be as good. It
wasn’t. Once again my wife had buffeting and I could feel her
aerodynamic presence.
I temporarily taped the Lip on the shield and on a quick trial it was
instantly obvious that this combo was the ticket for two up. I attached
it more securely and we went on a 70 mile ride. She’s happy with the
combo and that’s the important thing. For me it’s a lot more like a
touring bike experience – quiet and not much air flow or pressure.
That’s OK for my two up rides but not what I want for single day rides.
We did not have any wind on that trip so I don’t know how side and head
winds are going to affect it. The combo definitely takes the sting out
of the wind blast from oncoming big rigs. I did take a single ride with
the combo on a pretty cold day and it was much more pleasant from the
protection standpoint.
The windshield shakes around quite a bit, especially with the lip on.
This is mostly from the fairing support frame flexing but some is from
the method of attachment. The shield is held against the rubber padded
frame with four nylon screws - there is a certain amount of flexibility
at this joint. The shaking disturbed me quite a bit at first. You wonder
if it might just fly off in the wind. I did take the bike up to 100mph a
few times and nothing alarming happened. I’m OK with the shaking now. I
will probably change the fasteners to something else, as much for
convenience as security.
I plan to only use the shield for long trips and two up rides. I can
change from this shield to the fairing in just a couple of minutes.
Right now it’s a little tedious to change because of the tiny nuts and
awkward positions. I plan to make some extended nuts to make the change
over easier. I attached the lip to the shield using nylon screws instead
of the supplied adhesive pads – I wanted to be able to take the lip off
if I wanted.
A few more impressions. I kind of like the style – it takes a little
away from the sporting nature of the bike but I don’t think it makes it
ugly. I kind of get the impression it’s not very aerodynamic – I just
feel that it’s pushing a lot of air. This must be a psychological oddity
because of the changed environment or something. I don’t see how it
could be any worse than a human body. (I
carefully tested this today by noting the MPG at 80 mph using the
Laminar shield with Lip and the stock fairing. There is no difference in
the aerodynamics. The reading was identical on level road.)
The verdict
I give it a thumbs up. For my two up riding it’s what I’ve been looking
for. For people who have to ride in the cold it must be the most
protective windshield available. Ultimately, I think it would be nice to
integrate the lip (and extra height) into the windshield and have a
lighter more stable shield.
My experience with Leo (Laminar) was great. He took the time to answer
my questions in a straighforward and friendly manner. He got my order
sent right out and I had it two days after my call.
Go to the Laminar site for their explanation of the hardware.
http://www.laminarlip.com/multistrada.htm
© 2006 WolfCentral Productions