Windjammer or Cafe racer windshiled?

[CatatonicBug]

I went to my file of Cycle World test on the XS and in the February 79 issue they had a complete test on the 79 Special. The speedometer error was, at 30 mph, the speedometer indicated 27 mph and at 60 mph the speedometer indicated 57 mph. All Specials were equipped with a 3.50H-19 Bridgestone Mag Mopus front tire and if you change the diameter of the front tire you change the accuracy/reading of the speedometer. A stock Eleven had a 4.76 to 1 gear ratio in 5th. gear and with a 26.18 inch rear tire (mine) you are doing 81.76 MPH @ 5000 Rpm. On my Special the speedometer is indicating 80 MPH @ 5000 Rpm and I'm actually going 81.76 MPH. @ 8500 Rpm with this combo you are doing 139 MPH and the math doesn't lie. On a drag race car the rear tires will grow by at least an inch at 140 MPH depending on the tire and weight of the car however the growth of the tires on a street bike tire at this speed is nil to nothing according to Dunlop. I have a direct read out hand held tach that will read/check the Rpm of any spinning object, IE, fan blades, flywheel or timing plate and it's dead nut on. I use it for a multitude of things one being to check the accuracy of my motorcycle tacs. I have an MSD shift lite on both my Special and V-Max and it can be set to come on from 3,000 Rpm to 13,800 Rpm in 200 Rpm increments and I sometimes set it to come on @ 5000 Rpm to check my set up for accuracy and 9000 Rpm is the self imposed limit on the XS. Once you know the tac error if any, you can do the math and know exactly where you are at.

A stock speedometer or a GPS if you prefer is fine for the Interstate but for serious folks a shift lite is preferred and on a V-Max it's mandatory because at full throttle git it on time you ain't got time to gawk at that peanut sized tac on the guage panel.

What is the margin of error on your GPS system?

Dan

Thanks for all that detail... I think... I have a headache now.

I don't pay that close attention to the mph to care about decimals in there, and I don't watch it close enough to worry about RPMs vs MPH. All I know is that when I was running down I-70 from Kansas City to St. Louis, my speedo didn't agree with my GPS. I would run at constant speeds for a half-mile or so, and watch the number on the GPS, just to be sure it calibrated itself. I have no idea how exact it was, but it was off by enough of a margin to make me realize that my speedo was not correct.

[smaughazard]

Back to the OP's question: I have had two of the Slipstreamer S-05 windshields; one on my XS1100SF, and one on my 900 Trident. Excellent protection, good aerodynamics, and they are completely clear so they look pretty good.

http://www.slipstreamer.com/Product/...g/touring.html

[Dan Hodges]

Back to the OP's question: I have had two of the Slipstreamer S-05 windshields; one on my XS1100SF, and one on my 900 Trident. Excellent protection, good aerodynamics, and they are completely clear so they look pretty good.

http://www.slipstreamer.com/Product/...g/touring.html

Eons ago I had a Slipstreamer windshield on my then new 79 Honda CB 750 Custom. I believe the one I had closely resembled the S-08 model as I recall it being more narrow across the middle of the shield than the ones pictured in your link. The one I had was lightly tinted and fit the bike well and I thought the bike looked better with it on than without. It did a good job as I recall and in July of that year I took a trip with some other guys to Tennessee and Smoky Mountain National Park. We got stuck in traffic going through Dollywood and Gatlinburg and my new Honda got so hot it cooked the O rings in the top end of the motor. On the way home from Knoxville it rained on us all the way to St. Louis and I swore I would never take a motorcycle trip again......but of course I did.

[Clerek]

I personally like the cafe racer style fairing...I think those big windjammer's are too BIG for my taste! I like the minimal look with nothing, but if I were going to put a fairing on my bike it would a smaller cafe one like this:



Hope that helps,
-Rick

[Dan Hodges]

I personally like the cafe racer style fairing...I think those big windjammer's are too BIG for my taste! I like the minimal look with nothing, but if I were going to put a fairing on my bike it would a smaller cafe one like this:



Hope that helps,
-Rick

I have one similiar to that for my V-Max but it does very little other than look cool. I have another combo for my Max which consist of a shortened National Cycle Street Shield like the one on my XS in the picture.

[mro]

To jam or not to jam

Bummer,
photopbucket or the site have changed and I'll need to learn how to post pics agin...

mro

[DeanR]

I tried a Memphis Shades shield, took it off after a day or two and sent it back. Buffetting was not tolerable regardless of how I had it positioned. Put on a Maier cafe and never looked back. Looks great and does help with wind in the chest. Those huge fairings aren't for me at all.

[psycoreefer]

Ok, I feel I can offer a good comparison now.
I've had a national cycle F-series shield on the bike for about a year and a half, probably 4 or 5k miles.
I just installed a windjammer 3 that was given to me last week and put 600 miles on the bike last weekend with the jammer.

I have to say I like both and intend to switch back and forth:
the small sport shield is nice if your riding short trips around town and occasional free way riding, and you don't mind getting a little wet in the rain. I love mine, it keeps the wind off my chest so I'm not fighting to stay on the bike but still lets me feel the wind and such

The jammer is nice for long trips, if your doing a few hours a day or mostly free-way riding I'd take the jammer over the sport shield. It block all the wind, rain, bugs etc, and adds a ton of storage space. My biggest complaint is that I don't love the look, its ok but not great. My second complaint is that it blocks all the wind...I like to feel the wind at least for short trips and around town.

[Dan Hodges]

Bugs And Storage Space

Ok, I feel I can offer a good comparison now.
I've had a national cycle F-series shield on the bike for about a year and a half, probably 4 or 5k miles.
I just installed a windjammer 3 that was given to me last week and put 600 miles on the bike last weekend with the jammer.

I have to say I like both and intend to switch back and forth:
the small sport shield is nice if your riding short trips around town and occasional free way riding, and you don't mind getting a little wet in the rain. I love mine, it keeps the wind off my chest so I'm not fighting to stay on the bike but still lets me feel the wind and such

The jammer is nice for long trips, if your doing a few hours a day or mostly free-way riding I'd take the jammer over the sport shield. It block all the wind, rain, bugs etc, and adds a ton of storage space. My biggest complaint is that I don't love the look, its ok but not great. My second complaint is that it blocks all the wind...I like to feel the wind at least for short trips and around town.

All of my long trips on my Special were made with the National Cycle Plexi-Star II windshield installed and it always did a good job.

These days it wears the little National Cycle Street Shield which is fine for what I now do on the XS. I've never had a bike with a full touring type fairing and so I'm comfortable with the small handlebar mounted type. I did once own a Kawasaki 900 Ninja, a V-65 Honda Sabre and an FJ-1100 Yamaha all of which had factory fairings, all of which blocked very little wind and all were uncomfortable save for the FJ which was tolerable on a good day.

What's neat about an XS is that you can make it anything you want from a baby Gold Wing to a naked hot rod or anything in between, it's a matter of choice.
It is unfortunate though that few people really squeeze the XS for horsepower like the owners of the 750-900-1000-1100 Honda's or early Kaws do which is strange because of the fact the XS has so much potential.

[mro]

[QUOTE=It is unfortunate though that few people really squeeze the XS for horsepower like the owners of the 750-900-1000-1100 Honda's or early Kaws do which is strange because of the fact the XS has so much potential.
[/QUOTE]

Too many projects and so little time
as well as it costs much more now a days too get radical.
Once I finish the SF I'm working on, I need to get to my neglected front yard then maybe a little house project or two, then this and that.
Depending on what’s up when I start my next XS project... should be either the MNS LG or I might get back to fixing up the hot rod XS.

Sprit Shield on a G



Vetter on a SF



Then with bags...



I ride in the rain and the un cut shield on the vetter is XSelant protection even at 20 MPH. I also do a lot of Free Way travel and a shield makes it easier on the old body.... I might even install the radio sitting on the shelf collecting dust some day, turn it into a real woose mobile


mro

[Korr]

The cafe only works ok if you're tucked in tight or if you are short like me
I've always had Slipstreamer spitfire windshields for my other bikes. It works great. Here's a link, i usually go for the tinted ones.


http://www.oldbikebarn.com/SlipStrea...adsource=M7989

[Dan Hodges]

Too many projects and so little time
as well as it costs much more now a days too get radical.
Once I finish the SF I'm working on, I need to get to my neglected front yard then maybe a little house project or two, then this and that.
Depending on what’s up when I start my next XS project... should be either the MNS LG or I might get back to fixing up the hot rod XS.

Sprit Shield on a G



Vetter on a SF



Then with bags...



I ride in the rain and the un cut shield on the vetter is XSelant protection even at 20 MPH. I also do a lot of Free Way travel and a shield makes it easier on the old body.... I might even install the radio sitting on the shelf collecting dust some day, turn it into a real woose mobile


mro

The naked "G" is Xtra cool however the last one is a bag too far and a bike with a radio is just totally Winged out.

Actually all of them are very nice.

[mro]

The naked "G" is Xtra cool however the last one is a bag too far and a bike with a radio is just totally Winged out.

Glad I didn't post a pic with the trunk on too....

You might like the SF I'm doing now, it be running NAKID
Well not quite running, waiting on some tank treatment I ordered as well as have yet to decide what to do about the crappy looking fenders and air box.


mro

[Dan Hodges]

The naked "G" is Xtra cool however the last one is a bag too far and a bike with a radio is just totally Winged out.

Glad I didn't post a pic with the trunk on too....

You might like the SF I'm doing now, it be running NAKID
Well not quite running, waiting on some tank treatment I ordered as well as have yet to decide what to do about the crappy looking fenders and air box.


mro

The tank treatment can be tricky but done properly it's as good as new. About ten years ago my Special developed a pin hole in the seam of the tank on the left side causing a very minor leak. After cleaning and coating it I've never experienced another problem and the inside of the tank still has a fresh grayish look like it did when I first coated it.

The front plastic fender from a Yamaha 900 Seca will fit the Eleven Special with a little fiddling and according to some provides a somewhat more modern look. You can find nice air boxes on e-bay and Andrew Weiss has some also as I just bought a tray from him that was like brand new after I got all the reddish dust/dirt out of it. The most diffulcult thing about finding a nice air box is finding one without dents and scratches in the chrome and of course one that has nice supple intake boots with the crankcase vent tubes intact.

A few years ago, I put a Seca front fender on my brothers 80 Special and he had a thing for green and so the bike got painted emerald green along with the red Seca front fender but we left the rear fender chrome. We also put a set of V-Max handlebars on it which required some major alterations to the cables to keep everything sanitary looking. I thought it turned out very slick and ever since I've entertained the idea of changing the color of mine but haven't had the heart to do it........because once you leave black, it's tough to go back...paint wise.

With the Eleven all things are possible, with enough patience and money.

Dan

[metalistik]

Thanks for the great input. After carefully reviewing my options, I decided to go the quarter fairing way and got a Slipstreamer SR-90 fairing from Johnson and Wood in North Hollywood, CA for $50. I couldn't find any info on the fairing and it came without mounts, but the "magic" box of windshield mounts at J&W served up some that fit my XS. Here are some pics of the finished product:


Thanks to all, ride safe.
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1979 XS1100 Special - Daily driver