[Ted White]

pauljo:

I think you had the best of the worlds going for you on that VStrom ride. Both bikes weigh about the same, you had a windless day, long rural roads, hardly any stops or passes.

Your 1000cc engine is loafing at anything under 100mph (I've got about 6 hours on a VStrom, don't ask me how I know about speeds over 100mph). At 70, the 650 isn't being pushed by any means, but it does have to work a bit harder, especially with that big windscreen.

I have done some recent 160 mile trips and it keeps getting better: 56mpg last week, 58mpg this week. I think the engine is breaking in at 2900 miles. I will switch to synthetic at 4,000 miles and that might add a mile or two

But then I am at 5600 feet, the air is thinner, I think, and I only weigh 145.

Our local PMS (Professor of Motorcycle Science, not what you thought) says the trunk causes wind drag.

Anyway, over 40mpg is win,win. You'd have to spend 20 grand on a VW Golf TDI diesel to better that. When I tell my SUV owning friends what my Burgman's fuel mileage is, they grow silent.

 

[Ted White]

It wasn't unintentional (our little secret). I have yet to ride a Hayabusa, though a friend of a friend has one. Perhaps soon. Anyway, it seems we have a Half-a-Busa. Did you read my post about the sheepskin in Hot seat? I think it's in the general discussion section.

Was wondering if you'd had a similar experience.

You're right about the weight. The Burgie does weigh more. BTW, SSS (on our forum) called me and said, "Now I know why they put an emergency brake on the Burgie." Seems he parked it on a slight downgrade and it rolled forward. Broke the left turn signal lens ($42.00). He said the bike was amazingly easy to pick up.

 

[Ted White]

Wow, pauljo! What a wonderful experiment. I'll be anxious to learn the results.

I'm also amazed that you carry all that stuff with you. Jeez, I guess if I had a flat tire, I'd just call a buddy on my cell phone - one with a pickup truck - and tell him where I am. As it is, at least right now in my life, I use the Burgman for very practical trips: to meetings (always too many), so I carry lots of papers and prepared lectures, etc.; shopping at the grocery store (once I learned how much one can actually cram into the 52 liter trunk).

I'm also interested in the results of your experiment because I just ordered a clearview (large size only - I'm 5'9") and hate to think of lost mileage and acceleration.

Your comments about the HJC mesh with my observations. Mine is the flip face Sy-Max. Love the flip face but don't like the noise, exacerbated by the stock Burgie windscreen. Probably, on a naked bike, it would be perfectly OK. As for the Shoei, mine is the RF900, noticeably quieter behind the stock windscreen.

The othe factor is the aftermarket exhaust system. I don't know how you could remove that to get back to stock, as I suspect some welding had to occur.

 

[Ted White]

Pauljo:

Great news. 5mpg is a significant increase, all due, apparently, to a smaller windscreen and the Givi trunk removal.

Have you tried riding it without the windscreen? The cowl over the instrument cluster looks like it might do as much as some of those little sportbike bikini windscreens. Might work for me as I'm only 5'9" - but you are, as I recall, rather tall.

I had a helmet whistle in the position you describe. As soon as I tilted or turned my head ever so slightly, it disappeared. But I'm not much help here. It was with the RF900 but I can't recall which bike/windscreen combo. I had a brief encounter with a Yamaha Vino 125 scooter (very nice for slow moving traffic in an urban environment) to which I added an aftermarket windscreen, and that might have been it. I believe I either moved the windscreen up or down, or tilted it, and the whistle disappeared. As you're riding now with stock windscreen, you might try raising or lowering your head a bit to see if that affects the whistle.

The RF900 must have been completely whistle free on my Suzuki SV650, my Suzuki Bandit. my Kawasaki W650, and my Honda F3, or I would have absolutely remembered, as I had each bike for over a year.

I am still getting mpg's in the mid fifties on the AN650, but I've got the stock windscreen, no trunk bag, 34 psi front, 36 psi rear, and I weigh only 145.

 

[Ted White]

Pauljo:

I tried an experiment today. I removed the stock windscreen entirely and went for a twenty mile ride in varying wind conditions, from no wind to nasty gusts of 30mph.

What I expected turned out to be the case. A great reduction in helmet wind noise. That part was nice. What was not nice was the wind pressure on my torso at higher speeds, and, of course, exacerbated when driving into a strong headwind. This is no doubt due to the vertical position of your torso, which is the common position on maxi-scooters. If I was on a naked bike, such as a Suzuki SV650 or a mini-screened Bandit, my torso would be canted forward at close to a 40 degree angle. This counters the wind blast and actually unloads your wrists.

Now comes the unfortunate part. When I tried to put the windscreen back on, I was defeated by the rubber mounts. I couldn't get the flanges back through the holes in the windscreen.

I'm sure you must have encountered this problem when you installed your Clearview, and others who installed the Givi would also have had to figure out how to do this.

I would greatly appreciate some tips here.

 

[Ted White]

Aha! That makes sense. Not knowing, I was afraid to pull them out for fear of tearing them. It seemed to me the nut part was too big to go through the hole in the windscreen. Apparently not.

A further question. Would it be easier, in terms of the first phase, to remove the retaining bracket and pull the rubber nuts out from the rear?
That would be one less stressful event for them.

Also, would reinserting them through the windscreen hole and mounting bracket hole be easier with some sort of lubricant? I'm not sure what to use that wouldn't damage the rubber. Gojo lanolin hand cleaner? KY jelly? Bit of detergent?

 

[Ted White]

Thanks, Randy. Maybe I should just leave the **** thing off until my Clearview arrives. Actually, it looks kind of nasty with it off. It also accelerates better at high speeds, but it's still no fun hanging on in the windblast.

 

[Ted White]

Good point. Practice makes perfect. Or so I'm told. However, didn't work for me in the wonderful world of golf.