CalSci 4.5” Windshield

I ordered my CalSci 4.5” on Monday and received it on Wednesday – just as promised with a cleaning cloth and cleaner.

Like everyone else that is looking for a new screen, I read every post on windshields I could find to see what people liked and what they didn’t like. In fact, what I was most interested in was what the pillion liked and didn’t like (need to keep the wifey happy!) As such, I figured that I would add my $0.02 to what I learned/like/dislike…

One thing that I don’t see mentioned very often (and something that I discussed with Mark at CalSci) is the age of the rider(s). One thing that typically holds true is that the age of the rider and the tolerance for wind are inversely proportional.

Rider Info:
- Age: 31 years old
- Height: 6’ 1”
- Inseam: ~33”
- Weight: ~205lbs (no gear)

Pillion Info:
- Age: 31 years old
- Height: 5’ 7”
- Inseam: ~29”
- Weight: ~105lbs (no gear) ((Do NOT tell my wife that I posted this here!!!!)) Wink

Bike Info:
- 750 miles on the bike
- Stock bars (have risers, haven’t installed them yet)
- Stock seat (will likely have my factory one reworked eventually)
- Kawi Trunk (wife uses it as a back-rest)
- Stock rear pegs (will look into lowering them once the wife gets some more miles under her belt)
- AutoCom (allows rider/pillion communication)
- BMW grips (thanks to the suggestions on this board)

Typical commute/riding
- Commute on super-slab (60-80 mph) or surface streets (stop lights ~ every ½ mile)
- Joy riding – super-slab (60-80 mph) or PCH (CA route 1) (40-60 mph)

Thoughts on O.E. windshield (Rider)
The stock windshield looks great (has a bit more “sport” look to it, which I like). Riding around town, I like the amount of air that I get on my chest/head. At highway speeds at full-down, the majority of the noisy turbulent air is hitting my chest – my helmet is above the turbulent stuff and in the stable/constant wind. At full up on the highway, the turbulent air is targeted mid-helmet and I get pushed around a bit, but it’s tolerable (an acceptable trade-off for the sport look/feel on surface streets).

Thoughts on O.E. windshield (Pillion)
The stock windshield looks fine and works fine on the surface streets (below 40 mph) – she can’t tell a difference between full-up and full-down. At speeds above 40 mph, she gets tossed around to the point of being uncomfortable and getting a sore neck rather quickly (doesn’t make a notable difference between full-up or full-down.) When we went for a ride, she regularly asked me to stay off the freeway and only take surface streets to our destination.

Thoughts on CalSci 4.5” windshield (Rider)
Wow is this thing taller that the factory one. At full-down, the windshield is about the same height as the stock one at full-up. Riding around town, I don’t get much (if any) wind on my chest. At full-up around town, (30-40 mph) I have almost no wind at all. At highway speeds at full down, my head is smack-dab in the middle of the turbulent air (seems worse than the turbulence felt with the stock screen at full up – not sure why). At full-up on the highway, I my helmet is about 1.5” or 2.0” above the clean air (raising my gloved hand to feel where the stillness ends). This is certainly acceptable – I can feel a small amount of movement from the wind, but it doesn’t feel too turbulent or obnoxious. With the windshield at full-up, I can tell a difference with the quality of the air in-front of the bike. For an example, If I am following another car/truck, I can feel the bike getting pushed around much more than with the stock windshield.

Thoughts on CalSci 4.5” windshield (Pillion)
Riding around town, (30-40 mph) the wife gets the brunt of the air at full-down. At these speeds, its acceptable (for a short stint) but at speeds above 40, she prefers the windshield at full-up. At highway speeds, she can tell a significant difference between full-down and full-up. She says that she can still feel some turbulence/air movement even at full-up, but it is well within the level of acceptability. I asked her if it was “acceptable enough” to tolerate for a 400 or 500 mile ride, and her response was: “Yes”.

While we were at highway speed, I asked my wife to scrunch down ~1.5 inches (simulating a CalSci +6” windshield) to see if it was any better – her answer was: “Not significantly; Not worth getting a taller windshield for”. Likewise, I lowered the height of the windshield by 1.5” (simulating a CalSci +3” windshield) and her response was: “Can you put that back up?”

In summary
In my opinion, the CalSci +4.5” windshield for the C14 is an acceptable compromise between appearance, functionality and pillion comfort (the latter being the reason for purchasing a new windshield). In a perfect world, It would be nice to have 6” of travel in the windshield instead of the existing 4.5” (this would allow for a 3” windshield for add’l air on the surface streets but retain the height/coverage for the pillion on the highway when at full-up)...

(As always, your mileage may vary...)

- Chip

		Topic: CalSci 4.5” Windshield – My opinion (Read 4630 times)
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