Hi all,
I thought I might update you on my latest developments, and share some of my observations.
The screen(roof) has been installed with a modicum of success, and tested properly over the past week or two over a range of terrain and weather conditions.
I did around 200 miles last week, and a 700 mile tour of the lake district last weekend, enough to test the concept and get a general impression, some good, some not so good.
I love the effortless cruising on motorways and dual carriageways, no wind noise or buffeting, warm, dry and cozy in my little bubble. The only problem was that I had to wind it up to flat out on occasions to relieve the boredom.
The screen does flex a little in disturbed air, but not by much because of the double curvature. It's made from 3mm Lexan because its easy to work with, but there's always a price to pay, it's too soft and scratches easily. This really is the biggest problem.
After only a few hundred miles the screen top was scratched to hell from light contact with the top of my helmet (see photo), so a harder material, maybe acrylic or a safety glass insert is a possibility.
I rode through a thunderstorm last week and got wet arms and legs, so for last weekend I gaffa taped the fairing vents and added a rubber rain channel to the edges to prevent the water running off the edge on to my sleeves, result!. We had some light rain on Saturday, I stayed dry.
The light rain highlighted another problem, despite using RainX on the screen, visibility was not good enough, it was ok in the storm but the light rain would gather in droplets and not run off the screen at any speed below 40mph.
Part of the tour was on badly surfaced, single track mountain passes, with 100 foot drops on one side, and dry stone walls on the other, when it rained I had to look around the screen rather than through it.
The Hardnott Pass, Cumbria
A widscreen wiper of some description is needed, it would soon make the Lexan opaque, another reason for a harder screen material.
The view through the screen, ever wondered why car dashboards are matt black? notice the 'heads up' display.
Access to the topbox is easy because of the flexible screen.
In conclusion, I would say the concept was proven to be a success.
I'm going to put the original screen back on for the summer and hopefully somehow resolve the visibilty problem before next winter.
Oh, almost forgot, surprisingly, the 'roof' didn't improve the fuel economy, it stayed the same at around 120mpg imp., go figure!