MadStad Windscreen

Recently purchased and installed a light smoke MadStad adjustable windscreen.  Both height and angle can be adjusted.  Installation was not difficult.  Took 45 minutes.  As advertised, it does reduce helmet buffeting and noise level.  Would recommend.

How about a photo?

Here's a link for the SWing:
https://madstad.com/collections/honda/products/honda-fjs600

Has anyone here had any experience with the Madstad adjustable windshield? I've had the Givi adjustable on my last Silverwing but the Mastad looks pretty good. The Mastad adjusts both in angle and height.

https://madstad.com/products/honda-fjs600

The '07 SW I just bought has a high Givi airflow screen which I'm going to shorten because I have to be able to see over it. I was thinking of just putting on another adjustable screen. The Givi air flow I had before worked well but the Mastad looks better on the scooter so I'm currently leaning that way.

RickV posted that he had a Madstad for sale here on the forum last year (IIRC). He hasn't posted here in a couple of months but it might pay to email him to see if it's still available.

Tim

It'd be a shame to spend all that money on a brand new Madstad only to have to cut it down. Whereas the Givi AF top half is common to all their AF screens and probably much easier to replace if needed.

I missed this thread when I asked on the forum if anyone had installed a Madstad windshield. Glad to hear it recommended by MB Don. My SW has a tall Givi Airflow, it's a good windshield but I don't care for a windshield that I can't easily see over. For the moment I'll shorten it about 2 1/2" but I think I'll go for the Madstad soon. I had a Givi adjustable on my last SW before this one. It worked well but I didn't really care for the look. The Madstad looks good on the bike in the picture. Probably won't be at risk of losing the top of it either and the ability adjust the angle as well as the height would be good too.

Thanks I'll give that a shot.

FYI, the GIVI adjustable windshield and the GIVI Airflow is one and the same. The tall one piece is the DT214 and the two piece adjustable one is the AF214 for our Swings.

Here's a link to RickV's earlier Madstad comments:

https://www.silverwing600.com/t7124-madtad-windshield-questions-use#70252

Paul, I hate to see you cut down the present windshield. Since Cee Bailey left m/c shields behind it is hard to find a larger than stock windshield. I am betting you could sell it on here to taller riders. I bought the Cee Bailey +5 shield and am very happy with it. I had an adjustable on my Gold Wing but once i got it to the correct height I never moved it again. So the extra price and complexity was not worth it at least for me!!! Good luck.

exavid wrote:

Probably won't be at risk of losing the top of it either and the ability adjust the angle as well as the height would be good too.

Since I reported about losing not one but two top screens way back in 2011 and 2012, who else on here has actually posting about losing one since?

I think you'll be pretty safe with the Givi AF 214 Airflow, and although it's easily adjustable, once you find a height that works I reckon you’ll pretty much leave it alone.

I've read forum posts about owners with Airflows on a variety of maxi scooters saying they can quickly change the screen height when stopped at traffic lights, and I always think why? Unless you're one of those oddballs that prefer looking through the screen and it's raining or at night and you have to.

Spend a few miles getting the optimum screen height and then leave it alone. I did that with my last top screen and then it stayed at that height for the next 7 years. It's still on that setting in it's box in my shed.

Even with the electric screen on the Forza I have now, since changing the OE screen to a taller Givi one, it's the extra width and not height that makes the difference. Now I've added the Givi hand guards that are fixed to the bodywork I hardly ever touch the switches to change screen height, and I run with it lower.

Unless that Madstad screen gives some hand coverage I'd stick with the Givi Airflow, those side wings are pretty effective in bad weather.

Meldrew wrote:

... snipped ... Unless that Madstad screen gives some hand coverage I'd stick with the Givi Airflow, those side wings are pretty effective in bad weather.

That was my thought too after looking at the pics. There appears to be little to no side/hand coverage with the shape of the Madstad windscreen.

I too agree, since having my Givi Airflow, I find it deflects the wind away from the hands perfectly, although I'm still playing around with the height to suit my needs.

One advantage of the Madstad is that the aluminum mount base allows itself to be used to mount a light bar or a Screaming Banshee horn. Either of which have been a major headache on the Silverwing.

I think I'll leave the present Airflow on the bike this fall, albeit cut down a couple inches. I riding country roads in the right weather it's not uncommon around here to go through a dip in the road where the air is cooler and have an instant covering of fog on the screen. Also once while riding my Goldwing in rainy weather I got sprayed by a semi going the other way and got a gob of muck on my windshield. Like having a solid brown screen. It was a cattle truck too, so it probably wasn't mud.

Either way that's an experience I don't want to repeat. I'd rather get it on my helmet visor that I can flip up than the windshield that I can't.

Am I the only one confused here. After nine years on this forum where the Givi Airflow is the subject of numerous topics, you must know what a Givi Airflow is. The AF214 two piece screen with a removable adjustable top screen.

It's already been mentioned that is the taller one piece non adjustable Givi screen is the DT 214 which is fine for some owners and too tall for others

So why in your post above do you say you're going to cut down your 'Airflow' a couple of inches. All you need to do is loosen two levers off and move the top screen down a couple of inches lower and tighten up the levers again.

I'm now starting to think Portland isn't the only thing in Oregon that's weird!

Meldrew wrote:

[Snip] So why in your post above do you say you're going to cut down your 'Airflow' a couple of inches. All you need to do is loosen two levers off and move the top screen down a couple of inches lower and tighten up the levers again.[Snip]

Or remove the top half altogether.

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

Or remove the top half altogether.

I wouldn't recommend it Timothy, I've ridden with only the fixed lower screen a couple of times after I lost those top sections and the wind noise it generates is appalling. Even with custom fit ear plugs my ears were ringing, and my clothing, helmet, and visor were covered with bug splat.

In fact it's everything you ride behind an effective screen to avoid, and far worse than anything that useless OE Honda screen could throw at you.

I know I've posted about how unpleasant it is before, and that was for the benefit of a couple of posters who thought riding without the top screen would be like those Harley Davidsons with the colour matched handlebar fairing with the very short screen.

You may not have noticed ,but over this side of the Pond I've refrained so far from sniggering at the references to 'getting sprayed by a semi' and 'getting a gob of muck on my windshield'.  

How is that screen working for you GoonerKev? Well made product? Durable looking?

I measured the amount of clearance over the the top of my helmet to the main rush of wind today and it looks like I can easily take two inches off without losing any protection. I actually will probably try and inch and a half first.

C Bailey windshields are great, I put one on my GL500 Goldwing. Well made, a bit thicker than original that made it a wee bit harder to pull up or push down but no flexing up to a bit over a ton on the speedo.

Right now I'm figuring out how to best mount a Givi top box base to my scooter. So experimenting with the winshield will be on the back burner for now.

Just got in a new drive belt, my SW has 16,000mi on the clock so it's due for replacement. I'll need to clean out the pulley cheek pieces and the belt housing, every SW I've had before needed that done.

Paul W
The Givi screen is working just fine for me, I now seem to have it in the perfect position for me, and made a little line either side on it so if and when I want a bit more fresh air and lower it, I can move it back to my optimum position and no more guessing

It looks good GoonerKev. I think I'll go that way instead of cutting the Givi windshield. I had the adjustable Givi (Meldrew, notice I'm not saying Airflow adjustable) on a SW a few years ago but it didn't look as good as the MadStad does on the bike.

Good for you Paul

exavid wrote:

I had the adjustable Givi (Meldrew, notice I'm not saying Airflow adjustable) on a SW a few years ago but it didn't look as good as the MadStad does on the bike.

Do tell us more about this adjustable Givi that you're saying wasn't an Airflow. Simply because I''m unaware of it being produced. I've never found it listed on any accessories website, or read any posts about it from Silver Wing owners on here or other maxi scooter forums.

Both Givi (and Kappa) have only ever listed two screens for the Silver Wing. The tall one piece DT 214 and the identical Kappa version, and the two piece height adjustable Givi AF214 Airflow and it's Kappa clone.  

I believe you are the one who made a point of saying the Givi adjustable WASN'T an Airflow.

The distinction really doesn't affect or interest me that much. I'll simply refer to it in the future as the Givi windshield with the upper and downer.

Not everything translates from your side of the Pond to over here. So I'm guessing in Oregan speak, riding with your Airflow 'cut down a couple of inches' actually means you've just lowered it.

Which is kinda confusing, we all understand forest workers and lumberjacks cut down trees, they don't lower them do they.

Then of course some owners proudly post about cutting down screens that are too tall for them, unless of course they've cocked the job up and cracked or broken the screen attempting it.

When I say "cut down" I don't mean lowered or even hewn. I mean cutting a strip off across the upper edge of the windscreen which we call a windshield. I've done it on a couple motorcycles and a Silverwing I used to own.

Cover the area where the cut is going to be with masking tape. Using a divider draw the line using whatever width strip width you wish to remove. Cut it with a sabersaw using a low speed to prevent the cut from melting or use a coping saw. Once cut use a fine sand paper on a sanding block untill all the saw marks are sianded out. Follow with fine sandpaper until the edge is smooth and clear of marks, also sand both edges of the cut with fine paper to slightly radius the edge to insure there are not stress raisers like fine scratches that can cause cracks in the plastic to begin.

If you do it right it won't be possible to tell that the edge wasn't original.

Back to the MadStad windshield/windscreen one thing I wonder about is the aluminum portion. Since it protrudes upward above the dashboard is there any chance one might be injured in an accident hitting that aluminum edge with one's head? Does the aluminum's upper edge have any kind of rubber trim covering the upper edge?

Paul
Having looked at a few MadStad windshield on the web, I would say that the aluminum brackets "Could" in certain circumstances make contact with one's head if an impact occurred & as you say, it does protrude above the dash area. Go for the Givi mate, better off

Kev

I put a Give adjustable on a previous Silver Wing I owned. It worked well other than a bit of back wind when at speed. It just didn't look all that great. But then I'm not much of a decoration on a SW either so maybe I will try another Givi. First I think I'll trim the one that's on the bike. That worked well for me on a Goldwing I had once that came with a high windshield installed on it.

Yep, do what you gotta do Paul, it's your bike mate

Agreed! One way or another. Shortening what I have now will be the cheapest remedy. I'll see how it works for me, if it doesn't there are the other alternatives. Right now I'm tired from working all afternoon adapting my new Givi top box mount to the Silverwing's tail piece. It's on now and looks good. Not too bad with the box off either but I don't imagine I'll take it off often.

The Givi box rattles a bit on it's mounts. I'm going to have to do something to stop that or only ride with it on very smooth roads. I'll stick some round pieces of inner tube over the existing rubber bumpers on the mounting plate to see if that will tighten it up enough so stop that blasted rattle.

Dale N. wrote:

Here's a link for the SWing:
https://madstad.com/collections/honda/products/honda-fjs600

Crikey! I didn't pay that much for the whole bike!

I just bought the pricey Madstad set up. Been using the tall GIVI. Not real impressed with the Madstad. A lot of wind coming in from underneath. The real pisser was the batwing panel piece would not eaisly go back on. It didn't clear the alum plate. Was not happy with the tweaking of the batwing panel so I removed it and went back to the GIVI. A $350 experiment. The GIVI works fine except for the wind pushing on my back issue.

Toolman wrote:

... snipped ... The GIVI works fine except for the wind pushing on my back issue.

Tman, I too had that back pressure problem ... it felt like there was a hand gently pushing on me all of the time.  Eventually I connected with Craig Vetter (yup the legend) and he recommended Snap Vents.

I bought 2 of them, one for either side, and they worked like a charm. Linky below.  In fact, I bought mine from him as he was, at the time, selling them through his business.

The style I used was the ones pictured in the 1st, 5th and 6th illustrations below.  I still have mine (used and not installed as I bought the AirFlow screens) and unfortunately, they do not have a PN on them so I can't say exactly which ones I bought.

The only scary part is drilling the holes in the windscreen.  A good bit and taking your time and it's pretty straight forward.

Snap Vent Website

[quote="sonuvabug" [Snip] I too had that back pressure problem ... it felt like there was a hand gently pushing on me all of the time.  Eventually I connected with Craig Vetter (yup the legend) and he recommended Snap Vents.

I bought 2 of them, one for either side, and they worked like a charm. Linky below.  In fact, I bought mine from him as he was, at the time, selling them through his business.

The style I used was the ones pictured in the 1st, 5th and 6th illustrations below.  I still have mine (used and not installed as I bought the AirFlow screens) and unfortunately, they do not have a PN on them so I can't say exactly which ones I bought.

The only scary part is drilling the holes in the windscreen.  A good bit and taking your time and it's pretty straight forward.

Snap Vent Website[/quote]

Thanks for the Snap Vent link.

The website says you’ll need to drill a 3.25” hole to mount each Snap Vent. Gee, I think that drilling two 3.25” holes would leave the windscreen pretty weak and more susceptible to wind stress.

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

[quote="sonuvabug" [Snip] I too had that back pressure problem ... it felt like there was a hand gently pushing on me all of the time.  Eventually I connected with Craig Vetter (yup the legend) and he recommended Snap Vents.

I bought 2 of them, one for either side, and they worked like a charm. Linky below.  In fact, I bought mine from him as he was, at the time, selling them through his business.

The style I used was the ones pictured in the 1st, 5th and 6th illustrations below.  I still have mine (used and not installed as I bought the AirFlow screens) and unfortunately, they do not have a PN on them so I can't say exactly which ones I bought.

The only scary part is drilling the holes in the windscreen.  A good bit and taking your time and it's pretty straight forward.

Snap Vent Website

Thanks for the Snap Vent link.

The website says you’ll need to drill a 3.25” hole to mount each Snap Vent. Gee, I think that drilling two 3.25” holes would leave the windscreen pretty weak and more susceptible to wind stress.[/quote]

Oddly it actually reduces wind stress Tim, Honda (for the UK model at least) did similar to the touring screen for the Deauville .....

The windshield that came with my 08 SWing when I bought it is a Clearview XL. Not sure but I think the XL means Extra Large? Not sure if it's been cut down or not but if I tip my head up just a bit I can see over the top. I'm 5' 9" tall. I do have a bit of back pressure but don't mind it at all. The back pressure pulls the cigarette ashes away from my face and off into the eternal world of the atmosphere. And the back pressure isn't so great that it blows out my wind proof lighter either.

Now for some more of my Polish Logic: The back pressure also pulls the sound of my 50's and 60's music from the speakers on my top box behind me right into my helmet. Some say us Pollacks are sort of not all that smart and that it takes 4 of us to change a light bulb. One to grab the bulb and three to turn the ladder. That's not true anymore. I've developed a system where it only takes 3 of us. The ladder is on wheels so it only takes two to turn it. Not bad, HUH?