Lip VS Cutting Touring Shield

[SpeedwayRN]

Has anyone cut down their BMW touring shields to eliminate the howling noise? The other option I was entertaining was adding the Laminar Lip. I do agree with those that think the lip is Fugly. It does look a bit tacked on or some sort of growth. Has anyone tried both? I'm going to try the cheapst option of adding some 3/4" washers with longer bolts first.

[owldaddy]

Let us know how it turns out, I use the Lip, I agree that it isn't the most attractive thing on the bike, but I have always been a function over style kind of guy, and it functions well. If cutting the shield works I might be tempted to try that.
Don

[ruddy]

A fairly easy and cheap fix to shift the turbulence and noise is to use rubber spacers between the upper mounts and the windshield. You'll need longer screws, but they're easy to find at any hardware store. The ones I settled on are approximately 3/4" thick and change the angle of the shield enough to deflect the airflow to the top of my helmet, which makes a huge difference by eliminating the turbulence and noise at the face shield level.

I also use the BMW Sport Shield during the summer months, and I found that the turbulence hit me just below the chin bar of my helmet. In this case, I used a belt sander with an 80 grit belt to lower the height. Worked like a champ. I used a felt tip marker to draw a line across the shield and sanded down to it. Once I got it to where I wanted it, I beveled the edge with the sander and then smoothed it with a file. Finer sandpaper would work, too. I had no overheating issues with the belt sander. It did leave a lip of plastic along the edge, which is easily removed when you use the sander to bevel the edges. I did all this with the shield mounted on the bike, so I could really see the effects of what I was doing. The airflow now hits me in the chest well below the chin bar. It deflects enough wind to make highway speeds a lot more pleasant without the turbulence and noise.

[Airman]

A fairly easy and cheap fix to shift the turbulence and noise is to use rubber spacers between the upper mounts and the windshield. You'll need longer screws, but they're easy to find at any hardware store. The ones I settled on are approximately 3/4" thick and change the angle of the shield enough to deflect the airflow to the top of my helmet, which makes a huge difference by eliminating the turbulence and noise at the face shield level.

I also use the BMW Sport Shield during the summer months, and I found that the turbulence hit me just below the chin bar of my helmet. In this case, I used a belt sander with an 80 grit belt to lower the height. Worked like a champ. I used a felt tip marker to draw a line across the shield and sanded down to it. Once I got it to where I wanted it, I beveled the edge with the sander and then smoothed it with a file. Finer sandpaper would work, too. I had no overheating issues with the belt sander. It did leave a lip of plastic along the edge, which is easily removed when you use the sander to bevel the edges. I did all this with the shield mounted on the bike, so I could really see the effects of what I was doing. The airflow now hits me in the chest well below the chin bar. It deflects enough wind to make highway speeds a lot more pleasant without the turbulence and noise.

I have both the BMW touring shield and the sport shield. I bought the sport shield last summer just to try. The touring shield is noisy, and the sport shield allows too much airflow to impact the rider in my opinion. Tell me, doesn't having 80 mph air and the turbulence from other vehicles hitting you in the chest bother you ? I understand the air under the chin bar, I took my Fallert fairing off because the airflow hit me in chest and pushed up inside my helmet. I ran the sport shield for a while last summer, but the drag is considerable and I find it tiring. The touring shield for all it's noise does offer pretty good weather protection. Perhaps I'll try changing the angle like Ruddy has suggested. i would prefer to have the air going over my head.

[Trout]

I have a tall shield, a medium shield with a Laminar Lip, and a cut-down shield. I bought a shield on eBay specifically to cut.

There is no genuine and totally effective solution to the wind problem. If you sit behind a shield, you will get various degrees of wind noise, wind buffeting, wind turbulence, or any combination of the three. I did an experiment a week ago where I did back to back rides with 3 different shields. I did an experiment this week where I used duct tape to position the Laminar Lip in 3 different positions and did back to back rides.

You will find a "lesser of many evils", but it might take some money and experiments to get there. If you do some research, you will find examples of two people with the exact same configuration and one will claim it's so quiet that he can hear the engine purr and the other will claim that his helmet feels like a paint shaker.

Good luck in your quest.

[rdsmith3]

I agree with Trout -- there is no great solution on this bike. We have different sizes and riding positions; different helmets; and different tolerances for noise. It is a very subjective experience, and it is also hard to do a direct A to B comparison because some of the screens use different mounting brackets.

I have settled on the BMW touring screen. I have tried it with and without the laminar lip, and I honestly did not notice a difference (so the lip was sold). The touring screen is noisy, so I wear ear plugs. It offers reasonable protection from wind and rain.

I have also tried the fly screen, which looks great but offers little protection. I also tried the MRA Vario screen, which looks good, but the wind flow was not right for me.