DR Windshields, Deflectors, Fairings, Bugslappers

Folks, despite all the Global Warmists can do, winter IS descending on the northern hemisphere and some of us are having thoughts of elemental protections for our DR's

Could you guys post your experiences and give thumbs up or thumbs-down on the many choices for DR's. I'll start.

I had the big Parabellum on one of my DR's.
Pluses = duck behind it and nothing short of a anti-tank round will get you.
Secondly I really like their mounting system. So much that I had a guy fab some parts similar so I can mount a variety of things, like the Vstrom windshield...

Minuses = Its a lot to carry... heavy material, thick..
Also, for me, with head above the windshield clear visibility I had a lot of buffeting... head-banger. not good.

Next Up had a Memphis Spitfire. It was better, but not by a lot. Probably if I had worked with it more, trying angles etc I would have gotten happy. Not a bad choice:

++ = Not too big, not too heavy, mounts ok, but big enough to duck behind if in a hailstorm.

- - = Lotta buffeting for me... the bottom of the shield doesn't really fit the DR shroud... could use some modifying for a better fit. Bar mounting clutters your bars

Third: V-Strom stock windshield inverted.

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++ = Using parabellum-type barclamp mount, I could get it stable with just the single-struts [one each left/right]. Reasonably smooth air at low speed. Big enough to duck behind if you really hunker down.

- - = At highway speed too buffety. shake/rattle/roll.

So I'm still searching...
I've heard rumours that the National Deflector works ok... looks to be about like the Spitfire....

Please post, for everyone's sake.
z

I'm not sure who it was but, one of the guys on the DR650 thread had mounted a KLR's windshield to his DR650. IT LOOKED BITCHIN! You'd have to find out who it was and ask him how it worked.

I never mounted a shield on my 97 DR because I did lots of off Rd. with it and didn't want something else to break on get-offs...............and I learned to like bugs in my teeth.
My 91 model had a cool mini fairing from the factory that I had a lockhart-phillips extra tall (a whopping 2 inches higher) screen on.
Suzuki parts still show the plastic fairing to be available for the 91, just not the lexan portion of the screen.
F.W.I.W. I usually wore a full face street helmet for longer rides and on any bike I've owned, looked to keep the wind blast off my chest but, my head in the air flow. I always felt the helmets venting system did it's job better that way.
Good luck!

In the summer months I use the plastic from a welder's mask. I bought it at Harbor Freight for $5. It doesn't fit the headlight shroud perfectly but it is good enough. It is approximately twelve inches above the shroud and simply bolts to the shroud.

It the spring, fall and winter months I use the Parabellum I bought from a guy in South Texas. It works great!
Bob

bmw gs650 dakar shield, fits the lines of the 400 great. I bet the 650 shroud is the same mold.

+1 for the Dakar shield:





Bike that inspired me to try the Dakar screen^^^








My Te-610...with the Dakar ^^^

The protection is great and at the angle I have it mounted I get very little buffetting if any. The wind hits me right at the top of the helmet so there is also little pressure on the Head reducing neck strain...Dakar Shield is a great option for any dualsport IMHO...

i likke it.... source???/ :slurp

Zapp,
I got my Dakar Shield from Hammersley BMW (best price), the parts guy was really helpful and cool to chat with...

Dan

I like the Dakar shield, but seems a little pricey to be carving up to fit my DR.

Why would you need to carve it up? The Baja shroud is similar the the DR shroud I think...it easy pricey I agree but no cost would have been to much to get protection on my TE...to me it's worth every penny.

Dan

Is that a BMW part, or aftermarket?

I just ordered the Cee Bailey's Windshield that's made for the XR650L.

http://www.ceebaileys.com/honda/xr650lws.html

It looks cooler than the one made for the DR and has more of the "Rally" shape to it... I'm gonna figure out a custom mount for it to keep it as far away from my face as possible and adjust angle for the least buffeting.

I'll keep you all posted to let you know how it works.

BMW

group purchase on beemer dakar fairings?

ktm 950 adventure fairing is similar,but full mask, cutouts for their over/under lights...

I got mine from a buddy (totaled his 650), I have seen them pop up on e--bay.

No need to hack them up, thats the cool thing about them the fit. (I did build a cage behind mine to hold the GPS and added a thumb screw that puts pressure on the screen to dampen any vibes.)
Also they are about 1/4 inch thick, well built units.

How about some details/photos on your mount? I am planning to do the exact same thing. I even have the same GPS. I want something I can mount the assembly with GPS mount, and accessory plugs, ie. street/touring stuff, but be able to pull it all off pretty easily for more difficult dirt rides.

....www.turbocity.com makes a DR 650 specific windscreen that has a great mount and design.
...I added a 4 in deflector to the top edge and it works
quite well

RCF

Here's a mount photo. I took this back in '05 after the first installation. It shows the mount idea best.



No cutting or trimming or drilling of the BMW screen is requied. The stock BMW screen mount holes are used.

You need 2 long 6mm screws and one short one (for the bottom mount). 9 6mm nuts (nyloc work best) and 12 rubber backed "fender washers".

The mounting screws do not contact the DRZ shroud at a 90 deg angle so have someone help you mark the holes by holding the shield at the angle you prefer. Mark the holes the try to drill them at the angle at which the screw will contact the DRZ shroud. The fender washers do a good job at accomodating the angle changes.

Insert one fender washer onto the long screw, put the screw through the shield and then put another fender washer on the backside of the shield. Screw one 6mm nut all the way up to lightly squeeze the two washers together on the screen. Put another nut on the bottom of the screw and add one more washer. Put the screw through the hole in the DRZ shroud. Put another washer on the back side of the shroud and add the last nut.

By adjusting the bottom nuts you can change the angle of the shield. How much depends on the length of the 6mm screw you use.

Repeat on the other side top mount.

For the bottom mount, I reveresed the process. The bottom mount is not accessible without removing the DRZ headlight shroud. The top two mounts are.

For the bottom mount, put the screw in from the inside. Back it up with washers like the top mounts and screw on the nut. You should have a short bit of screw now sticking up from the bottom of the DRZ shroud.

Put the BMW shield on top of this and add the nut. This method allows easy removal of the shield if it bothers you while riding technical stuff. The top two nuts are accessible from inside the DRZ headlight shroud, the bottom nut is accessible from the top of the shield. The only thing you have left is a small bit of 6mm screw sticking out of the DRZ shroud just above the headlight.

After everything is loosly bolted up proceed to thighten up all the nuts. You don't want anything too tight to begin with so you can move the mounts around some to accomodate the angle changes in the screws.


You can usually stow the shield inside any medium sized backpack.

Unless I'm mistaken the DR600 headlight shroud is identical to the DRZ400 shroud so this shield and method should work.

I've used this for over 2 years now and here's what I've found.

..The shield will flex a bit at speed....not vibrate back and forth or anything wierd or scary. It will just push the headlight shroud back a bit. I've had it to the low side of 90mph with no problems.

..It's been on my bike for over 2 years and nothing has cracked or broken

..I don't bother to remove it when riding technical stuff any more. I've endoed the bike two or three times in sand with the shield on and have not injured myself (because of the shield) on any of those falls. The curved upper lip seems to help with this.

..It does a good job of taking the wind pressure off your chest and upper arms. I'm 6'1" and the wind hits me at the bottom of my helmet and about half way down my biceps



..It looks good (IMHO) but I still want to build a Dakar style frame mount fairing for the bike

.....and after you have everything placed where you like it, you can take it back off and simply slip some black fuel line up the exposed part of the screw. This hides the exposed threads and give a more "finished" look.

....sorry no photo of this

Just bent a welded some round stock 1/8th in,( except the top bar I sized it for the TT mount) for the main hoop, from the upper fork leg bolts then tied into the front handlebar clamp bolts. Use washers notched and welded to the rod under the bolts. Welded a nut to the main hoop with a threaded thumb screw to pressure point the screen. Ill get some more photos.
See if you can tell what I got going on there, PM me if you need more info

Nice, I was thinking of something very similar, but I don't have your welding skills. Well, I don't have ANY welding skills.