Windscreen Disgust ...... again

The ringing in my bad left ear is getting worse. It's getting worse cause the freeking windscreen on my 950 dumps a torrent of confused air right in my face and there's a constant roar in my head. This is with good foam earplugs shoved all the way into my ear canal. Arai XD.

After three or four hours it becomes really bad. If I stand up on the pegs its like another world. Absolutely quiet ... given the earplugs.

So yesterday in the middle of my ride I took the dingdang screen OFF. straped it to the seat behind me. Much better. Looked wierd having that nice unobstructed view out over the dash. My mirrors seemed somehow exposed and lonely.

I did notice the effort it was taking to resist the wind pressure towards the end of my ride. If one was going cross country it might be a bit much. No it WOULD be a bit much. I've got the new big 'touring' screen on order from KTM. I will report.

But I'm going out right now and chop most of this original puppy OFF. Pics to follow.

I was thinking the same thing and/or doing the cutting holes thing to change the wind pressure behind the screen.

Also the the helmet peak seems to vibrate a bit too. I think this causes a low frew vib to be transmitted to the helmet (XD) then to the ears. I can put my finger on the peak and the low freq. noise seems to be reduced about 50%.

here are my specs

5-10
05 model with stepped gel seat
Arai XD helmet
earplugs

my set up is standard screen and gel seat + 5"8' and i get visor vibration when its cracked open to clear the inside at low speed, you dont realise untill you shut it again at a slightly quicker speed and it suddenly goes quiet, i will look forward to hearing how you get on, the other thing is that i quite like the look of the original screen, i hope the new one looks as good,,,,

This (buzzing) seems to be a common complaint of XD wearers. Has anyone tried removing the visor to see if that helps?
-cp

I guess I got it made. I've got a ratty old KBC MX helmet that is exceptionally quiet. Also, I don't experience head snap at high speeds when I look to the side or stand up in the pegs. And lastly, on a recent super slab trip in the cold and wet, the windscreen was absolutely essential to keep things tolerable in the cockpit.

I'm not trying to be Carl the Contrary but I just wanted to add an alternate report to the effectiveness of the windscreen (which, BTW, is MUCH better quality than the BMW windscreen I had).

I had the same problem with my 990s, so I chopped about 3" off it. I'm 6'4" and I wear a Arai Tour x (XD). The buffeting was unbearable before, but it is now sorted! See Photo. It now looks better too!

This was a common problem with later FJ1200 owners. Their trick was to drill 4 to 5 5/8" holes at the base of the windscreen to equal out the pressure. It might work for you also.

Kenny

now we need a short arse to try it

I've drilled holes, bought a cee-bailey, remounted the stock screen and ridden with and without my visor long distances. The best fixes are:

1. Remove visor from the helmet. While the XD suffers noise because of it's chin bar and neck roll, it's much quieter without the visor.

2. Drill the two holes in the screen as seen here to improve the ride a tad.

3. Last ditch: Install a 15" Cee-Bailey 1 and have a much quiter ride, but suffer fuel mileage costs and make your trick scoot look sorry. When I stand with the C-B installed, the wind noise is much higher then behind the screen. With the stocker (with holes), I find it about the same standing or sitting as long as my visor is removed.

4. Maybe your XD just doesn't fit you properly below the ears. Try riding with a good fitting full-face helemt.

You need to do something. Tinitus (ringing ears) is annoying and incurable. I have it, so I know. I am pretty sure my riding brought it on as I never wore ear plugs untill the last two seasons.
............
After 30k miles, I'm settled on the stock screen and visor removed as my daily configuration. I am planning a ride to Copper Canyon and back, and will probably use the Cee-Bailey for that.

I bought an Arai TourX (or XD in US speak) a few months ago in the winter sales, and at speeds above 60mph it's bloody awful, noisy and loads of vibration from the peak.
But then I didn't expect any different - it is after all just an MX lid with a visor, and the peak IS going to catch the wind and vibrate - it's simple aerodynamics at the end of the day.
Rather than chopping down the bike's screen, wouldn't it just be a hell of a lot easier just to remove the peak, ie use the helmet the way Arai designed it to be used - with the peak off for fast road riding. Or do some people just prefer the looks and pose value of the 'off-road' style MX lid, over practical considerations like wind noise??

FWIW using my regular Arai Astro R for road riding, I don't have a problem with buffeting at any speed, and find the fairing and screen pretty effective at keeping the worst of the wind/weather at bay on longer trips.

I removed the visor on my XD when I had a 950. It helped but the turbulence was still bad. I'm 5'9" with a 30" inseam. I loved the 950 but for long days on the slab it felt like my head was in a washing machine. It would take hours after a long ride for my head to stop vibrating. I also spent alot of time standing on the pegs to get the clean air.

FWIW- I had the exact same problem on my WeeStrom with the stock shield. I replaced it with the MRA Vario and it was smoothe as butter. Too bad they don't make something similar for the big KTM.

Radical surgery:

This is only for day rides and short hops. As I said earlier .... I'm going to try the new larger 'touring screen' from KTM for long hauls.

Regarding the XD visor. I really like the sun blocking value of my visor. I stiffened it with epoxy and it does not vibrate at all now. I tried it first with epoxy putty but it took too much and it was heavy. I made channels with ribbons of silicone caulk and then filled the channels with five minute JB Weld. Perfect. Maybe three ounce weight add.

I've used my XD without the visor. It's still noisy with the KTM wind screen. I'm 6' 1" and the worst turbulence always hit me in the helmet.

For those that are interested this is an easy mod. I used a reciprocal saw (shown) at about 1/3 speed. No blade angling (bosh saws have a blade position lever). I even used a large toothed wood blade. I just went slow and supported the screen well.

I turned my old belt sander upside down and lightly drew the edge of the cut screen across the running belt very carefully and at different angles for about fifteen minutes. Had an old well used 80 grit belt in there. Not much shaping ... mostly just smoothing and beveling the edge.

Next I used one of those sponge type sanding blocks with about a 150 grit to smooth the edge some more. About three minutes worth. Finally I carefully glazed the edge with a butane cigaret lighter. Very carefully. The screen is nearly perfect. Short ... but well fashioned.

This is gonna take some gettin used to: :eek1

So - did it help with the wind and noise?

The problem wasn't the peak vibrating, it still does that a bit as the speed gets up as you would expect from this type of helmet. It's the turbelance that skakes your head about. I have an Arai RX7 Corsair, but it was just as bad. I always wear ear plugs anyway as I believe they are necessary no matter what helmet you wear(IMO). So that keeps the noise down. It all depends on your height, it's as simple as that. Trim it down until the buffeting goes away. Thats what worked for me.
Cheers,

The XD is a POS for touring - while I like my XD for most adventure conditions it really is too noisey at speed for any distance. The visor is a source of much of the noise. Nice job on the windshield.

Just my $.02