BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

This is not very scientific, but it appears the angle of the "sport" screen on the 2011 may have been changed. Perhaps this is a trivial observation, but I find it interesting since the sport screen was the only disappointment on my 2008 R1200R. The angle was just wrong and the sport screen did nothing but throw turbulence at my lid. Tried chopping it down and eventually moved on to a Wunderlich Trophy Fairing (no regrets, but expensive).

Perhaps BMW now has it right, and the decreased angle will achieve its intended purpose. It does look great after all.



Thoughts?

Blair

It does seem they made a change. Now let's see if they get the touring screen right...

xprof wrote:It does seem they made a change. Now let's see if they get the touring screen right...

No Kidding!

Blair

Looking at the parts lists, the shield is the same. Just the mount changed. Perhaps we should try some spacers to tip the shield back.

If you look carefully at the 2011 instrument pod, you will notice it is shorter than on the earlier model. They changed it on the 2011 model from the "stacked" speedometer and tachometer to a side-by-side arrangement, thus reducing the height.

That shortened instrument pod may have resulted in a greater tilt to the windshield.

Bill

I think the instrument pod and the headlight changed. Maybe the headlight being out further gave them more space to decrease the angle.

jkhomes wrote:I think the instrument pod and the headlight changed. Maybe the headlight being out further gave them more space to decrease the angle.

The headlight design, and its position vis-a-vis the forks and front fender, looks the same to me.

The 2011 sport screen does look more "tucked" to the instruments, as Robb wrote in another thread, but it's subtle. While perhaps more visually pleasing, can't imagine it's a significantly less turbulent ride with this new screen. Same thing with the touring screen — both new shields are the same part numbers as '06-'10, but the brackets are redesigned for 2011. It's aesthetic polish.

I am not a fan of riding with screens, for what it's worth.

It depends, and chacun son goût.

I've had bikes with no fairings or screens, and bikes with big fairings and screens, and I've settled on a smallish screen, the 16" Cee Bailey. I'm fairly long above the waist and have long arms, so much of me is out in the breeze, which I like. But there's a little shelter, which makes sitting on the freeway or riding in the rain a lot nicer.

When I was young I held shields in contempt; in my 50's I began to use them occasionally for long trips; now at 70 I wouldn't ride without one. So maybe it's an age/comfort thing? Also, I ride an open-face helmet unless it is actually raining or is under about 45°F, so maybe that's another reason why I appreciate the shield. If I were a young guy out for some canyon-carving I wouldn't use one either (but I'm not)!

The sport shield on my 2011 wasn't bad until 70+ mph unless there is a head wind. This was with the stock low seat. I recently went to the tall comfort seat and that seems to have reduced the turbulence a fair amount. I'd guess it raised my helmet height about 1.5 inches and let me sit a bit further back. I haven't had a chance to experiment enough to conclusively say that the no turbulence cruising speed has gone up, but it seemed that way after a brief test.

I spent some more time on my 2011 with the sport screen and high comfort seat. The taller seat definitely raises the comfortable no buffeting speed by about 10 MPH, and the tolerable buffeting by a bit more. The seating position is also a lot less cramped.