New windscreen for 2008 VR800

Discussion in '6th Generation 2002-2013' started by grabcon, Jan 4, 2016.

  1. grabcon

    grabcon New Member

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    It has been over a year now since the wife got the 2008 VFR800. We knew that to get it right for her after coming from the ST1100 it would take some doing. She loves the bike and I won’t be able to switch it out for something different so we started like most good motorcyclist to make it fit her needs better. The easiest things to do were her seat and handle bars, inexpensive and great out comes. The seat got slightly lowered and Spencerized, I think like $75. Next was getting rid of the clip on handle bars and giving her a more upright riding position. We put on a set of LSL superbike bars. This raised the bar position nearly 4” and brought them toward the rider about 1 ½”. This took the pressure off of her arms and for her gave her a better overall riding position and better control for her. Now what was left was the windscreen. Since her head and body are now above the standard windscreen she needed something a little taller to get the wind off of her. We got a GIVI windscreen and it is about 2” taller than stock and has a slight flare at the top to kick the wind up an over. This mod did kind of work but for the hundred something dollars not what she was expecting. She wanted the protection of the ST and this was not happening. Remember she is in love with this bike. She has now has nearly 10k miles on it with several multi day trips and one 8 day 2600 mile trip last summer. But the windscreen is an issue and must be resolved.

    So one of the things I typically say to myself and others don’t make it something it isn’t. Meaning if you want a tour bike buy one, don’t make one and the same holds true for the other way too. Sometimes we must eat a little crow. So the last several months I have been looking at windscreens on other bikes thinking of ways to mount them in a functional and attractive way as to not detract from the bike, not to modify the bike so I cannot go back to stock. I started to look at the windscreens for the NT700. It is broader, taller and is a Honda part so finding one is easy and if it breaks a replacement is easy to find. I also like the width of the mounting holes. Some of the factory windscreens have the mounting hole way to wide for this bike.

    From my research I have not found anyone that has done something like this so I am making new ground here. I found a bunch of NT windscreen parts on eBay and a new V-Stream windscreen for an NT that was a blemished product. I could not find anything wrong with it but the price was right. This screen is huge compared to the VFR standard or the GIVI, nearly the size of my ST1300 windscreen. The challenge was on. How do you mount this on a VFR? Some of the NT parts I found that I thought would help were the mounting brackets with the adjustable slides to raise and lower the screen by hand, the mounting spacers and covers and a front cowl cover, I was not sure if I could use any or all of this stuff but it gave me a design starting point. I quickly abandoned the adjustable brackets, they were just too big and I did not want to cut up the front cowl of the VFR to make the work as that would go against the grain of my goal. But all was not lost all of these parts provided me with ideas as to how to mount the NT windscreen.

    Using cardboard templates I made mounting brackets that utilized the original VFR windscreen mountings, those little hooks on the windscreen and the screw holes on the upper cowl. From there I used 2” x 1/8” angle aluminum to transfer and layout the template, I cut this out on the band saw and along with some sanding and filing I got them to slide nicely into place using the standard VFR mounts. From there I reshaped the front side of the new mounts as they were interfering with the contour of the new NT windscreen. Once they were reshaped I could now clamp the new screen down and mark the mounting holes and design something to finish up the mounting assembly.

    Well I saw a thread on the ST-Owners forum about how a guy remounted his ST windscreen to move the top in and the bottom out. He made something for lack of a better term called standoffs. So I was now on my way to the final mounting points for the new windscreen. I made some standoffs that allowed me to use the original mounting holes in the screen and to use the NT factory mounting covers. So now we are nearly done with the mounting of the windscreen just need to fine tune a couple of mounting things and then for a test ride to see if all of this work paid off. I has been a bit nippy here and a bit of snow on the roads.

    So at the end of the day no mods were done to the bike and it can be put back to completely stock, most new parts can be gotten from Honda or Honda aftermarket parts, accept for the mounting brackets that I built. I guess I have about 20 hours of design and fabrication time and less than $150 in materials (aluminum angle iron, miscellaneous nuts, bolts and washer) including the windscreen that was used. I do have the remaining NT parts that I will resell.

    A few additional notes, if this works and adjustments to the angle of the windscreen are needed;
    • Different standoffs can be made to increase or decrease the angle of the screen.
    • I was able to mount the mirrors without interference with the screen.
    • If the angle decreases, meaning lowering the screen toward the rider then there may be an issue with the mirror clearance.
    • With the bike on the center stand and front wheel on the ground the height from ground to top of the GIVI is 53” and for the new NT screen it is 561/2”. Plus the angle of the NT screen is more upright.

    So this may not be for all riders of the VFR but for those that do a lot of touring this may be an option for better protection. Ride report to follow.

    Here are some before and after pictures to show the difference.



    GIVI Screen Front & Side View
    Givi Front.jpg
    GIVI Side.jpg

    NT Screen Front & Side View
    Front.jpg
    Side closer.jpg

    Mount standoffs and brackets
    Brackets front.jpg
    Brackets side.jpg

    Templates and Aluminum Angle 2x1/8"
    Material Front Template.jpg
    Material with Mounting Template.jpg

    Standoffs front & Side view
    Mounting front.jpg
    Mounting side.jpg

    Standoffs with rubber washers and Fender washer
    Assembly 1.jpg

    NT mounting covers on left with rubber washers and fender washers
    NT Parts.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Jeff_Barrett

    Jeff_Barrett Member

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    Nicely done! Looking forward to the ride report!

    Best I found so far was the Givi Touring Screen w/ an MRA X-Creen mounted to it. I just ordered the MRA Vario Touring screen ... see how it goes.
     
  3. grabcon

    grabcon New Member

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    Todays ride report. So my wife is 5' 4" and I am 5' 10" so a bit of a height difference. I had the bike out today for about 60 miles and I was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked even for me being taller. I had no vibrations even at high speed XXX. Dirty air from truck really did to affect the windscreen. Some weekend when it is 50ish I will get the wife out for her approval. I think she will be happy.

    I believe that the GIVI I just took off was the GIVI tour.
     
  4. Jeff_Barrett

    Jeff_Barrett Member

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    Yes, the profile of that Givi you took off is indeed the tour profile. :)
     
  5. u wish u could ride

    u wish u could ride New Member

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    that looks like it may just work!! very ingenious! im 5.8 and think I could hide behind that all day! I also have the givi tour and the xcreen .stock bars pulled up a inch ,and in towards me a 1/2 inch .almost quiet .I would bet with stock bars your a winner , even with a taller rider.!!nice work.
     
  6. grabcon

    grabcon New Member

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    I have reported back to my wife my initial results and she is very excited. Unfortunately she works and I am retired so weekends are our only time to take a test ride and the weather does not look good for this weekend. If the roads are clear and dry on Sunday maybe we can knock of a quick 50 miles.
     
  7. grabcon

    grabcon New Member

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    So the wife clocked off about 40 miles today at something less than 40 degrees and gave me 2 thumbs up. She now has the wind protection that she was looking for.
     
  8. vulgar1

    vulgar1 New Member

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    I love that. I'm 5'7" and that looks like it would give me great wind protection. A lot of our long touring rides end or begin with the wife and I riding through the Columbia river gorge. Google it up. Lots of wind, 2 lanes, and tons of big rigs. I get a lot of buffeting in the helmet. Gives me head aches after a bit. I may replicate what you have done here. Thanks for the great idea and write up.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  9. grabcon

    grabcon New Member

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    vulgar1 - If you would like PM me your email address and I will send scans of the templates that I used.
     
  10. grabcon

    grabcon New Member

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    Vulgar1 Email sent with attachments.
     
  11. vulgar1

    vulgar1 New Member

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    That's awesome. Thanks so much.


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  12. LongIslandVFR

    LongIslandVFR New Member

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    Nice work man! Are you looking to sell that Givi windscreen now?
     
  13. grabcon

    grabcon New Member

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    I am not sure at the moment. I want the wife to get several hundred miles under her belt with the new screen before we sell the GIVI. If things work out I will look at getting rid of it after MotoGP in Austin. We are headed there for the races and then to the Texas Hill country for a week to get some spring riding in. We have not been there and I am getting excited.
     
  14. LongIslandVFR

    LongIslandVFR New Member

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    Awesome! I was hoping to make it out to Indy for the race but I don't see it on the calendar for this season. I attended the 2014 Formula 1 USGP at COTA and that place is AMAZING! Lots of great general admission spots but if youre gonna buy grandstand tickets it's gotta be in that turn 12-16 complex somewhere. For GA best spots are turn 1, turns 3-5 (the esses) and turn 16-18 (the carousel). For the USGP we spend most of our time on the hill by the bridge at turn 3
     
  15. grabcon

    grabcon New Member

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    Indy MotoGP is no more. That race has been cancelled
     
  16. Alaskan

    Alaskan Member

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    LOL! That is a cool mod! Well done.
     
  17. grabcon

    grabcon New Member

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    So the verdict is in after about 400 miles. She loves the new windscreen we are not going back to the VFR windscreen. Wind protection is great, no apparent vibrations on the windscreen or bike, at least up to 85 mph, and no significant vibration from dirty air. We have not had it in the rain but I am confident is going to be much better than the standard or Givi windscreen.

    The only down side is that her gas mileage went down slightly, 2 or 3 mpg from where she was at, but with that said we were riding in 20 to 30 mph winds.

    So LongIslanfVFR if you are still interested in the GIVI windscreen send me a PM with your email and I will send back pictures and a price. It will be very reasonable. However we are keeping the factory windscreen.
     
  18. carlgustav

    carlgustav New Member

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    Love seeing folks come up with solutions that work for them, and using skill to get exactly what they want. Wish I had that ability. Nice job.

    ACE
     
  19. carlgustav

    carlgustav New Member

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    I hope you're enjoying that MRA by now. I've had one on my '07 for a few years & really like it. With it, & heli-bars, she feels just right. Made my trip last summer up to MI, across & over into WI, & back down to AL, much more enjoyable.

    ACE
     
  20. duccmann

    duccmann Member

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    Does that winglet make a difference?


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