Memphis Shades Windshield

I'm running out of things to do after work in the Philippines (3am in the morning, that is), so here's another quick post on another addition to my bike.

I bought a windshield for the bike. The M50 comes from the dealer without anything - one of the reasons I liked it. I hate saddlebags, windshields, anything that makes it look like an old man's bike. Just my opinion. But, I've taken it to Calgary before; on the highway, having no windshield sucks the big one. I've got an f'ed up shoulder to begin with, but after hours on the road getting blown back by 130km wind I was in some serious pain. So, if I'm doing this big bike trip this summer going to the Island to visit my mom, I'm going to need a windshield. Either that, or I'm resting every 30 minutes. This is what I ended up buying:


I figure, if I'm getting one, it better have some semblance to a young person's style. I figured that I'd match up the color and got a two toned windshield. It's not a huge one, but it takes all the wind off my chest and directs it nicely over my head, too. I also find that it's nice in the rain. Usually, I end up getting a puddle in my crotch when I ride in the raid because it all runs down my jacket. But with the windshield, I'm perfectly dry. I should take some pics of my rain proof pants too...next post.

I've posted the pdf instructions that I received with the windshield here.

Once you get it set up, the clamps around the forks just stay there all the time and blend in pretty well. I never take those off. Then, the windshield just quickly tightens onto them and it's installed. To estimate, I would say it takes me about 30 seconds to get it off or on. It comes with an Allen key and you just tighten or loosen 4 bolts.

I had it quite low on the forks when I first put in on, but after riding for a bit, I can feel the wind "chop" at my head. So, now I've got the windshield raised all the way to the top of the forks and it's a lot better.

You’ve got to buy the windshield and the mounting kit separately. But it wasn’t too expensive; I paid $150 US for both together. Phatperformanceparts.com is a great site – lots of cool stuff. I’m thinking about buying some pipes from there, too, but damn they are expensive (and I don’t even want to think of the shipping and duty costs).