 Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,440
Learned Hand
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OP
Learned Hand
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,440 |
I'm in the process of cutting out a polycarbonate extension to mount at the top of my Roadster screen. My experiments with lowers have produced useful data, but the bottom line is that the screen is just too short. I was thinking the original manufacturer might have something else that would fit this hardware, and I suspect the OEM is National Cycle. I've come to that conclusion for two reasons. First, NC has all the parts to mount their Switchblade series windscreens on late model Triumphs, but they won't sell them as a kit. I don't know any reason they would do this, unless they've signed a non-compete with Triumph. Second, I recently measured several of the hardware pieces on the Roadster and discovered that everything is SAE sized and threaded. That, plus the general fit and finish of the windshield, convinces me it's made in the U.S. So, has anyone here ever compared the Roadster screen to the various models from National Cycle? Is it possible this screen has the same hole pattern as another model in their line? I sure would like to buy a taller, straight-sided replacement screen (no running light cutouts) that actually works at highway speeds. EDIT: Just want to add that the straps on the National Cycle "Dakota 4.5" screens appear to be identical to the Roadster in online photos. If the Dakota screen will fit our mounting hardware, it would be a big improvement in coverage. Does anyone know? EDIT Again: Here's a comparison: 
'08 America Blue/White; Custom Headlamps, Custom Lowers, Clearview 20", Bafflectomy
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Re: Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 149
Adjunct
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Adjunct
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 149 |
Hmm, interesting. Tha National Cycle screen brackets do look indentical. I have the Roadster screen also (not happy with it), and was thinking about a Clearview screen. But if National Cycle would be cheaper......? Keep us posted if you find out anything. PS - What do you think of the Clearview?
'05 America, 904, K&N pods, British Customs Bomber Exhaust
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Re: Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,728 Likes: 5
Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,728 Likes: 5 |
I am completely satisfied with my Clearview screen, I have the medium 18.5" size. I don't know of they would make one without the light cutouts, it might be worth a phone call to find out.
Always remember to be yourself. Unless you suck. Then pretend to be someone else.
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Re: Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,726
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,726 |
I'd go with Clearview. They make replacements for your mounts that are better than Triumph stock ones.
Bob
2005 America, 904cc - sold. 2014 Trophy SE.
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Re: Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,440
Learned Hand
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OP
Learned Hand
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,440 |
Quote:
What do you think of the Clearview?
OK, here's the thing. I've been performing a lot of experiements in an effort to nail all this down. I've built various sizes and shapes of lowers, and just today I tried several sizes of extensions to increase the height of the Roadster screen. As a result of all this, I can tell
you that insulating the rider from buffeting requires a thoroughly coordinated approach. Bear in mind that the following is based on my 6' height.
First, the windshield must be tall enough to create an airflow over the riders head. That sounds easy until you realize that no one seems to know exactly how tall the windshield should be to accomplish this. One reason is that the windshield's effectiveness is degraded by any updraft
from below. In addition, if the height of the windshield is marginal, its effectiveness will be further deraded by the rider's helmet. Simply put, protusion of the helmet into the airstream causes the frontal blast to move downward (in the case of the Roadster, into the riders eyes). Assuming the rider wears a 3/4 open face helmet with no face shield (worse-case scenario), a windshield at least 18" tall will be needed in order to move the airstream above the helmet. If sporty looks aren't essential, 20-22" is even better, and I would say essential if you'll frequently have a passenger. In any event, the taller the windshield, the more room for error you'll have in the other areas of the design.
The second thing that's required is to eliminate the updraft by creating an effective airdam below the windshield. This requires large lowers that no one currently sells. The lowers must extend down to within an inch or two of the bottom of the lower fork shrouds and be sufficiently wide (about 8") to prevent air from hitting the front of the tank. They must also extend up and meet the bottom of the windshield with very little gap. The latter is especially critical if the lowers are raked back at an angle like the forks. Air hitting the lowers will be directed up to the rider directly through any gap at the bottom of the windshield, causing severe side-to-side head buffeting.
Finally, the gap between the bottom of the screen and the headlamp bucket must be minimized. Windshield effectiveness is particularly vulnerable to this. Air entering through this gap is directed upward (probably due to the curve of the tank), degrading the envelope behind the windshield. In my case, the gap is nearly 1". A curved piece of acrylic wil be needed to remedy this. There's also a path for unwanted air below the headlight bucket, but I haven't investigated that yet. It's not clear to me at this point how much that might contribute to buffeting.
I'm sorry to say that I don't care much for the Clearview. All the Clearview screens are cut away to clear driving lights. I don't use the factory lights, and the cutouts leave a large hole on each side that has to be filled by making the lowers really large. By comparison, the Dakota screens are straight-sided. Also, the Clearview screens are made of acrylic, not polycarbonate like the Roadster. The National Cycle Dakota 4.5s are also acrylic, but at least they're cheaper (and they might be much cheaper if NC will sell them without the straps and hardware). There have also been problems with the alignment of the mounting holes in the Clearview screens, something I've seen firsthand. Despite all this, I haven't entirely ruled out the Clearview as an option. In the end, there might not be any other choice, and like Dave said, they might be available without the cutouts. That would make them much more suitable for bikes without driving lights.
'08 America Blue/White; Custom Headlamps, Custom Lowers, Clearview 20", Bafflectomy
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Re: Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 786
3/4 Throttle
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3/4 Throttle
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 786 |
+1 on the Clearview screen, I have not found a better one yet.
05 TBA Mulberry/Silver, Thunder Bike pipes, K&N single Filter, 132 main Jet's, Snorkles Removed
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Re: Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 570
Adjunct
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Adjunct
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 570 |
+1 for the Clearview as well! I have a set of lowers I fabricated and in conjunction with the screen, I have zero side to side head buffeting. Wind turbulence is also tolerable. This bike isn't a GoldWing after all.
"You're a long time underground!"
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Re: Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,728 Likes: 5
Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,728 Likes: 5 |
Quote:
Wind turbulence is also tolerable. This bike isn't a GoldWing after all.
I think that is the most important thing to remember here. I don't mind if I get the occasional wind in my face with the screen on, I wear a 1/2 helmet anyway. If I wanted ZERO wind, I would drive a freakin car. Even with a screen, it's nice to be in the breeze. I am 6'2, and the medium does everything I want it to. I can look over it when I want, I can look through it when I want, it keeps the rain off (mostly), it blocks the wind, very low if any buffeting, I can go on and on, I'm satisfied completely with it. Clearview is a good company to deal with, they always called me back quick when I had questions, so I would imagine they could make one without cutouts. Just a guess. They may start making them to sell if there is good interest in it. If cost is the biggest factor, then order the Dakota one. But if it doesn't fit just right.... well, restocking fees suck.
Always remember to be yourself. Unless you suck. Then pretend to be someone else.
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Re: Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,152
Oil Expert
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Oil Expert
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,152 |
Quote:
…I've been performing a lot of experiments in an effort to nail all this down. I've built various sizes and shapes of lowers, and just today I tried several sizes of extensions to increase the height of the Roadster screen. As a result of all this, I can tell
you that insulating the rider from buffeting requires a thoroughly coordinated approach…
A man after my own heart. I have done ridiculous amounts of fiddling with screens. I’m happy-ish with my setup but always interested in improvements.
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First, the windshield must be tall enough to create an airflow over the riders head. That sounds easy until you realize that no one seems to know exactly how tall the windshield should be to accomplish this. One reason is that the windshield's effectiveness is degraded by any updraft from below. In addition, if the height of the windshield is marginal, its effectiveness will be further degraded by the rider's helmet. Simply put, protrusion of the helmet into the airstream causes the frontal blast to move downward (in the case of the Roadster, into the riders eyes). Assuming the rider wears a 3/4 open face helmet with no face shield (worse-case scenario), a windshield at least 18" tall will be needed in order to move the airstream above the helmet. If sporty looks aren't essential, 20-22" is even better, and I would say essential if you'll frequently have a passenger. In any event, the taller the windshield, the more room for error you'll have in the other areas of the design.
Ok but… at 18 inches you’re probably looking a bit above the screen, at 20-22 even a 6 footer is looking through it. The downside to that is your vision is obscured in rain, especially with road spray mixed in. Your point about the effect of the helmet being even a bit in the airstream is interesting.
Quote:
The second thing that's required is to eliminate the updraft by creating an effective airdam below the windshield. This requires large lowers that no one currently sells. The lowers must extend down to within an inch or two of the bottom of the lower fork shrouds and be sufficiently wide (about 8") to prevent air from hitting the front of the tank. They must also extend up and meet the bottom of the windshield with very little gap. The latter is especially critical if the lowers are raked back at an angle like the forks. Air hitting the lowers will be directed up to the rider directly through any gap at the bottom of the windshield, causing severe side-to-side head buffeting.
Here I have to disagree. I think the lowers act to break up the airstream that would otherwise flow up behind the main screen rather than just extending the windshield further down. I have the standard Memphis shades lowers but I have tried much larger ones with no noticeable effect. If you look at the picture below, you’ll see that my lowers are nowhere close to the main screen but the difference with and without is night and day while the change to larger lowers or fitting them closer to the main screen is marginal.
Quote:
Finally, the gap between the bottom of the screen and the headlamp bucket must be minimized. Windshield effectiveness is particularly vulnerable to this. Air entering through this gap is directed upward (probably due to the curve of the tank), degrading the envelope behind the windshield. In my case, the gap is nearly 1". A curved piece of acrylic wil be needed to remedy this..
I may have been lucky in this area. My first Memphis Fats was too tall at 19†and, just by chance I chose to have the headlight cutout extended up 2†rather than crop the top. The result of this is a close fit to the headlight shell and a screen that extends down to the bottom of the shell. As I look at the pics of the roadster screen though it looks like a fairly tight fit so I dunno… Where do you have the 1†gap?
One thing you don’t mention that I do think is critical is the angle of the screen. The Memphis shades hardware has a lot of adjustability and I’ve been able to tilt the screen back quite a bit more than (I think) the roadster goes. The roadster’s brackets don’t look very adjustable but maybe there’s some play somewhere you could try out. I have mine tilted back as much as I can get even at the expense of bending my speedo almost dead upright. While I might imagine that a 45 degree angle would be best, the furthest I can get to is the angle of the forks (which by rule of thumb is also said to be a good idea).
So, there’s my two cents. I’ll be interested in pics, side and front of your experimental setup and your continued dialogue. It’s too cold here now for further experiments but I’ll be continuing research over the winter and I may make changes before the long ride to Georgia next spring. Although I still have some hope for the Darth Fairing Convertible project.
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Re: Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,728 Likes: 5
Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,728 Likes: 5 |
one more thing I forgot to add about the Clearview... when you look over the top and through the screen at the same time, there is none of the double-vision effect that some other screens have, and that's a HUGE BONUS!!
Always remember to be yourself. Unless you suck. Then pretend to be someone else.
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Re: Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 570
Adjunct
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Adjunct
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 570 |
Quote:
Quote:
What do you think of the Clearview?
First, the windshield must be tall enough to create an airflow over the riders head. That sounds easy until you realize that no one seems to know exactly how tall the windshield should be to accomplish this. One reason is that the windshield's effectiveness is degraded by any updraft
from below. In addition, if the height of the windshield is marginal, its effectiveness will be further degraded by the rider's helmet. Simply put, protrusion of the helmet into the airstream causes the frontal blast to move downward (in the case of the Roadster, into the riders eyes). Assuming the rider wears a 3/4 open face helmet with no face shield (worse-case scenario), a windshield at least 18" tall will be needed in order to move the airstream above the helmet. If sporty looks aren't essential, 20-22" is even better, and I would say essential if you'll frequently have a passenger. In any event, the taller the windshield, the more room for error you'll have in the other areas of the design.
Other members here have successfully used the Laminar Lip to extend the height of their windshield. I believe this is the model they ordered..
http://www.laminarlip.com/rdking.php
"You're a long time underground!"
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Re: Triumph Roadster Screen - Who Makes It?
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 46
Greenhorn
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Greenhorn
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 46 |
My two cents.
I got the 20" Clearview and it works fine. I'm 6'3" tall so I need the taller screen. My first purchase was the 18.5" Clearview and that was definitely too short for my height. The wind buffet on the top of my helmet was worse than no screen at all.
I normally look over the top of the screen, but can see the road clearly when looking through the screen.
The Clearview quality is excellent. One of my complaints though is that the mounting holes do not perfectly align with the Triumph mounting kit brackets (upper fixing kit). The lower brackets and holes fit perfectly; however, the top holes on the screen don't. It appears that the screen curvature is slightly different which causes a small misalignment between the top brackets and the screen. Not a major deal, but I've been watching for signs of any cracks...so far so good.
The other complaint is that it take 2 to 3 months to get a screen. Perhaps now that is winter in the upper hemisphere, the wait time will be less.
Lee
'07 America
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