Forza Windshield Upgrade -- Part Deux !

Cosmetic accessories, comfort accessories, windshields, luggage racks, etc.

Moderator: Modsquad

montliz44
Forum Benefactor
Forum Benefactor
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 1:03 pm
Year: 2013,2014
Color: red+redder
Location: Galveston, Texas

Forza Windshield Upgrade -- Part Deux !

Post by montliz44 »

Annd we're back with a sequel.

When I first got my Forza it didn't take me too long to figure out that although my stock short windshield was great around town, picking up all the air from the front of the scooter and directing it right at my chest and face (thus keeping me cool on a hot day - job#1), it was awful out on the highway for exactly the same reasons.

Since I'd bought the Forza for doing inter-city commuting and maybe a few road trips, I thought I'd try adding a Laminar Lip to the stock shield. I'd had good luck with Laminar Lips on other bikes and they cost half as much as a complete aftermarket shield, plus you don't have to remove the OEM shield to install or remove them.

Here's what they look like, and, BTW, that's my very own Forza and deluxe garage door in the top photo:

http://www.laminarlip.com/forza.php

The Lip worked really well and made for a big improvement in highway riding, plus it still allowed plenty of airflow while riding around town in city traffic. But after a couple of overnight trips of a few hundred miles each in not-good weather I became convinced that I should treat myself to a real windshield, so I opted for the Givi D1123ST, their large fixed screen. Here it is on their website:

http://www.giviusa.com/my-motorcycle/ho ... een-detail

I know several people on the forum have these or have had them, so I just wanted to share my thoughts about them with anyone who might be considering one.

The first thing I noticed when I unwrapped it was that it's a reeeally big screen, though it doesn't look like it in the website photo. In fact, it's a whopping 11 inches/28cm taller than the stock screen and twice as wide. They've engineered hand guards into it and it's designed so that the stock mirror stems just don't quite touch it, but this is one serious piece of weather protection kit.

Ergos: I'm 5'10''/178cm tall, and the top of the screen is right at eye level for me. I find that I have to keep deciding whether to sit up straight (just like Grandma said) and look over it, or slouch down a little and look through it (a little like wearing bifocals, for you old people on here). It's easy enough to look through, as it's optically correct and really nicely finished, but so far it seems that the top of the screen is in exactly the wrong place for me.

So here's what I found:

In town/lower speed riding: As I suspected, the screen is so big that I get no wind at all from the front, and so no cooling effect. This would be great in cold weather but it's not so good in town on hot days. In fact, there's so much windshield that the only wind you get is from behind, like riding in a convertible or drophead car. Score one negative for short trips to the store.

On the highway/ high speed riding: This is what the Givi is all about. At speeds above 60 mph you begin to lose the backdraft effect and enter what I'd call a neutral air zone, where you get breezes from the side but none from either the front or back. It's a kind of odd but not really unpleasant sensation; you can relax quite a bit because the wind effect is sort of like sitting still. This is going to take some getting used to, but no one can say the Givi doesn't do the job out there on the big road.

Anyway, here's my Givi story for the week: I took off yesterday in not-good weather (what the 6 o'clock news would call "threatening conditions") to test my new Givi in the rough stuff. I didn't know how far I'd get, but thankfully I was able make the 20 miles to our local motorsickle open-air watering hole and back without getting blown off the road. (A modest goal, but still...)

On the way back I fell in behind a group of bikers riding excellent ape-hanger Harley choppers who appeared to be headed to the same place I was with the same goal (get home alive) in mind. Normally I'd just go ahead and plan on falling in behind an outfit like this, but they didn't seem to be doing very well in the current conditions, which included a fabulous display of full-bore coastal Spring weather: black sky with hopeful little funnel clouds to the right of you, blown-over trees and boats to your left, random objects blowing across the road, and 30 mph headwinds with gusts to 60 up in your face.

In fact, these guys didn't seem to be having any fun AT ALL and they were barely holding 50 mph, even though the speed limit was 65 (which in Texas means that if you're not doing 70 you need to stay in the right lane or on the berm). Meanwhile, I'm back here in the rear guard on my Forza humming a happy tune and feeling ZERO wind effect, thanks to my new Givi. My only concerns are dodging the empty oil cans and palm tree branches and, oh yeah, those pesky funnel clouds over to the west.

I could easily have just ridden on by them and gone on my merry way (of course giving them the respectful two-fingers-pointed-to-the-ground salute on the way), but in the end I chose (as we say in the education business) to go ahead and safeguard their rear flank all the way to the island.

Happily, we all made it home in one piece. Y'all have a great week! :D

Johnny
One PCX, One Forza -- Twice the fun, half the money!
User avatar
you you
What's a wot?
What's a wot?
Posts: 10000
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:37 pm
Location: Between Lulu and Chichi

Re: Forza Windshield Upgrade -- Part Deux !

Post by you you »

montliz44 wrote:Annd we're back with a sequel.

When I first got my Forza it didn't take me too long to figure out that although my stock short windshield was great around town, picking up all the air from the front of the scooter and directing it right at my chest and face (thus keeping me cool on a hot day - job#1), it was awful out on the highway for exactly the same reasons.

Since I'd bought the Forza for doing inter-city commuting and maybe a few road trips, I thought I'd try adding a Laminar Lip to the stock shield. I'd had good luck with Laminar Lips on other bikes and they cost half as much as a complete aftermarket shield, plus you don't have to remove the OEM shield to install or remove them.

Here's what they look like, and, BTW, that's my very own Forza and deluxe garage door in the top photo:

http://www.laminarlip.com/forza.php

The Lip worked really well and made for a big improvement in highway riding, plus it still allowed plenty of airflow while riding around town in city traffic. But after a couple of overnight trips of a few hundred miles each in not-good weather I became convinced that I should treat myself to a real windshield, so I opted for the Givi D1123ST, their large fixed screen. Here it is on their website:

http://www.giviusa.com/my-motorcycle/ho ... een-detail

I know several people on the forum have these or have had them, so I just wanted to share my thoughts about them with anyone who might be considering one.

The first thing I noticed when I unwrapped it was that it's a reeeally big screen, though it doesn't look like it in the website photo. In fact, it's a whopping 11 inches/28cm taller than the stock screen and twice as wide. They've engineered hand guards into it and it's designed so that the stock mirror stems just don't quite touch it, but this is one serious piece of weather protection kit.

Ergos: I'm 5'10''/178cm tall, and the top of the screen is right at eye level for me. I find that I have to keep deciding whether to sit up straight (just like Grandma said) and look over it, or slouch down a little and look through it (a little like wearing bifocals, for you old people on here). It's easy enough to look through, as it's optically correct and really nicely finished, but so far it seems that the top of the screen is in exactly the wrong place for me.

So here's what I found:

In town/lower speed riding: As I suspected, the screen is so big that I get no wind at all from the front, and so no cooling effect. This would be great in cold weather but it's not so good in town on hot days. In fact, there's so much windshield that the only wind you get is from behind, like riding in a convertible or drophead car. Score one negative for short trips to the store.

On the highway/ high speed riding: This is what the Givi is all about. At speeds above 60 mph you begin to lose the backdraft effect and enter what I'd call a neutral air zone, where you get breezes from the side but none from either the front or back. It's a kind of odd but not really unpleasant sensation; you can relax quite a bit because the wind effect is sort of like sitting still. This is going to take some getting used to, but no one can say the Givi doesn't do the job out there on the big road.

Anyway, here's my Givi story for the week: I took off yesterday in not-good weather (what the 6 o'clock news would call "threatening conditions") to test my new Givi in the rough stuff. I didn't know how far I'd get, but thankfully I was able make the 20 miles to our local motorsickle open-air watering hole and back without getting blown off the road. (A modest goal, but still...)

On the way back I fell in behind a group of bikers riding excellent ape-hanger Harley choppers who appeared to be headed to the same place I was with the same goal (get home alive) in mind. Normally I'd just go ahead and plan on falling in behind an outfit like this, but they didn't seem to be doing very well in the current conditions, which included a fabulous display of full-bore coastal Spring weather: black sky with hopeful little funnel clouds to the right of you, blown-over trees and boats to your left, random objects blowing across the road, and 30 mph headwinds with gusts to 60 up in your face.

In fact, these guys didn't seem to be having any fun AT ALL and they were barely holding 50 mph, even though the speed limit was 65 (which in Texas means that if you're not doing 70 you need to stay in the right lane or on the berm). Meanwhile, I'm back here in the rear guard on my Forza humming a happy tune and feeling ZERO wind effect, thanks to my new Givi. My only concerns are dodging the empty oil cans and palm tree branches and, oh yeah, those pesky funnel clouds over to the west.

I could easily have just ridden on by them and gone on my merry way (of course giving them the respectful two-fingers-pointed-to-the-ground salute on the way), but in the end I chose (as we say in the education business) to go ahead and safeguard their rear flank all the way to the island.

Happily, we all made it home in one piece. Y'all have a great week! :D

Johnny

You fitted a windshield?
montliz44
Forum Benefactor
Forum Benefactor
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 1:03 pm
Year: 2013,2014
Color: red+redder
Location: Galveston, Texas

Re: Forza Windshield Upgrade -- Part Deux !

Post by montliz44 »

Oh behaive :lol:
One PCX, One Forza -- Twice the fun, half the money!
MBMyer
Regular User
Regular User
Posts: 195
Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2015 6:34 pm
Year: 2014
Color: Red
Location: Columbia, SC USA

Re: Forza Windshield Upgrade -- Part Deux !

Post by MBMyer »

I went with the adjustable Givi and have been very happy with it. Around town (most of my driving), I usually keep it pushed all the way down. With the flip on the top and the push-outs on the lowers that keep my hands in a relatively still zone year-round, everything is quite nice. On the highway, I can push the screen up and have a relatively quiet ride. I have also done a highway run where I forgot my gloves, and the screen kept those big, fat drops from hitting my fingers at 70mph.

If my screen broke today, I'd replace it with another Givi adjustable.
Current ride: 2014 Forza bought new in mid-2015 with only 15K on the clock
Traded in: 2003 GL1800 with 152K and several IBA rides on the clock
6 other previous bikes
nearly 3/4 million miles logged
now just commuting instead of touring
User avatar
PingGam
New Member
New Member
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2016 8:50 am
Year: 2012 PCX
Color: Black
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand

Re: Forza Windshield Upgrade -- Part Deux !

Post by PingGam »

MBMyer wrote:I went with the adjustable Givi and have been very happy with it. Around town (most of my driving), I usually keep it pushed all the way down. With the flip on the top and the push-outs on the lowers that keep my hands in a relatively still zone year-round, everything is quite nice. On the highway, I can push the screen up and have a relatively quiet ride. I have also done a highway run where I forgot my gloves, and the screen kept those big, fat drops from hitting my fingers at 70mph.

If my screen broke today, I'd replace it with another Givi adjustable.
How tall are you, if you don't mind me asking, and do you still use the original seat?
Current Scooters
2012 PCX 150 Black
2016 Forza 300 ABS Yellow
Post Reply