Review of National Cycle 14.75” windscreen Model #:N20051
Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 2:46 pm
Before I installed this windscreen on Natasha, I had this sensation of being beaten to death by the wind. It wasn’t an uncomfortable thing, just a sense of feeling tingly after a ride, not painful, but certainly not all that comfortable. I also must point out that my mesh jacket had not yet arrived, and having to ride it home without one may have exacerbated the sensation. I also hadn’t remembered having this feeling from when I rode back in college many years ago. Maybe it is the more upright position, maybe it’s old age messing with my memory, or whatever.
On joining the forum, I noticed several photos of scoots with windscreens, and liked the look. After reading several reviews on other websites, and feeling a little concerned that I had seen on more than one of them that some Givi and Puig screens had issues, I ran across a great thread on the National Cycle tall windscreen on this forum.
http://hondapcx.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5538
So I decided to look into them. First thing I found was that they are made of Lexan polycarbonate, which has much better shatter-resistance properties than acrylic. I also liked the idea that the screens came in varying sizes ranging from 12.5” to 14.75” to 16.5” in height. After seeing the photos posted by db22 in that same thread, I thought the tallest screen would suit me well. I’m just a tiny fraction over 5’-10” tall (177cm for our European friends) and so I thought this would be the thing to keep my chest from feeling like it had been slapped a lot after a ride. I saw a post from tonyx in the same thread that he had found one on Amazon, and so I went there to shop.
Most of the prices for the tall screen were right around $112 - $115 which I figured would be pretty much okay, until I saw a listing for the tall screen at $107. That was the ticket. I made the purchase, not realizing that the default setting in the store was for the mid-sized (14.75”) not the tall (16.5”) screen. I made the purchase from MX South, located in Jupiter, Florida. These guys are motorcyclists, and they filled my order quickly, and without any problems, or so I thought. I want to make it perfectly clear that when I did find out there actually had been problem, I discovered it had been operator error, and had nothing to do at all with MX South. They were great.
When the new screen arrived, I had suffered my injury (16 stitches for a cut on my left index finger) and couldn’t really do anything with it, so the thing languished in my garage for a few days, and I really didn’t pay much attention to it. Upon healing up to the point where I felt comfortable doing the installation, I opened it up and discovered that I had bought the mid-sized screen. Rather than return it, I decided it was kismet, and opted to keep and install the screen.
The installation went very, very smoothly, and was made much easier by the wonderful thread on the subject posted by maddiedog http://hondapcx.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19 I of course was worried about my mirrors hitting the new screen, so I rotated them backwards about 5 degrees, following suggestions from WhiteNoise. Man, these forums are a little confusing sometimes for us ignorants, but these guys really know what they’re doing, and if one can figure out how to ask the question the right way, almost everyone has something of superb value to contribute.
So, I had this new windscreen, and started looking for excuses to ride, and wow, what a difference. I got my stitches out last Friday, and have ridden to work a couple of days (with some weather intervention preventing more riding) and have enjoyed the rides. No sensation of being pounded in the chest, a perfectly optically-clear screen, and no discernible differences in stability or speed, or acceleration. I haven’t tried to take it up to top speed yet, meaning I can’t speak to any loss at the top end, but I don’t ever anticipate driving flat-out so it really doesn’t matter that much to me. Here is Natasha with her new look:
Given that I had intended the tall screen, and ended up with the mid screen, I thought that it might be shorter than I was expecting, but I really feel the tall (16.75”) screen would have been too tall for me. I can see just over the top edge, and the wind noise in my helmet (GMax G64S Modular) is noticeably lessened. I have no idea how far the exact sight distance over the top edge from the front wheel to the pavement is, so I’m going to have to measure that to be certain. If I had to guess I’d say it’s in the area of 12 to 15 feet or so. Measurement of actual distance coming soon.
All in all, if you’ve ever toyed with the idea of putting a screen on your scoot, I highly recommend the National Cycle screens. Easy installation, no fuss, and a very good quality product for the price. I don’t know why something like this isn’t standard on the bike in the first place. It’s one of the best things you can do for a PCX.
On joining the forum, I noticed several photos of scoots with windscreens, and liked the look. After reading several reviews on other websites, and feeling a little concerned that I had seen on more than one of them that some Givi and Puig screens had issues, I ran across a great thread on the National Cycle tall windscreen on this forum.
http://hondapcx.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5538
So I decided to look into them. First thing I found was that they are made of Lexan polycarbonate, which has much better shatter-resistance properties than acrylic. I also liked the idea that the screens came in varying sizes ranging from 12.5” to 14.75” to 16.5” in height. After seeing the photos posted by db22 in that same thread, I thought the tallest screen would suit me well. I’m just a tiny fraction over 5’-10” tall (177cm for our European friends) and so I thought this would be the thing to keep my chest from feeling like it had been slapped a lot after a ride. I saw a post from tonyx in the same thread that he had found one on Amazon, and so I went there to shop.
Most of the prices for the tall screen were right around $112 - $115 which I figured would be pretty much okay, until I saw a listing for the tall screen at $107. That was the ticket. I made the purchase, not realizing that the default setting in the store was for the mid-sized (14.75”) not the tall (16.5”) screen. I made the purchase from MX South, located in Jupiter, Florida. These guys are motorcyclists, and they filled my order quickly, and without any problems, or so I thought. I want to make it perfectly clear that when I did find out there actually had been problem, I discovered it had been operator error, and had nothing to do at all with MX South. They were great.
When the new screen arrived, I had suffered my injury (16 stitches for a cut on my left index finger) and couldn’t really do anything with it, so the thing languished in my garage for a few days, and I really didn’t pay much attention to it. Upon healing up to the point where I felt comfortable doing the installation, I opened it up and discovered that I had bought the mid-sized screen. Rather than return it, I decided it was kismet, and opted to keep and install the screen.
The installation went very, very smoothly, and was made much easier by the wonderful thread on the subject posted by maddiedog http://hondapcx.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19 I of course was worried about my mirrors hitting the new screen, so I rotated them backwards about 5 degrees, following suggestions from WhiteNoise. Man, these forums are a little confusing sometimes for us ignorants, but these guys really know what they’re doing, and if one can figure out how to ask the question the right way, almost everyone has something of superb value to contribute.
So, I had this new windscreen, and started looking for excuses to ride, and wow, what a difference. I got my stitches out last Friday, and have ridden to work a couple of days (with some weather intervention preventing more riding) and have enjoyed the rides. No sensation of being pounded in the chest, a perfectly optically-clear screen, and no discernible differences in stability or speed, or acceleration. I haven’t tried to take it up to top speed yet, meaning I can’t speak to any loss at the top end, but I don’t ever anticipate driving flat-out so it really doesn’t matter that much to me. Here is Natasha with her new look:
Given that I had intended the tall screen, and ended up with the mid screen, I thought that it might be shorter than I was expecting, but I really feel the tall (16.75”) screen would have been too tall for me. I can see just over the top edge, and the wind noise in my helmet (GMax G64S Modular) is noticeably lessened. I have no idea how far the exact sight distance over the top edge from the front wheel to the pavement is, so I’m going to have to measure that to be certain. If I had to guess I’d say it’s in the area of 12 to 15 feet or so. Measurement of actual distance coming soon.
All in all, if you’ve ever toyed with the idea of putting a screen on your scoot, I highly recommend the National Cycle screens. Easy installation, no fuss, and a very good quality product for the price. I don’t know why something like this isn’t standard on the bike in the first place. It’s one of the best things you can do for a PCX.