When it comes to personalizing one’s adventure/luxury/sport/cruiser touring motorcycle, windscreens and seats are among the more popular upgrades. National Cycle, maker of OE windscreens for leading manufacturers, also produces replacement screens. And ZTechnik, National Cycle’s in-house brand of bits and bobs for BMWs (“Zubehör Technik” is German for “technical accessories”), provides trim pieces, guards and other farkles.

For BMW’s popular R 1200/1250 GS/GSA models, National Cycle and ZTechnik offer two complementary upgrades — VStream windscreens in three heights and a windscreen stabilizer. When BMW gave its mighty GS a major makeover for 2013, one of the many improvements was a knob for on-the-fly, one-hand manual height adjustment of the windscreen. But, especially with larger aftermarket windscreens, some GS owners have complained that the OE mounting system allows too much windscreen flutter.

For our 2019 BMW R 1250 GS Exclusive, we requested the VStream Touring Screen ($129.95), which at 19.5 inches tall by 15.25 inches wide is the mid-size VStream offered for the GS (Sport screen is 15.5 x 14.25 inches; Touring Deluxe is 22 x 15.75 inches). As you can see in the above photo, the VStream Touring Screen is significantly taller and wider than stock, and it features National Cycle’s patented “V” profile to direct turbulent air away from the rider. The Quantum hard-coated polycarbonate is said to provide superior scratch resistance, clarity and strength, with 30 times more resistance to abrasion and 20 times greater crack and impact resistance than acrylic windscreens, and it’s covered by a three-year warranty against breakage.

We’ve tested VStream windscreens on a wide variety of motorcycles, and they work like a charm. In the case of the GS, the VStream creates a smooth stream of airflow regardless of windscreen height. No buffeting, no annoying wind noise. Given the Touring Screen’s added height, the top of the windscreen was just below my line of sight, so I had to look through the screen to see the road in front of me and over it to see off into the distance. Setting the windscreen in a middle-to-lowest height provided a more commanding view over the top as well as more direct airflow into the vents of my helmet.

Installation of the ZTechnik Windscreen Stabilizer Kit ($79.95) is straightforward, though it requires Torx wrenches (T25 and T30). Bolts for the stabilizer bracket are sprayed with a splotch of threadlocker at the factory, which is hard and made it nearly impossible to thread them into the bracket’s captured nuts. After using a rotary wire brush to clean the threads, the screws threaded in smoothly. Each side of the stabilizer bracket has two tightening knobs which must be loosened before the windscreen can be hand-cranked up or down, limiting the ability to adjust windscreen height on the fly with one hand. But, since most riders have a preferred height for the majority of their riding, it’s not much of a problem. Indeed, the windscreen stabilizer lives up to its name — there was nary a flutter in the taller, wider VStream. If you’re happy with the stock or other aftermarket windscreen, the stabilizer is compatible with them, too. 

For more information, call (708) 343-0400 or visit nationalcycle.com.

Source: RiderMagazine.com

Twelve years after buying my 2006 Triumph Bonneville T100, with 38,000 miles on the odometer, the very conventional suspension was showing its age, the 41mm fork feeling somewhat less springy, the shocks a bit unbouncy.

I whined to EIC Tuttle, and he called up Race Tech, which happily offered to bring my bike up to date. Race Tech sent a pair of its G3-S IFP shock absorbers, a fork kit with new springs and its Gold Valve Emulators, which would effectively emulate the cartridge fork on many more sophisticated bikes.

To do the necessary wrenching I went to my local technician, Herb Varin at C&H Motorsports here in Central California. He pulled the fork apart and enlarged the holes in the damping rods, and drilled four new ones. The original holes would no longer be responsible for controlling the flow of oil, as the emulator deals with the compression damping, while the rebound damping is done by the oil viscosity. The emulators are held in place by the new springs, which are rated at 0.8 kg, suitable for my 230 pounds. The neat thing about these emulators is that they can be tuned by controlling the flow of oil; Race Tech advised me to use 15 weight. However, adjusting means pulling off the fork tops and fishing the emulators out, so it is not the simplest of tasks. And a bit messy.

Along with the fork kit, Race Tech sent along a pair of G3-S IFP shock absorbers, which come with preload and rebound damping adjustability. These have Internal Floating Pistons in their reservoirs, and preload was preset for my weight; a pinwrench is needed to alter the preload. The rebound damping has a hand-turned adjuster knob, one way for stiffer/slower, the other for softer/faster. Sag was set at the factory at about 30mm, and the spring rate is 2.2 kg.

The Bonnie is not going out on any racetrack, but the improved comfort and handling on my county roads has made a major difference. When leaning into a curve the occasional ripple seems to even out, and less harshness is evident on a rough road. Cruising around town the fork provides an excellent feeling of control, even when bouncing over manhole covers. I went out with several friends who have stock Bonnevilles, one who rides slightly more aggressively than I do, the other, less, and I like to say they were both a bit envious.

The springs ran $130, Gold Valve kit, $170, shocks, $900. If you send the fork off to Race Tech, the cost of installing the kit will be about $175. Of course, most riders, including myself, have the ability to change the shocks.

The only problem is that while I am happy with the settings that Race Tech advised me to use, I’m wondering what might happen with a little bit of fiddling. Who knows?

For more information, see your dealer or visit racetech.com.

Source: RiderMagazine.com

Why is that so many motorcycles have rearview mirrors that are better at providing a view of your shoulders than of what’s behind you? Good explanations are nonexistent, but I’m sure it has a little to do with a lot–styling, clearance, cost, etc.–because the manufacturers of our motorcycles just aren’t that inconsiderate without reason. On the other hand, they’re the ones who have started including fiddly little cables that loop around underseat hooks as a substitute for convenient keyed helmet locks, and I can’t think of anything less considerate that that. Dang cables are never long enough, and removing the seat can be a pain if luggage is installed.

Leave it to an engineer to do something about this stuff rather than just complain about it. You have probably heard of Al Jesse–he’s the guy who created a line of rugged motorcycle luggage suitable for around-the-world travel that is still highly sought after by big-mileage ADV riders. As part of a semi-retirement plan Jesse recently sold the luggage business to the guy who fabricated it for him, and is now happily tinkering away on other projects under the Moto Manufacturing banner. They include the MirrorLok, an ingenious little bolt-on that he designed to address the problems of obstructed mirror view, vibration and the lack of a helmet lock on many motorcycles.

The MirrorLok starts with a solid hunk of black powdercoated aluminum a little less than 3 x 1 x 1 inches in size that has smooth, rounded edges. This mounts to your existing mirror mount on one end, extending outward at the angle of your choice. Your stock mirror mounts in the outward end in a threaded socket dampened with thick polyurethane O-rings, which absorb vibration and improve the view in the mirror. On my BMW R 1200 GS, both mirrors ended up about 1-inch higher and about 2.5 inches farther out as well as clearer at speed on the highway, greatly enhancing the view to the rear.

Appreciating multi-purpose designs, Jesse has also included a sturdy spring-loaded, pushbutton-locking shackle on the MirrorLok for helmet D-rings or cable loops (yes, even the cheapo one that came with the bike) that opens with a key. Moto Manufacturing also offers its own sturdy gear security cables in a 16-inch length to make it easier to secure helmets with or without D-rings to the shackle (e.g. around the chinbar), and a 42-inch length for multiple helmets and/or other riding gear such as jackets and overpants.

I had no trouble at all installing the MirrorLoks, though more detailed instructions would have made it easier still (the installation video on the website does help). Vibration blur in both mirrors has been reduced enough to notice a difference, and I especially like the wider field of view–it allows me to see not just around my shoulders but nearly the entire lane behind me and well out to the sides. The only downside is that I tend to bump into the mirrors more often now getting on and off and walking around the parked bike (perhaps this is another reason the manufacturers make them narrow…).

I would suggest investing in MirrorLoks primarily for the wider field of view and the helmet lock(s), since how much mirror clarity improvement you experience will vary from bike-to-bike. And though they’re sold as a pair you don’t necessarily have to install both….

MirrorLoks retail for $125 per pair and come with mounting hardware specific to your bike, as well as a promise from Moto Manufacturing to make good on any defects. The 16-inch gear cable is $8.95 and the 42-inch is $12.95.

For more information, visit motomanufacturing.com.

Source: RiderMagazine.com

If you read our First Ride Review of BMW’s new G 310 GS, or the Mini ADV comparo that followed, you might’ve noticed that one of our complaints about the little GS’s street friendliness was its lack of wind protection. The tiny barely-a-flyscreen was great for bouncing around off-road but not so great once it was time to hit the highway and head home. Living in Southern California means freeways are an unavoidable way of life, so we called up the folks at National Cycle and ordered a VStream Sport Windscreen for our GS.

National Cycle offers three sizes of windscreens for this model, described as Sport, Sport/Touring and Touring, but we decided that with a center height of 14.25 inches and a width of 13.25 inches, the Sport would be plenty big for this pint-sized machine. We also liked its super dark tint, which blended in with the GS’s dark gray paint and pointy nose and didn’t look completely out of place.

The VStream Sport screen is made from 4.5mm Quantum hard-coated polycarbonate; National Cycle says the combo is 30 times more scratch-resistant than acrylic, with better optics and superior UV, chemical, crack and impact resistance. Mounting it is as easy as removing the four 5mm hex head bolts and stock flyscreen, then bolting on the VStream screen with the included 3mm hex bolts. 

The improvement in wind protection was immediately apparent. Whereas in stock configuration I was taking the full force of the wind on my chest and (often peaked, wind-grabbing) helmet, with the VStream that wind was diverted around my torso to my shoulders and arms and to the top of my helmet. The larger Sport/Touring and Touring screens would likely decrease wind blast even more, but I found the Sport to be an ideal compromise between a sporty, off-road ADV look and decent protection.

At $129.95 and covered by a three-year warranty against breakage, the VStream Sport Windscreen is a necessary upgrade for any G 310 GS rider looking to better their ride’s road manners, without overpowering the little GS’s aggressive ADV looks. 

For more information, call (708) 343-0400 or visit nationalcycle.com.

Source: RiderMagazine.com