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Took my first ride on a highway yesterday. Exciting and pucker-inducing at the same time. I felt like I was being blown around a bit but tried to stay lose and hang on. Topped out at about 70mph in order to keep up with traffic. So here is my question.
I have a 20 mile commute to work and am planning on riding year round.
Would a windshield make the winter commute more bearable? I'm also wondering what size might be best. I don't want to get something that is going to act like a sail when hit w/ crosswinds.
Any feedback?

A windshiled definately makes a diffrence for me, especially when it's a two lane highway and you've got semi's coming towards you traveling at 80 mph. I've noticed that the smaller bikes don't have that sail effect to bad. My husbands Gold Wing on the other hand catches wind like a sail boat in a regatta!

I dislike the way my winshield looks, but I'm unwilling to remove it.

Yup windshield makes a BIG difference when riding in colder weather. When I first got my bike it had no windshield and I rode it and rode it that way for a few thousand miles. Then I bought a National Cycle Deflector DX and have been riding with that for a the last few thousand miles. Chilly morning commutes aren't as bad now as the wind isn't hitting me directly in chest. Also the wind buffeting my helmet has been reduced. Now when I'm just cruising the back roads, I prefer riding without the windshield. With the Deflector DX, I can remove it in about 30 seconds. I too prefer the look of my bike without a shield, but it's advantages are good enough for me to keep it on most of the time...

This can go a couple of ways. A good windshield can protect you. But, often a shield focuses the wind that would be evenly dispersed across your body onto one area - usually your helmet. Me, I prefer not to have the top of my helmet whacked by the windstream, so I leave my bike naked.

one of the guys i rode w/ had an SV650 and it has a tiny little windscreen. i asked if that's even helping. he said you don't need a lot, just enough to deflect the wind upward.

so yeah... even a small one can make a noticeable difference. plus, it won't act like a sail.

If the wind it knocking your helmet all around you have the wrong windshield for your size. Fairings and windshields are very important to me when it's cold. The less wind that hits me the better I feel. It's like stepping out of the wind on a cold day, doesn't it feel better?

Entirely worth it even if you have to pay something ridiculous like $300-400 for your ideal windshield.

I have a 45 mile round trip commute on Atlanta interstates. Rolling at 70-80 mph, my medium sized windshield makes a huge difference. As mentioned above, most of the wind hits right around my helmet, but it keeps most off my torso; no real sail effect to speak of.
I drop my saddle bags and windshield on the weekends for back road cruising, but when I'm battling it out on the interstates, the windshield makes it a much more enjoyable ride.



That little windshield does alot.

A small shield like Dash shows on his Nighthawk above is all I need to run 400 miles down the Interstate comfortably at 75-80 mph indicated in the summer. A little more shield is nice in heavy rain and for winters. I'd use the small one year around in north Georgia, but prefer a larger one here in NE Ohio for the winter. I change mine for seasons.

Summer Spitfire:



Winter Plexi 2:

An NC Plexi III works great on my Nighthawk in the winter. It looks like Jack's Plexi II, but it has lowers to keep your knees out of the wind.

If you're going to ride at freeway speeds in winter weather, a windshield will make things much easier. Without a winshield, you're going to have to seal yourself up like a mummy to keep high speed, cold air from getting under your outer wear. The windshield will bring the wind level down substatially, so you can dress more like if you were going for a walk on a cold day, rather than a walk in a winter hurricane.