ok back to the OP,
I found this review on another site I thinks it is very well stated about the V Stream:
V-Stream Windshield 2000 miles report
V-Stream Windshield Report by Ed
I just returned from a 2000 mile trip with my new V-Stream Special Edition windshield from National Cycle. Here is the report I promised. The trip was much shorter than we planned due to an unfortunate accident my wife had while hiking in the mountains. The short story is that she broke both bones in her ankle last Tuesday. So we only were able to ride for 4 days instead of the 10 we had planned.
First lets get some preliminaries out of the way. I am 5’7" and my wife is 5’4". I always look over a windshield and never through one. I have never ridden with a Tulsa or other swept back shield and don’t want to. We always ride with earplugs in. I had 140,000 miles on this bike before installing the V-Stream. We both wear full face helmets at all times, usually with the face shields full closed. I had two windshields on this bike before the V-Stream. The first was the factory one, which I installed a vent into. The second was from Memphis Shades, which is also shaped like the factory one.
The first day out we rode about 370 miles in the evening to avoid the heat. The V-stream was adjusted so that I could just see over it by an inch or two. This was one notch up from the lowest setting and the vent was full open. I tried the lower setting before the trip and it was too low. We rode all interstate at about 75 mph. Buffeting of the helmets was much less than with the old shields but not perfect. There was still some noise but not a lot of helmet shake. The wind around my helmet seemed much smoother than ever before. The air stream was just flowing over the top of my face shield. I did notice that the intercom was picking up much less noise than we use to. I still had to turn the volume down to get rid of some noise. My wife said it seemed better for her. But to be fair she never complained about the wind before unless it was 45 mph crosswinds beating her to death. She is also not very good at helping to evaluate things like this.
Now comes the part I found very interesting. As it got later in the night the temperature started dropping. As it did I started experimenting with the vent. This vent is the new style from Honda. It can be set at five different positions instead of the three that the old style vent used. With the vent full open it seems to flow more air than my old ones did. Not sure if it’s because it opens a little further or from the shape of the windshield. With a lot of air comes a lot of noise. With the vent closed the noise level did not change much. But with the vent open to the second position everything changed. All of the noise, buffeting and intercom noise disappeared. At first I though it was my imagination. My wife even noticed the difference and asked what happened. With the vent in that position the air flow on the inside of the windshield was directed up the inside of the shield where it merged with the wind coming over from the front side. It lifted the air over our helmets a little but really smoothed the over all flow of the air. This is where I ended up leaving the vent for most of the trip.
The quiet ride we were experiencing continued for the rest of the trip. If I was on a road with no traffic or crosswind all that I heard was tire, engine and the sound of wind rushing by. The air was completely calm and quiet. Once we got into traffic there was just a hint of buffeting as we traveled through the dirty air caused by the traffic, especially if around big trucks. Again it was much better than the stock shields ever were. I even found that I could ride in quiet without earplugs, but I only did that at less than highway speeds. I still use the earplugs while riding interstate.
Due to my wife’s accident I needed to ride half way home by myself. I rode 350 miles of interstate to meet a friend of mine. He had brought my car up for me so that I could transport my wife home again. While riding alone I started playing with the radio. I don’t listen to it very often. The first thing I noticed was that my volume setting was lower than before. It use to be that I listened to the stereo at 19-22, now it was set at 17-20. The clarity was also much improved. Even the talking during commercials and intros was understandable. Before if I wanted to hear a talk show I needed to use the headphones. I also noticed that when I crack my face shield open for extra air it no longer increases the noise level. This obviously means the air behind the fairing is calmer.
My friend then rode my bike 350 miles to my home while I headed north in the car. He made most of the same observations that I did. He needed to raise the shield but was still looking just over it. He also thought it was an improvement over the other shields he has used.
The bottom line is that I really like the new V-Stream. It is all that National Cycle says it is. Even the rain flows of the shield well at speed. I had a V-Stream on my BMW when I had it. The only thing that would improve it on the Wing is if the windshield was electrically adjustable like the BMW. Then you could fine tune it on the run for the perfect setting for the occasion.
I don't think you will find a quieter windshield to look over on a motorcycle.
I found this review on another site I thinks it is very well stated about the V Stream:
V-Stream Windshield 2000 miles report
V-Stream Windshield Report by Ed
I just returned from a 2000 mile trip with my new V-Stream Special Edition windshield from National Cycle. Here is the report I promised. The trip was much shorter than we planned due to an unfortunate accident my wife had while hiking in the mountains. The short story is that she broke both bones in her ankle last Tuesday. So we only were able to ride for 4 days instead of the 10 we had planned.
First lets get some preliminaries out of the way. I am 5’7" and my wife is 5’4". I always look over a windshield and never through one. I have never ridden with a Tulsa or other swept back shield and don’t want to. We always ride with earplugs in. I had 140,000 miles on this bike before installing the V-Stream. We both wear full face helmets at all times, usually with the face shields full closed. I had two windshields on this bike before the V-Stream. The first was the factory one, which I installed a vent into. The second was from Memphis Shades, which is also shaped like the factory one.
The first day out we rode about 370 miles in the evening to avoid the heat. The V-stream was adjusted so that I could just see over it by an inch or two. This was one notch up from the lowest setting and the vent was full open. I tried the lower setting before the trip and it was too low. We rode all interstate at about 75 mph. Buffeting of the helmets was much less than with the old shields but not perfect. There was still some noise but not a lot of helmet shake. The wind around my helmet seemed much smoother than ever before. The air stream was just flowing over the top of my face shield. I did notice that the intercom was picking up much less noise than we use to. I still had to turn the volume down to get rid of some noise. My wife said it seemed better for her. But to be fair she never complained about the wind before unless it was 45 mph crosswinds beating her to death. She is also not very good at helping to evaluate things like this.
Now comes the part I found very interesting. As it got later in the night the temperature started dropping. As it did I started experimenting with the vent. This vent is the new style from Honda. It can be set at five different positions instead of the three that the old style vent used. With the vent full open it seems to flow more air than my old ones did. Not sure if it’s because it opens a little further or from the shape of the windshield. With a lot of air comes a lot of noise. With the vent closed the noise level did not change much. But with the vent open to the second position everything changed. All of the noise, buffeting and intercom noise disappeared. At first I though it was my imagination. My wife even noticed the difference and asked what happened. With the vent in that position the air flow on the inside of the windshield was directed up the inside of the shield where it merged with the wind coming over from the front side. It lifted the air over our helmets a little but really smoothed the over all flow of the air. This is where I ended up leaving the vent for most of the trip.
The quiet ride we were experiencing continued for the rest of the trip. If I was on a road with no traffic or crosswind all that I heard was tire, engine and the sound of wind rushing by. The air was completely calm and quiet. Once we got into traffic there was just a hint of buffeting as we traveled through the dirty air caused by the traffic, especially if around big trucks. Again it was much better than the stock shields ever were. I even found that I could ride in quiet without earplugs, but I only did that at less than highway speeds. I still use the earplugs while riding interstate.
Due to my wife’s accident I needed to ride half way home by myself. I rode 350 miles of interstate to meet a friend of mine. He had brought my car up for me so that I could transport my wife home again. While riding alone I started playing with the radio. I don’t listen to it very often. The first thing I noticed was that my volume setting was lower than before. It use to be that I listened to the stereo at 19-22, now it was set at 17-20. The clarity was also much improved. Even the talking during commercials and intros was understandable. Before if I wanted to hear a talk show I needed to use the headphones. I also noticed that when I crack my face shield open for extra air it no longer increases the noise level. This obviously means the air behind the fairing is calmer.
My friend then rode my bike 350 miles to my home while I headed north in the car. He made most of the same observations that I did. He needed to raise the shield but was still looking just over it. He also thought it was an improvement over the other shields he has used.
The bottom line is that I really like the new V-Stream. It is all that National Cycle says it is. Even the rain flows of the shield well at speed. I had a V-Stream on my BMW when I had it. The only thing that would improve it on the Wing is if the windshield was electrically adjustable like the BMW. Then you could fine tune it on the run for the perfect setting for the occasion.
I don't think you will find a quieter windshield to look over on a motorcycle.
