1. My first bike was a naked. Suzuki SFV650 Gladius, for which I bought a tiny Puig windscreen. It made a tangible, if not life-changing, difference - but then, I was also using a very cheap helmet and had not quite discovered earplugs.

2. Then I bought a Honda VFR800 with a double-bubble screen already fitted. (I rode a friend's CBR600F3 for a few months in the meantime, but didn't do any extended trips on it.) On a whim, I put an MRA X-Screen lip on it, and played around with the angle a bit, finding that I actually got much better results if I angled it straight into my face. This was also around the time when I bought a Shoei NXR, and was in a position to assess the relative quietness of different setups. (The reason for the new helmet? The old HJC didn't match the VFR's color scheme.)

3. I rented or test-rode a bunch of stuff, including a CB500X, an NC750X, an Africa Twin, an XR150 (got that thing up to 90km/h indicated!!!), a Vespa 250, and most recently, even a friggin' brand new Gold Wing Tour...

4. The FZ1S I bought came with a tall MRA touring screen already fitted by the previous owner. (One of the reasons I bought the bike was that the guy had invested heavily into touring prep on it, including, by happenstance, the mounting hardware for all the gear I'd kept from the VFR!) This one has a lip spoiler too, and after the first few rides, I quickly tilted it to point straight at my visor again.

5. Had a long trip this past weekend, more or less a circle of the country, and on the last section I was bored and a bit stiff, sitting in the right lane of an empty highway - so I stood up on the pegs.

Amazing! Once my head was up high, out of the airflow, it was so beautifully quiet. Much more quiet than ducking down onto the tank, hiding my head entirely behind the screen (but now hearing engine noise, of course). And this was in a Grex G9.1, basically an overstock old Nolan N90 with different stickers - a great modular helmet for the money, but definitely not the quietest thing in the world.

Sure, there was wind pressure on my chest, but I am definitely willing to live with that if I can keep my head in quiet air like that!

My next step is to fit the stock windscreen that the previous owner gave me, and see if that gives me the effect I want...

Works the same for any bike.

While you have the screen off for trying out different ones try riding the bike with no screen fitted - that works ok for the quietness factor also.

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Dave

Unless I'm missing something how is standing on the pegs (and well above the screen presumably) out of the airflow? My experience with screens has been exactly the opposite; above the screen is as noisy as hell (although it needs a properly designed screen, not your cat flap held in place by duct tape).

Sorry, should've elaborated: out of the flow of turbulent air disturbed by the passage of the bits of the bike in front of you. The helmet traveling on its own through otherwise still air is, apparently, really not very turbulent at all.

(Compare riding with nobody in front of you to being stuck behind a lorry.)

I don't use tall screens, prefer to have wind on my chest and have direct view on the road. In my experience much better is to invest in very good, aerodynamic helmet. Once I got my arai tour and shoei nxr helmets they made all the difference, it was much quieter and my had stopped to jerk around on wind gusts. For longer journeys sometimes use earplugs.

Either the windscreen must be so tall that its taller than your head when youre sitting on the bike so that you can hide behind it or it must be relatively low. Those quite high windscreens that only gives shelter halfway up your head and thus gives a huge airflow straight into your head are absolutely the worst. The original screen on my Tenere 660 for example was absolutely PITA. Fitted a 10 cm taller screen and its much better.
On the Tiger 955 I had I went lower than the original and also that was waay much better than original halftall...

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

When you're following a lorry you're sitting in a pocket of moving air being dragged along by it, so naturally there is less wind noise. What makes the noise is the shearing action between moving and static air, typically as the air stream going past your helmet meets the non moving air inside it. So unless you've got a real "barn door" fairing that deflects all the airflow over your head, your helmet will be in some kind of moving air.

Personally the only advantage I find with screens is they keep some of the wind load off your upper body, avoiding the "sheet in the wind" effect at speed.

That's not what happens though. Unless you are tailgaiting extremely closely, like the hypermiling car guys, you're sitting in the vortex of extremely turbulent air created by the lorry's passing. The absolute most uncomfortable place to be on a motorcycle is behind a lorry. I'd rather ride through a hailstorm.

The reason I brought it up was that if I stand up on the pegs - putting my head significantly outside any aerodynamic business to do with the body of the bike - it gets really quiet. My helmet is still moving through air, obviously.

I doubt it will. Probably will be noisy.

I'm surprised with all those bikes you never figured out that most screens cause noise and buffeting and that NO screen is quiet in most cases. I've been round and round on screens with several bikes over the years. Talk about chasing your tail!

Sometimes you get lucky and find a quiet one, but more often than not, it's quieter with NO SCREEN on the bike at all.

Many ask how I could ride long distance and long days on my DR650. It's a dual sport bike, only has a little front cowl, so you get "clean" air flow. Many DR650 riders add screens ... but I knew enough not to go down that slippery slope.

The one area where (to me) a decent screen makes sense is in VERY COLD conditions. Can help keep you from freezing.

On my former '07 Triumph Tiger I tried 3 different screens, one a very expensive UK product with mulit adjustability ... CRAP! Nothing but noise.

On the Tiger, after 3 screens and no luck, I gave up and just took off the screen. 100% better.

When I sold the bike I put the stock screen back on and gave the new owner one other screen I had left over. I was able to sell off the UK one.

The owner Poo Poo'd the idea of buffeting as a problem. In a month he emailed saying he went in circles trying to get his screen quiet ... and finally did what I had done ... just took the bloody thing off. Job Done!

And YES ... we all wear very good ear plugs always!

I agree with you on all points. I go 'round and 'round with screens and always end up pitching them.

After years of fully faired motorcycles, I changed to a naked machine, it was fitted with a very small screen that did not much more than keep the instruments out of the rain, I tried the manufactures touring screen, but when it rained it channelled all the rain onto my gloves, eventually soaking through, plus cold hands

I changed to a PUIG screen that is adjusted to allow plenty of airflow onto my helmet, but keeps my upper body out of the cold and also my hands out of the wind and rain

I find that very tall screens allow you to ride with an open face helmet, or a full face with the visor up, but turbulence and distorted vision take away the pleasure of the ride,
On a long tour a good screen makes all the difference between being able to do 300 miles a day in comfort against 200 in discomfort

I rarely manage to tour in the hot weather, so rain and cold are ever present

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