Hi all, just a question i would like your opinion on. Does anyone prefer doing long trips on a motorcycle with no windscreen? and if so have you gone from a bike with a screen and found that you prefer the whole wind in your face, more visibility etc?

The thing is i have now a Yamaha Tenere XTZ660 that i am going to do an around Australia trip on, this is the first type of bike i have bought with a fairing and screen on it, i bought it as it seemed to be kind of bike you do a big trip on, i saw it and i thought great, bassically it is all ready to go, big tank, nice seat, decent rack for top box and panniers, good on and off road capabilities, and on a little test ride i went great.

What has come to bother me is the buffeting, i have made two screens taller than the origional, one about 30cm high which made no difference, then i added extra peice of perspex on top it to make to about 45cm, at that hight i did notice less wind force but the buffeting was still there. I then took the sceen of all together just to see what it would be like without it, and straight away i thought this is HEAPS nicer, no buffeting, nice cool smooth air (it is summer here in Australia so if felt extra nice), i could keep my eyes open when i opened the visor as there was no turbulence in my eyes, sure i did feel alot of wind blast, but i am so used to that from riding trail bikes it did not feel uncomfortable.

To me if just feels like how riding should be...bassically the whole wind in ya face kind of thing, you know? But i have only ridden trail bikes in the past and have never done a big trip before.
I feel right now that i would like to do the trip without the screen, but am unsure if it is a wise choice, as i see so many pics on this site and out on the road of bikes which most seem to have a screen on them, i'm thinking it must be pretty important to have one, and i'll regret not having it as the wind blast, bugs and dust will get to me after a while. But at this point in time i can't see the importance of it, it just feels right to me without one.

So to extend my question, do most of you have screens on your bikes because wind blast, bugs, dirt etc really do get to you on a big trip? And does it justify loosing that traditional 'wind in ya face' biking feeling, and tolerating buffeting (if you have that problem).
Thanks for your input.
Brad