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Motorcycle
Fly Screen
by Rick K. for webBikeWorld.com
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Back in the old days (uh-oh, here he
goes again!), accessory windscreens for
motorcycles were offered by a handful of companies who
had never put the words "customer" and "service" in the
same sentence.
Anyone under the age of 40 or so
probably doesn't realize that prior to 1976 there was
basically no such thing as a factory fairing on a
motorcycle.
Sure, that may be a bit of an
overstatement, because I guess Harley probably offered a
windscreen on one of their touring models. But as
far as I'm concerned, BMW started the revolution when
they released the incredibly radical (for the time)
R100RS in that year, which set the stage for the
manufacturers to finally consider offering
factory-installed wind protection...and style.
There were no other fully-faired
motorcycles; no sportbikes, sport-tourers or anything
else that looked good and racy and also protected the
rider.
I was desperate for the café racer look
back then and I customized my RD400 accordingly. I
bought a cheap fiberglass "bikini" fairing but the thing
was such a piece of ... junk that I never could figure
out how to get it installed without falling apart.
What else could I do? The clear windscreens that were
available looked about as dorky as a mustache on a
pineapple, so that wasn't an option.
Every once and a while, some company
would come out with a new type of windscreen system but
of course they'd have mounting
hardware for every bike made except yours. Anyone
remember the name of the company that made the "egg"
shaped clear windscreen that completely covered the
front of the bike, including the headlight?
They're long gone, I assume.
Anyway, the problems and lack of quality
led me to give up on the entire notion of an aftermarket windscreen
for any of my bikes. It
just wasn't worth the frustration of going through the
trouble of ordering one, paying for it, futzing for hours
trying to get it installed and then having it look like
junk.
So I was naturally skeptical when I
found this fly screen for the Ducati GT1000. It's
from Custom Sport Classics (see below) and it carries
their part
number DCC-079, the "National Cycle Fly Screen". It's
available in two versions, the clear shown here or in a mildly dark
tint and it fits the Ducati Sport 1000 and GT1000 models.
The product is actually the National Cycle model number
N2532 "Fly Screen LS", although the photos on the
National Cycle website show it mounted on various cruisers.
As of this writing, they don't list the GT1000 as a bike that
will fit this fly screen (or vice versa), so I guess the
Custom Sport Classic folks did some experimenting and
discovered that it will fit. Apparently things
must have changed quite a bit since the last time I
tried to mount an aftermarket windscreen, because this
one fits like a gem. The hardware is a perfect
match for the GT1000, the instructions are simple and
straightforward and the chrome plating on the brackets
is thick, shiny and flawless.
The fly screen comes with all the mounting hardware
necessary to fit the GT1000. It only took me about
20 minutes to install it. I loosely connected
everything together and then unscrewed the bolts on the
sides of the GT1000's headlight, fit the screen in
place, lined it up and tightened everything down.
It took me much longer to take the photos then to
install the screen.
A pair of longer replacement bolts are provided for
the Ducati's headlight shell, but I found that the
original parts worked fine so I used them instead.
The fly screen can be adjusted back and forth and side
to side if necessary, but everything seemed to be lined
up perfectly as soon as I assembled it.

The mounting kit includes some "star" lock washers to
prevent the fasteners from becoming loose. The
photo above shows a close-up of the mounting assembly.
It's a bit difficult to tell because of the close-up,
but in this photo the fly screen is folded down over the
front of the headlight, laying horizontally above the
front fender.
Also shown are the chrome-plated mounting bracket, the
original Ducati headlight shell bolt on the right and
the star washers and flat washers from the mounting kit.
The black dome nuts on the back of
the fly screen and their horizontal adjustment slots are
also visible in the photo above.
I didn't have to adjust anything there and simply
tightened the nuts in place, making sure I was careful not to
apply too much torque.
The photos below show another close-up of the side mount. Note
that the bigger wavy washer on the left is the
Ducati original part; it is not replaced and doesn't
have to be moved.
There's also a view of the side of the headlight with
a close-up the chrome-plated vertical mounting bracket.



And the photo above shows the finished product.
I think it looks great, especially with the
Oberon Bar End Mirrors! I purchased the
original Ducati accessory windscreen for the GT1000 but
it's sitting in the garage in its original box; I like
the fly screen much better.
UPDATE:
wBW
visitor "R.B." reminded me that I forgot to comment on
the performance of the fly screen! Sorry about
that... The answer is that it does block some of the air
that would normally hit my chest, but not really enough
to notice.
I can put my hand in back of the screen at chest
height and feel the dead air, but the "bubble" of air
only extends back about 3/4 of the length of the fuel
tank. The good news is that it doesn't seem to
cause any undue turbulence that I can notice through the
handlebars and it doesn't affect helmet noise levels.
So I wouldn't say that this particular fly screen is
a replacement for a full windscreen, but hey -- it sure
looks cool!
|
Product
Review:
Motorcycle Fly Screen |
| Available
From: Custom
Sport Classics |
Suggested Retail Price: $89.99 |
| Colors: Silver
or Black. |
Made
in: England |
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