| Author | Message | ||
     Trevd |
Inspired by Signal4's excellent write up of his Palmer bracket install (http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142838/466820.html?1244660282), I decided to document my install and initial thoughts of the Madstad Brackets. I bought my '08 Uly XT a few weeks ago, and I knew that the first thing I had to do was get a new windscreen solution. The stock screen was throwing noisy air right at my head, and it was just too loud for me. BTW, I'm 5'8", stubby 30" inseam. I considered the Palmer brackets, but felt better getting the Madstad because it comes with the aluminum flyscreen, which I figured would add strength and would better deal with the stresses of the larger windshield and brackets. Given that my bike is black, the black only color of the Madstad flyscreen didn't bother me. If I had a red or blue bike, I might have leaned more towards the Palmer setup. I also ordered their 16" touring shield. I knew it was about the same height as my stock shield but a bit wider, and differently shaped. I figured it would be better because it didn't have a curve at the top of it that I thought was giving me noise on my stock shield. Service prior to ordering was good, but it took a few days to get emails returned. I attributed it to the fact that the Memorial Day weekend had just happened, and figured Mark was taking a few extra days off. OK, now the install... This is my bike before:  I'd been riding around without the stock screen because it was just too noisy. This is what I got in the box:  The flyscreen, shield, and bag of bolts. Everything seems to be high quality, and the finish on the flyscreen is great. Following the well detailed instructions, I removed the existing flyscreen, which was easy. Remember to hold onto the little plastic washers otherwise one could fall, and it might take you a good 10 minutes to find the little bugger on the ground, a few feet from where it dropped. As instructed, I tested the new flyscreen to see if the horn would bump up against the back of it, which it did. Loosening one bolt, turning the horn holder, and bending said holder gave me this:  The horn was now out of the way. Right around then I noticed this on my front wheel:  He didn't attempt to kill me like Signal's victim did but he did dirty my wheel. The bug having distracted me, I forgot to take pictures for a while... Installing the flyscreen was the hardest part of the process. The stock plastic flyscreen bends as you bolt it in place. The aluminum was doesn't as easily. I had to start the bolts a few times, and restart them to get them all lined up properly. Again, the instructions warned me that it would probably happen, and it did. It took some time and was a bit of a PITA, but I got through it. Once the flyscreen was on, the rest was easy. The instructions show a nice picture of how to place the bolts, washers and spacers to put the windscreen on the brackets. While I was installing the shield on the brackets, my 3 year old grabbed a sponge and rag my buddy had used last week to wash his bike, wet it in the dog's water bowl, and started washing my bike.  Here are a few pics of the shield in place:    Then I had to rinse the soap of the bike:  Then I started up the bike to take it for a ride. First thing I noticed is that the screen still vibrated like crazy at idle. There are 2 bolts that hold the brackets together that are purposefully left loose to allow for adjustment. I suspect that if I snug those up a little bit, it might make the shield vibrate less at idle. I took it for a ride. What a disappointment it was! On the Madstad website, for the package I got, it says: "Our 6 foot test rider was able to ride with this shield at highway speeds comfortably with his face shield open!" I suspect that that test rider must get all his height from his legs and has a short torso, because my head was in a loud turbulent bunch of air. It wasn't quite as loud as the stock screen, but it was too loud for me, and there was no way that I could ride at highway speeds with my shield up. No matter how I adjusted the brackets, I couldn't seem to find a nice spot. It was better than stock, but not good enough. Feeling discouraged, I went to bed dreaming of wind noise and turbulence. This morning I put the stock screen on the Madstad brackets, took it for a ride, and was happily surprised to find that the screen that I had so hated at first, was now working almost perfectly on the new brackets! The turbulent air was almost gone, and the noise was much, much better! This was more like it, and more what I was expecting! Rode for several miles on the highway (speeds up to 130kph) and was quite happy. So I looked at my two screens side by side:  The one on the left is the Mastad MP screen, the right is the stock XT screen. Even though they are roughly the same height, the mounting holes on the MP screen are higher up, meaning that once installed, it is actually a bit lower (3/4") than the stock screen. It's also wider at the bottom, and about the same width at the top. I'm thinking that maybe the air rushing around the bottom of the shield is that is causing me problems - maybe coming up into my face... Either way, the MP screen is a no-go for me. I'm much happier with the stock screen on the brackets. Madstad offers a money-back guarantee, so I think I will use that for the shield and see what happens. I'm very fussy about airflow so I'm not fully content yet. I may see if I can exchange the MP screen for their 18" one, and see if it is the height, OR, I may try a laminar lip on the stock screen. Either way, I'm quite happy that I got the bracket and would get them again for sure. I would pass on the 16" MP screen though... That's just me though - YMMV. (Message edited by trevd on June 12, 2009) | ||
| Signal4 |
Niec write up, glad you didn't get bit. That hurt like hell. Also, how much money for the bike washer? I need one of those!  | ||
| Trevd |
The bike washer is surprisingly expensive, and really doesn't do a great job... | ||
| Froggy |
Not to mention the washer is high maintained and noisy till it’s broken in after a few years! Then it just sucks your wallet dry. | ||
| Mnrider |
Thanks for the funny and informative review Trev. Now I don't know what brackets to get. Do the Mastad ones move up and down? After raising three washers I don't have much money so this will help me make the right choice. | ||
| Rwven |
The Palmer bracket in a good bit less coin and has greater adjustability. The MadStad bracket is a bit less visible with it's powder coated finish. I have the toolless Palmer and I like the adjustability plus the ease of removing the shield entirely for a blast through the twisties. I also like the stainless steel finish against the black flyscreen on my Uly. | ||
| Trevd |
Yes, the Madstad brackets do move up and down - about 2 inches. For the flyscreen and 16" shield, I paid $306, including USPS shipping to Canada. | ||
| Signal4 |
For completeness, I paid around $280 bucks for the Palmer bracket, large windscreen, brace kit, and vinyl "eyebrow" covers. This included shipping from the UK, and I ended up not using the brace kit or vinyl covers but I'm keeping em anyways. | ||
| Rwven |
$100.37 For the Toolless Palmer Bracket a few months ago. I just got the brackets, no braces etc. The exchange rate changes daily so it's hard to pin down an exact price. | ||
| Glen |
im on day 2 with my new palmer brackets and large windsheild, ive been meaning to write somthing here but havnt got off the bike since... i'll write more on sunday and throw some pics in. its gonna rain tommorow so im goin dirt biking on my drz..... long story short,,,took about 30 minutes to install,,,80mph on the freeway with my helmet open, no kidding. not a single bug hit me!!!! + im 6 ft, 32 inseem and i have the sheild full forward and halfway up. bike is solid as a rock on both highway and freeway i shoulda got this the day i got the bike. i resisted, due to the looks, but im glad i decided to see how the other half lives. | ||
| Ready2ride |
Either way, the MP screen is a no-go for me. I'm much happier with the stock screen on the brackets. Madstad offers a money-back guarantee, so I think I will use that for the shield and see what happens. Don't give up on the big 'screen too quickly. Where you live, you will appreciate the extra weather protection you get with it come next winter. Patiently make small adjustments, 1/4 inch at at time, and you might find that "sweet" spot. | ||
| 12bolt |
I have the same MAdstad set up and ended up adding a bracket to raise the madstad brackets up a couple of inches. The wind noise and buffeting is much better now. (I'm 6'4"    | ||
| Trevd |
Where you live, you will appreciate the extra weather protection you get with it come next winter. HA! Good one!! Where I live, winter looks like this:  So it doesn't matter what size the windshield is, there ain't no riding that's gonna get done! Patiently make small adjustments, 1/4 inch at at time, and you might find that "sweet" spot. I did spend considerable time making small little adjustments trying to get it right. I`m thinking that the way the shield is shaped at the bottom is causing the air to swirl up into my helmet. I emailed Mark at Madstad to see about returning it, and he`s sending me the 18" shield to see if that suits me better. He's also sending a new version of the brackets in which some changes have been made (not sure what changes yet) to get me to try them out. I'll report here once I get them and the new shield. | ||
| Trevd |
Figured it was about time to update this... I got the 18" shield from Madstad a few days after my last post in this thread, and I have to say it works great! Hardly any buffeting, very little noise. It's worked well all summer for me, and as far as I'm concerned, it's now a permanent part of the bike. I can ride at interstate speeds with my visor up, no problem. The one issue I've had with the brackets is that with the bigger shield, the brackets weren't staying in place - they kept getting pushed back by the wind on the shield. I emailed Mark at Madstad about the problem, and he offered to send me some hardware to secure it in place. I told him not to bother and I bought a couple of nuts at home depot, and secured the screen to where I like it. The downside is that I now have to use a 10mm wrench if I need to adjust the screen, but I haven't had to adjust it since I found the "sweet spot". So, from my perspective, at 5'8" with a 30" inseam, the Madstad brackets combined with their 18" screen works great! I should note though, that the stock XT screen with the Madstad works almost as well for me - not quite as good, but close. | ||
| Barkbuster |
12bolt- What is the electro-gizmo attached to your bracket mod |
