I just put a Givi A603 windscreen on my ’01 GS500. Here are some thoughts:
– The range of adjustment of the universal mount is astounding. At first I wasn’t even sure the mount would work on the GS, but the more I played with it, the more I figured out all the neat tricks it does. It’s a mechanical wonder in design. I can micro-adjust the reach and tilt (angle) in endless ways by rotating the “joints” and sliding the rods of the universal mount. It’s fun if you like to experiment with this.
– The windscreen itself is much taller than I expected. I’m used to riding the bike naked, so at first, having this tall windscreen in front of me felt…different. Even though the top of the windscreen is still way below my forward sightline, seeing this windscreen in my peripheral vision makes the bike feel, psychologically, taller and more substantial. It makes me imagine that I was riding a adventure touring bike like a V-Strom or a BMW. When cornering, seeing the windscreen tilt was an interesting visual aid. For some weird reason, I was riding and cornering much more aggressively, as if the windscreen would “shield” me from trouble.
– Wind protection-wise, I’m still evaluating. I wear a Halo helmet band, which stayed in place fine when riding naked. The Halo band got blown off the helmet (down to my neck) as soon as I got on the freeway with the newly installed windscreen. I put the Halo band back on the helmet, and as soon as I got back on the freeway it got blown off again. Right now the windscreen directs the high pressure air directly at my neck level. If I leaned forward in a slight crouch, the wind would be at my ear level (louder). If I tucked even lower and more forward, with my eyes peering just over the top of the windscreen, it become more quiet and still. I rode up to 90 mph indicated and tried different riding positions to get a feel for it. I want to take another couple of rides, then angle the windscreen steeper (to lower where the wind hits me) to see what happens.
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