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New to forum, with 2016 Versys 650

4K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  onewizard 
#1 ·
Greetings. Thought I would introduce myself. I own a 2016 Versys 650 in black, and I enjoy every minute with it. I ride the backroads in northwest Washington State on the weekends with the occasional hop to the hardware store, occasional commute (pre-COVID, anyway), and lately as a vacation vehicle.

I started riding motorcycles in my mid-teens, which was 40 years ago. My recent previous bikes were a 2003 Suzuki V-Strom DL1000, 2009 Yamaha FZ6R, and 2012 Yamaha FZ8. I was/am one of those riders always looking for the perfect all-arounder. The Versys is as close as I’ve ever come, and ever will I'm pretty sure.

Mods: Hepco & Becker centerstand; Givi D4114 windshield, E22N side cases, E370 top case, and rear hugger; Seat Concepts seat with additional foam; DrySpec Tool Tubes; R&G Racing front fender extender; Kawasaki 12V outlet; SW-Motech GPS mount; and Keiti Additions tank pad.

The windshield is tilted back about 9 degrees. At 5'-11", I look over the top, and the airflow is just over the top of my helmet; no buffeting, turbulence, or wind noise, at least up to 70 mph or so. Because I thought the lower front area of the windshield looked a little odd, I added the two black plastic pieces. I admit they look a little kiddish, but I like the look better than without them.

Some health issues make long-distance touring an unpleasant prospect, so I bought a small trailer and mounted a Pit Bull trailer restraint inside for haul-and-ride road trips. Earlier this month I spent five days doing day trips in central Montana around where I grew up, something I had been thinking about for many years.

The trailer is a CargoMate E-series aluminum 5x8 with rear ramp door and 6-inch extension on the height. The Versys fits nicely inside, and my Highlander tows it all easily.

Be safe and enjoy the journey!

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#7 ·
Hello and welcome to the site!

I second the question on how you got the tilt? Bracket? Washers?

What are you using as a tow vehicle? That looks like a Toyota Rav4? How does that trailer behave in wind? I have an open trailer now and have thought of getting an enclosed trailer.
 
#8 ·
Greetings from across the border in Vancouver. Missing riding Washington state this year with Covid. Your "Tilt-a -windscreen" is interesting. I see the bracket you made, like to see more. It would be interesting to experiment with the tilt,particularly if it was truly adjustable!
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the welcomes.

Regarding the trailer... My tow vehicle is a 2011 Toyota Highlander, which has a 5,000-lb tow capacity. The trailer and motorcycle (and other bits like the spare tire and tools) weigh about 1,400 lbs, so no problem towing. The bike is as far back in the trailer as I could mount it, giving a 200-lb tongue weight. As with just about any enclosed trailer, there is some effect from a moderate or worse cross-wind, but I've never felt unsafe or scared in the winds that I've driven in. The only downside is the poor fuel mileage. With no wind, I get 12 or 13 mpg compared to the usual 17 or 18.

The windshield tilt... It's not done with the brackets seen on the outside. Those brackets are for the SW Motech GPS mount, and they don't have anything to do with the tilt (other than the GPS mount still works when the windshield is tilted). See the photos, which are of the left side of the bike. The top black plastic cowling piece was removed to show the mount. That's a quarter-inch thick bushing in the front that was pressed at an angle against a grinding wheel. How far back the top of the bushing was ground determines the tilt angle of the windshield. I think the only other change was to replace the stock mounting bolts with stainless steel flat head bolts. I had planned to start with new bushings and grind them at the angle that matched the tilt to increase the upper contact area, but I found that it works just fine like this. And obviously I did the same thing to both left and right brackets.

To jaaklucas, the last photo shows a mechanism that I built to test tilt angles. It can be tightened and the bike can be ridden with the windshield at different angles. You're welcome to it if you want. I can ship it to you. I'll see if I can send you an e-mail message in order to get your address.

Joe
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#10 ·
Yea I figured out your tilt angle trick after taking the meter fairing off and did a quicky fix before I saw your tilt "kit". Very well done. Yours with the bevel head fasteners and the machined lift shims is the perfect answer. I have the speedy lowering kit and I was thinking that lowering the frame down on the fork tubes had made the windscreen more upright. I think the restored and increased tilt is a little more aeodynamic at a minimum. Thanks for the idea Mr. black16, solid backyard engineering!
 
#11 ·
Thanks jaaklucas. I figured out the bevel head fasteners early on, but then struggled with the shim part of it. I tried a lot of different things (short of having angled metal shims specially fabbed) before hitting on the tapered bushing.

I spent a lot of time and money trying to get the windshield/air flow sorted on previous motorcycles, often without much success. This Versys windshield tilt was relatively cheap and easy (all of the pieces came from the local Ace Hardware store), and it just plain works, at least for my height.
 
#12 ·
I too am interested, and in less than 1 minute figured how you did it. The photos confirm it. I am running my windshield at the highest level, I find turbulence is at the very top of my helmet, if I lean forward say 4 inches I am totally out of the trubulence. My question is, does the tilting move the turbulence more to the rear and does the distance above the helmet decrease? Just curious, tilting for me would involve moving my mirror extenders and a few other things.
 
#13 ·
I didn't leave the windshield in the stock configuration for very long, and I only used the Givi windshield in the tilted position, so I don't have much to compare against. Because the top edge of the windshield is moved backward in the tilted position, I suspect any turbulence will move backward as well. I've never experienced any turbulence with my tilted windshield, so it's hard for me to comment about that. (My 2003 V-Strom 1000 was another matter. I don't think I ever got clean air in the multitude of windshield configurations that I tried with that bike.)

And yes, the tilting does drop the top edge of the windshield down a little bit. I'm 5'-11" and I have my windshield slid upward about 85% of the travel. The wind goes over my helmet, and I have no turbulence. It's just smooth and quiet airflow. With my roughly 9 degrees of tilt and if I were to slide my windshield all the way up, I think that a rider who is up to maybe 6'-1" would still have the air going over the top of his/her helmet. I wouldn't bet on a person taller than that, but I don't know for sure. Less tilt angle, like 7 or 8 degrees would probably still provide an aerodynamic improvement, and the top of the windshield would be a little higher to possibly better accommodate a taller rider.
 
#14 ·
So I did the tilt back mod.Im 5 foot 8 and use the OEM windscreen set to high position. I need to look over the windscreen as I dont like looking through it. I went for a ride today. A proper wind tunnel test would be interesting but I did find it improved the wind noise. At a minimum it makes the bike more aerodynamic especially after lowering the front of the bike per Speedy. Looks like it follows the plane of the front fairing...
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#15 ·
My intent was, yes, to follow the plane of the front fairing. This seems like a better way to get smooth air flow than the more upright windshield position of the stock motorcycle, although I recognize that the stock windshield angle provides a more adventure bike look, and looks can be as important to people as function.

Lots of factors on the air flow, in addition to a person's height and the height and angle of the windshield. The lip at the top of the windshield makes a difference. I think the width of the shield and also the amount of air flowing underneath the shield make a difference. I feel lucky as much as I feel in any way skilled about my little design modification.

In case anyone is interested, here is a photo paste-up of my windshield tilt pieces. I measured the tilt at the mounting brackets as closely as I could and came up with 8.3 degrees.

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#16 ·
That seat looks insanely comfy. I have the exact same bike, and same color. Also in Western WA, but south of Seattle. It's nice to see another Versys rider not too far! Really clever approach to tilting the windscreen, too. Gonna check out those tool tubes as well. Been meaning to add a set of those. :D Welcome, and thanks for sharing!
 
#17 ·
Hi Lunar Firefly. Thanks for your note. My seat is kind of an odd combination. It's mostly the Seat Concepts foam and cover, which I had a local upholsterer apply. I still wasn't entirely happy with it, so I tore it apart and added the inner padding from a pair of Moto-Skiveez shorts to the rider position, and the padding from a women's pair of shorts plus some other foam to the passenger seat. I also cut out a channel down the middle of both seats and filled the channels with soft foam to reduce the pressure in the middle, like on a bicycle seat. When I ride for more than a couple of hours, I wear a pair of Moto-Skiveez as well, so it's essentially doubled. Yeah, it works pretty well.

The tool tubes fit nicely inboard of the Givi side case racks that I use (although I don't know about fitting within other Givi side case racks for the Versys). I carry a tire repair kit, a few other tools and repair items, and some first aid supplies inside the tubes. I could also carry extra fuel cans instead of the tools although I don't really ride non-stop long enough to justify the need for more fuel than the tank holds.

Yes, nice to see another Versys rider in this little part of the globe. Enjoy the ride!

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#19 ·
Welcome from Canada 🏍
 
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