Advice To Undo The Fork Bolts To Fit A Madstad Windscreen

Hi, I’ve a Street Scrambler and just purchased a Madstad windscreen as I want to travel over 60mph without excessive wind blast. The fittings are fork mounted and first you undo the bottom fork bolt to put a Madstad fixing plate onto the bolt and tighten it up again before undoing the top fixing bolt to fit the other part of the Madstad screen mounting plate.. on this one they provide a new bolt, presumably a bit longer. Looks simple enough but I can’t get either bolts undone. The bottom bolt is an Allen key bolt and the top one appears to be a Torx head. The tool set I ‘failed’ with is shown in the photo and you may say ‘not surprising’ as I figure there is quite a bit of torque required with these bolts given the job they do. I haven’t tried an extension rod (length of iron pipe??) as I haven’t got one!... so my question is .. am I best leaving it to my Triumph dealer to fix my screen mountings on as they have all the right tools / knowledge and will ensure the fork bolts are tightened up to the correct torque setting.. or are torque settings not that vital and a bit of leverage with an iron extension bar be OK... I’ll just say that although in my dim & distant past I’ve had engines, gearboxes etc to bits and successfully fixed problems, I now have only basic tools and basic skill plus no desire to create a problem for me or my bike through fiddling with something that looks easy but could turn into a problem. I haven’t asked my Triumph dealer yet as to whether they would do it for me given it’s a non Triumph accessory. .. any advice thanks

 

Thanks yes I believe it would be the most sensible thing to do ... cheers

 

Hi, I’ve not had opportunity to set the screen angle/height adjustments up yet as a couple of days after getting the dealership to fit the mountings the lockdown happened. .. so my poor bike is stuck in the garage as with most others... the dealership only put the fittings on and I attached the screen when I got the bike home... the quick release system works easily and I don’t think the fittings look too obtrusive with the screen off. .. pics attached ... when we get out on the road again I’ll be able to set it up properly and post my verdict.. fingers crossed it’s worth the cost as it was with the Madstads I fitted to my Tiger 800s ..for info there are some further pics on the bikehps website where I got the screen from as well as on the Madstad website .. best wishes
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Hi, yes will do .... just a question on the rugged pannier you have ...does yours lock onto the mounting frame ? .. I had the same pannier fitted to mine by the dealership when I got the screen mountings done but they didn’t tell me about it and I only found out that it should lock from this forum... I understand the knob behind the lining inside the pannier should push and turn clockwise to lock, but whilst mine will push in it will not turn at all so won’t lock... does yours turn and lock ?... and yes the pannier will be excellent for shopping should the car not work! ...cheers thanks

 

thanks for info on the pannier .. found it, done it and now sorted .... excellent thanks

 

I’ve tried the screen now and it’s a mixed bag....basically I wouldn’t rush out to buy one. At full rake back and at it’s max height it allows me to ride faster and for longer, (70 ish), in reasonable comfort but at under 50mph riding is far better without it due to wind noise and airflow issues. I can only use my Schuberth C3 Pro helmet with the screen on and have to shut the visor at over 30 mph and can’t use my open face (albeit it has a face shield), Shoei J. Cruise helmet due to excessive noise and airflow problems. At a flatter rake the wind noise is unbearable and creates buffetting and at lower heights the air flow isn’t going over the top of the helmet. I’ve done the usual sitting up , crouching down, leaning forward and back whilst riding in an attempt to find the sweet spot but it’s no better than I describe. I wonder if a larger screen would be better but the 20” is designed for my height and a bigger area of screen would increase the amount of air to be displaced so prob no better.. given its a lot of money I’m not going to splash out on a trial & error basis. Whether the screen would be better on the Scrambler I don’t know but I would think probably not... it’s a disappointment as the Madstad I fitted to my Tiger 800 was absolutely superb at any speed, visor up included... just doesn’t seem to work on essentially the design of a classic naked bike. So I’ll fit it when going a longer distance and need to be on A road motorway type speeds but for my usual pottering around the country lanes at up to 50 mph I’ll take the screen off and be able to enjoy a ride with whichever helmet I want, visors up or down. I think I’ve accepted it just isn’t possible to have the best of all worlds with one bike ... luckily it’s a quick release screen so on and off in under a minute... hope useful to you

 

Yes unfortunately they don’t do the look of the bike any favours ... I was hoping to overlook this aspect for ‘function over form’ but that approach hasn’t been as successful as I’d imagined. ... I wonder how much of pass or fail is down to individual expectation.

 

Hmm, ... thanks yes you are right about the fit round the headlight and when I’ve looked at the photos on the Madstad website it is a close fit. I’ll have another go with the adjustment and see what happens... fingers crossed !

 

Ah well ... no better with the screen at it’s lowest height to fit more snugly above the headlamp... this created head buffeting... prob by restricting the air under the screen it creates the imbalance with greater airflow going over the top. I then rode around and kept stopping to adjust it to each combination of heights & angles ... tried lowest height with each notch of angle and worked upwards...but still ended up with it at max height & max angle as a poor best. I’ve taken it off now and will likely only use it for longer faster trips. In the meantime I’ll e mail Madstad to see if they have any suggestions... thanks Helmut Visor for getting me to double check the fit.