Well, with the holidays and the weather, today was my first chance to test one out. I put the Cal Sci on over the holidays and that's when I found out that I was missing one of the screws that holds the windshield on. Local dealerships were both closed between the holidays so have a temp Home Depot bolt in it's place for now.
Anyway, I rode about 250 miles today. Temperature ranged between 28 and 42 degrees on the way to work this morning (85 interstate miles), but was a beautiful 70-72 this afternoon. The Cal Sci is a great improvement over the stock (2011). I do notice a good bit of back pressure when the windshield is between full up and about 2-3 inches down. It's very noticable at first, but the feeling seems to fade some as you ride. Below 70 mph, it's very comfortable. I notice a little buffeting when the windshield is down at highway-plus speeds, but far better than the stocker. With handwings, this would have been a great windshield for 30 degree riding, although my hands didn't freeze this morning with the heated grips running at about half power.
I'm just a hair shy of 6 feet tall with a 34 inch inseam. I also have a Corbin seat, which I believe is shorter than stock by nearly an inch. At full up, the top of the shield (this is a medium) is just about perfectly in line with my eyes. I can look over it even in full up position, or can look through it with very little change in position. It was very stable, even when following a semi and I really do like that.
I'd be intersted in buying a medium Cal Sci, but I'm wondering what I'd use in the summer when I could use a little more air in the Texas heat. Back to the stocker? Maybe a tinted shortie Cal Sci? I don't think I'd like a large Cal Sci as it would be too high when down and much too high at full up. I like a sportier look, so don't want some huge plastic sail in front of me like I had on my old Goldwing.
Personnally, I don't care for the look of the V-Stream. That funky double bubble shape and the way it's wide at the top and narrow in the middle just isn't very attractive, IMHO. If I can, I'm going to go ahead and put it on and give it a ride, but I'm afraid that the look is a deal breaker for me. Once I give it a quick test, just for comparison purposes, I'll put the stocker back on and be ready to move these two along to someone else. Cold front coming through tonight, so not sure how quickly it will be, but I'll be ready to move these along pretty soon.
I put the V-Stream on and really don't care for it. I find that I get buffetting with it all the way down as the edge of the airflow hits me right in the visor. It isn't bad when it's all the way up, but then it seems that the flow comes right into my hands and sides. Just didn't work for me. And, that thing really waves around when you're behind anything bigger than a Prius on the highway. You think it's going to fly off behind a big pickup or a semi.
The Cal Sci (medium) is a better window IMHO and I'll probably be buying one this spring. I thought about getting a tinted shortie for the summer and a medium for the cooler months, but not sure I want to drop the dime on two. Got too many other farkles that I want. If you're looking for something for winter riding, this might be the bottom limit and should research the large one.
Thanks, DonB for letting us try these out. Much appreciated.
Oh, and to basmntdweller, either of these will be a huge change from your '90 stocker!!