Madstad for F6B

[d-shark]

Bruce B,

Regarding night time visibility with the dark grey. I was riding home the other night during dusk (remember now that I am currently looking through my 16" shield) and the lowered visibility was annoying. My previous shield was an 11" dark Baggershield which was no problem at night since I was looking well over the top of it. Point here is if you are looking far enough over the top of the shield then night visibility is not an issue (not for me anyway).

[chipmaker]

If u get a madstad and look thru it, u missed the point and might as well get a tall cheap shield. U should be looking way over it...

[Bruce B]

If u get a madstad and look thru it, u missed the point and might as well get a tall cheap shield. U should be looking way over it...

You're right, and I do look way over it. I really just wonder if I should stick to the medium gray rather than the dark for visibility to the 8 and 4:00 positions on slow parking lot, etc. situations.

[d-shark]

Bike with 11" shield at 60 degrees, set approx 1" up from full down.


Windshield full up,red tape 58" (my eye level).


Windshield approx 1" up, red tape 58" (my eye level).


Windshield full down, red tape 58" (my eye level).


Windshied full up, 60 degree tilt.


Windshiel approx 1" up, 60 degree tilt.


Windshield full down, 60 degree tilt.


Beautiful day today in Central IL, UPS delivered shield at 3pm so I got out for 2 hours of riding. First of all the 11" shield adjusted approx 1" up from the lowest height setting and tilted at 60 degrees is every bit as effective as the 16" shield was despite the fact that I'm looking well over the top of it. Wind protection is also good set in full UP and full DOWN positions. In the full UP position I have to sit up just a tad to see over the top of the shield. So with this combination (tall base shield & 11" shield) this works good for me being 6'2". The full height adjustment range is usable for me.

With my old 11" Baggershield the stereo was useless above 55mph. Today on the interstate at 75mph I enjoyed the stereo without having to crank it to ear blistering levels. Also tried my Half Helmet which produced a ton of wind noise with the Baggershied. Only slightly more noise with the helmet compared to no helmet.

Photos from the riders seat give you an idea of how the tall base shield looks relative to the forward field of view. I think a rider would have to be very short for the taller base shield to present any kind of forward visibility problem. I personally like the proportions of the tall base shield and 11" top shield. At my request Madstad shipped me a top shield with the gentler bottom contour which looks better IMO.

[Mustangjake]

My opinion for what little it counts. The Madstad looks like it is about 3 inches forward of the stock shield and less of a angle most likely why u need a shorter 1.

[Scotrod]

The smaller shield does look better!!!

D-Shark, what's your inseam?

So far, it looks like I'm either an 11 or a 13 shield sze w/Madstad.

[d-shark]

Scotrod,

I am 6',2" tall with an average to perhaps slightly longer torso length and 34" pant inseam. To select the proper shield height you have to first know exactly which base shield Madstad is going to ship to you. I received the 10" tall base shield by accident (as measured from the bottom of the faring gasket to the top of the base shield). Mark at Madstad said they should have shipped a base shield that is approx 2" shorter as seen in this thread on Bruce's bike.

If you look at Bruce's bike he has his brackets adjusted approx 2" UP to get the bottom of the shield approx even with the faring gasket. My guess is that the top of his 13" shield is approx 13" above the bottom of the faring gasket. This leaves Bruce with only 1" of additional UP adjustment (so the full usable adjustment range for Bruce is 13" to 14" above the bottom of the faring gasket). So if you get the shorter base shield as Bruce did then you have to choose your shield height very carefully because of the very limited height adjustment. When I discussed the limited height adjustment the shorter base shield imposes with Mark at Madstad, Mark seemed to think it was no big deal, I have to disagree, (that would be a deal killer for me).

In my case I have the taller 10" base shield so when the brackets are adjusted all the way DOWN the bottom of the shield is approx even with the faring gasket. I can set my 11" shield so the top of it is anywhere from 11" to 14" above the bottom of the faring gasket. I appear to get excellent wind protection through that entire adjustment range with the taller base shield. My concern is that a shorter base shield may degrade wind protection when the shield is adjusted full UP? I have no way to prove this, so make your own choice.

It was interesting in my conversations with Mark, he stated the Madstad windshield heights they manufacture are simply that, the height of the windshield when placed on a table measured from top to bottom (they make no reference to a point on the bike). On the other hand Goldwing owners when discussing windshield height tend to assume this means the height of the shield measured from the faring gasket to the top of the shield. This is not the case with the kit Bruce received. If he adjusts his 13" shield to full DOWN the top of his shield will be approx 11" above the faring gasket and the bottom of the shield approx 2" below the faring gasket. My point here is that Goldwing owners may be thinking apples while Madstad is thinking and shipping oranges.

I'm taking the time here in an attempt to help forum members understand their choices. I also hope this will be useful and constructive feedback for Madstad. When I originally ordered this product I wanted a shield I could adjust from 11" up to 14" in height (as measured from the bottom of the faring base gasket to the top of the shield). Madstad recommended I order their 16" shield despite the measurements I provided and concerns I expressed about 16" being too tall (granted Mark assured me they would replace the shield at no charge if it did not work out and he has).

My advice would be to order the taller Base Shield, that way if you adjust a 11" or 13" shield full DOWN, the top of the shield will be approximately 11" or 13" above the bottom of the faring base gasket. Then you have a full 3" of upward adjustment (14" and 16" max height respectively) with no apparent loss in wind protection as far as I can tell.

[d-shark]

OK, I'm sure you folks have sensed my frustration over the differences in the Madstad kits Bruce and I received and what I felt was a lack of any acceptable explanation from Mark at Madstad. After sending Mark a number of Emails with photos of both bikes where none of the photos were visible on his end I suggested he come here to the Forum. Mark did that but evidently photos are only visible to registered members so he registered and had to wait for administrator approval before logging in (this explains why a response to my questions took so long). Now that Mark is a member and has seen all the photos he and I are finally on the same page as indicated by his post here yesterday afternoon.

I would like to give Mark credit for the time he has spent reading my emails, answering my phone calls, registering on this forum and dealing professionally with my impatience. After Mark got on the Forum yesterday and saw the photos we exchanged a couple of very informative emails. Some of that information I will try to paraphrase here.

Mark reminded me although Madstad manufactures a lot of shield kits, the F6B kit is new so they are still experimenting and or trying different things to see what customers respond to. As an example he mentioned they have sent out three different windshield shapes with different contours to get customer feedback. I made Mark aware that given a choice between mine or Bruce's top shield I vote for Bruce's. Now that Mark is a member here I'm sure he will follow this thread so others should express their preference as well.

As mentioned earlier I am waiting for an 11" shield that has shipped and will arrive next week. This shield mounted on my current base shield will measure approximately 11" from the top of the shield to the faring / base shield gasket in it's lowest position and approximately 14" in it's highest position which is a good range of adjustment. I really liked the height of my previous 11" Baggershield, I was looking well over the top of it and reasonable wind protection for most riding. I expect the ability to raise the Madstad shield up for long interstate runs to be a big plus. The 16" Madstad provides a big bubble of calm air at just about any angle and or height. I'm guessing the 11" shield effectiveness may be a bit more sensitive to height and angle adjustment???

Mark has offered to send me the shorter base shield as seen on Bruce's bike and I'm not sure I want to install that for a few reasons: First of all with the taller base shield when the shield itself is adjusted all the way down the bottom of the shield is generally in line with the faring / base shield gasket (this looks nice). Seems to me this would be as low as one would want the shield to go any way. Seems to me like a lower position would start to choke off the air gap between the shield and faring? Also seems to me if the bottom of the shield is adjusted below the the faring gasket it's just not going to look quite right? Also adjusting the bottom of the shield below the faring gasket seems like there may be a risk of inadvertently contacting the faring. Also, I just find the taller base shield top contour visually more pleasing compared to the shorter base shield on Bruce's bike (just me). And finally seems to me the taller base shield would make the whole system more aerodynamically effective, especially when the shield is in it's full up position compared to the shorter base shield??? Others should express their feelings as I'm sure Mark would appreciate the feedback.

Mark explained to me that they went with the shorter base shield on the F6B to avoid limiting forward visibility since the base is completely dark for this model (this is thick heavy material that provides very good support for the brackets). Mark seems to think the taller base shield could be s safety issue for shorter riders and thinks sacrificing adjustment range is an acceptable trade-off for improved visibility. For me having full usable height adjustment range is a key feature!!! I had a number of friends ride my F6B with the 11" Baggershield that was dark and everyone said they could easily see over it just fine. My taller Madstad base shield is only 10" tall measured from the bottom edge of the faring gasket to the top of the base shield. Thoughts from others on this subject my be helpful to Mark.

When I have a chance to install and ride with the new 11" shield next week I will report back. Thanks to Bruce, Mark and everyone else here for their helpful input.

[d-shark]

chipmaker,

You are right. This has become a long thread but earlier I stated I ordered the 16" shield at Madstad's advice and it turned out it was way too tall (am looking through it). Madstad is sending me an 11" to replace it.

[chipmaker]

Can't wait to get one for this bike, I'll let u guys figure out the final product choices...