5'11" 31 inch inseam (long body) so my big head is pretty high up. I also wear a helmet 100% of the time. I too have been looking, and these are my findings.
I bought the bike with 12053 miles on it. I just hit 18000 as I rolled it in to my garage on Friday night after riding home from work. All this time, it had the Klock Werks 11" Recurve (no-vent) windshield on it.
1. It's a great looking windshield (opinion). Mine is dark tinted.
2. The re-curve on it is what I would consider the sweet spot for curvature. It puts the flow of air around the rider at a decent path all the way around the shield. While the shield itself tended to get a lot of bug traffic on it, not once did I ever get hit by a bug in the last 5947 miles. This tells me that the air sweep is pretty ideal. I never had to clean my helmet or its screen.
3. It's fine for two-lane riding at 60 mph or slower...40-45 being pretty optimal. You can hear the radio, even at higher speeds but at a cost to sanity.
4. I would not recommend it for super-slab cruising above 60mph for anyone taller than 5'7" (which is what I craned my back and neck to in order to get out of the wind). Yes, I did ask my wife to measure me in squat mode. I think the buffeting of the head is way to much...like eyeball rattling bad. My one time on the 85mph tollway here was my last with this windshield. Bobblehead in hell.
5. Cost (opinion) is a little on the high side.
I just installed the Clearview windshield 16" dark with recurve and vent. I ordered it March 22nd, just received it April 8th, so nearly 3 weeks. This weekend I was able to put 580 miles on the bike and got a fairly decent spread of super-slab, four-lane, two-lane and county road riding in, plus the tollway.
1. Another good looking windshield, albeit taller than the Klock model. Between the two, I like the look of the Klock Werks unit.
My initial fit testing went well, but I wasn't able to stretch her out on Friday evening before I completed the install after removing the protective plastic sheets.
2. The re-curve on this one has me baffled a little. I still look over the windscreen by a decent amount (easily within the 50ft ground mark) at it's highest setting (this one is adjustable...which is nice). The shield gets alot of bug traffic that not only hits it, but spatters the little suckers. One could harken this to the size, but there is more. Unlike the Klock Werks...I've been getting hit by bugs on the helmet screen and above, and not just a couple of times, but a lot. It's almost annoying how much because I spend just as much time cleaning the helmet as I do the windshield. Klock Werks re-curve wins here in my opinion.
3. I had no problem with wind buffeting up to 85mph (yes, there is still some but as the wind sweep is just at the forehead level, it's no where near that of the Klock Werks. Radio comes in nicely as high as I wanted to go.
4. No squat required, although I did do so to find that it makes a nice pocket of nearly clean air hunched down a tad.* (* a tad is a distance between "not enough" and "to the point of being goofy") I would say the buffeting on the head, in my case, is likened to a gentle tap of a bobblehead...yeah, its there, but your eyeballs aren't going to want to be on vacation elsewhere.
5. Cost (opinion) is decent for the size.
I may look into the V-stream next. I had one on a previous bike (M109) and it really did a good job of pushing the air out and around me. Much better pocket than I had thought it would give and holy hell they aren't kidding about the physical protection either. It didn't have a vent, but the price is really nice at over $100 less than the others...and it does have a slight curvature to it, it's just slightly different.. Seeing others post about higher speeds and some screen buffeting doesn't bother me...it's not a framed windshield. I expect it to take the brunt of force and handle it. It looks like the one for the F6B is nice and wide, has the vent available and is still well priced.
Just thought I would share my experience with the models I have with the common point being the recurvature. BTW, that Taka-S screen looks to have a similar upper curve to a Klock model.
Thanks for all of the review, definitely gives me something to think about for sure. Thats interesting what was said about the klock works windshield that I didn't really anticipate. Wouldn't it be nice to just be able to try a bunch???? lol
So no reviews on the taka huh? read some reviews on the gl1800 some good and some really bad but just wondering.
One thing I can say about the clearview is that the re-curve is there I supposed but not as pronounced as the kw or taka. Keep the reviews coming!!!!!
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