I think a few days riding to work and back on the beltway is enough to give some initial, yet valid, impressions of the new Honda tall shield I installed.
As some have already said Honda did this one right. Many attempts by Honda to make a taller shield or even a stock shield result in poor comfort while riding, especially at highway speeds. There usually ends up being more buffeting than if the shield was just removed altogether. Not so with this shield. The stock shorty shield is good and there is smooth airflow and air pressure on the body. For me that was from my shoulders and up. This tall shield still allows for a smooth air flow. Even better than many aftermarket shields. With this tall shield I feel air pressure, still smooth, differently than with the shorty. The airflow off the top of the shield hits at the top of my helmet just about my forehead. Did I say it was still a very smooth flow, no buffeting.
Today especially, maybe because it was very gusty out, I could also feel a little airflow coming around from the side of the shield or maybe it was coming up from around the fairing, I couldn't tell for sure, and pressing on my sides and ribs under my arms. It was still a very smooth airflow there as well and not buffeting. It was very different than what I've felt with a taller shield before. It will be very nice to have that airflow during hot days riding, yet it wasn't enough to be an issue on colder rides (it was warmer yesterday but cooler day today so I could tell about that part too). The two large slots in the lower part of the shield have a lot to do with how smooth the airflow is I am certain.
It is still short enough that I am looking over it by a considerable amount. It looks to come up to just about my nose (I'm 5' 9" with 32" inseam but short waisted). I am looking over it much more than my ST1100 shield that I had cut down a few inches. I could see a lot of road in front of the bike over the shield and I do like that.
Overall I think I am liking this shield better than the shorty. Oh, I do still like the looks of the bike with shorty. And shorty does still do OK for me. But I like how the tall shield works better. And I also like how the bike looks with this one also.
Some have said here that they can hear the engine and sound from speakers better with the tall shield. This is true. Though I really didn't notice about the engine sound that much as I wear earplugs riding the highway and can usually hear the engine better than the road. I did try the audio through the speakers today. I had last tried the audio with my flash drive on the ride home from the dealer when I bought the bike. With shorty when speed got up to around 45-50 I could no longer hear much of anything from the speakers though the volume was turned up a lot. With the tall shield I could hear music just fine, even with my earplugs in, at 65+ with volume set to 22 (I think, it wasn't close to all the way up yet). I had the auto mute turned on and noticed that the speed managed volume worked rather well. Except when I came to a stop the volume would lower bit by bit as I slowed and then below a certain speed, maybe 7-8 mph(?), the volume would drop very suddenly to 9. With earplugs in I could still hear it but it was very low. And then the volume would jump back up as soon as I was moving again. One very nice thing I noticed with the audio is that with the same device plugged in supplying the music as before the system remembered what album and track I was on even though that was 2 weeks ago and I had the battery disconnected to install some electrical stuff!
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Ed, I think you will like it.
I do agree the tall shield does give the CTX1300 a little hint of the looks of the ST but don't tell the ST riders that.
As some have already said Honda did this one right. Many attempts by Honda to make a taller shield or even a stock shield result in poor comfort while riding, especially at highway speeds. There usually ends up being more buffeting than if the shield was just removed altogether. Not so with this shield. The stock shorty shield is good and there is smooth airflow and air pressure on the body. For me that was from my shoulders and up. This tall shield still allows for a smooth air flow. Even better than many aftermarket shields. With this tall shield I feel air pressure, still smooth, differently than with the shorty. The airflow off the top of the shield hits at the top of my helmet just about my forehead. Did I say it was still a very smooth flow, no buffeting.
Today especially, maybe because it was very gusty out, I could also feel a little airflow coming around from the side of the shield or maybe it was coming up from around the fairing, I couldn't tell for sure, and pressing on my sides and ribs under my arms. It was still a very smooth airflow there as well and not buffeting. It was very different than what I've felt with a taller shield before. It will be very nice to have that airflow during hot days riding, yet it wasn't enough to be an issue on colder rides (it was warmer yesterday but cooler day today so I could tell about that part too). The two large slots in the lower part of the shield have a lot to do with how smooth the airflow is I am certain.It is still short enough that I am looking over it by a considerable amount. It looks to come up to just about my nose (I'm 5' 9" with 32" inseam but short waisted). I am looking over it much more than my ST1100 shield that I had cut down a few inches.
I could see a lot of road in front of the bike over the shield and I do like that.Overall I think I am liking this shield better than the shorty. Oh, I do still like the looks of the bike with shorty. And shorty does still do OK for me. But I like how the tall shield works better. And I also like how the bike looks with this one also.
Some have said here that they can hear the engine and sound from speakers better with the tall shield. This is true. Though I really didn't notice about the engine sound that much as I wear earplugs riding the highway and can usually hear the engine better than the road. I did try the audio through the speakers today. I had last tried the audio with my flash drive on the ride home from the dealer when I bought the bike. With shorty when speed got up to around 45-50 I could no longer hear much of anything from the speakers though the volume was turned up a lot. With the tall shield I could hear music just fine, even with my earplugs in, at 65+ with volume set to 22 (I think, it wasn't close to all the way up yet). I had the auto mute turned on and noticed that the speed managed volume worked rather well. Except when I came to a stop the volume would lower bit by bit as I slowed and then below a certain speed, maybe 7-8 mph(?), the volume would drop very suddenly to 9. With earplugs in I could still hear it but it was very low. And then the volume would jump back up as soon as I was moving again. One very nice thing I noticed with the audio is that with the same device plugged in supplying the music as before the system remembered what album and track I was on even though that was 2 weeks ago and I had the battery disconnected to install some electrical stuff!
Ed, I think you will like it.
I do agree the tall shield does give the CTX1300 a little hint of the looks of the ST
but don't tell the ST riders that. 
