[soggybottom]

How is the tall oem windshield working? It looks like Honda may have put some thought into it by the looks of the holes cut in as I've noticed on Tennessee's pic page. Is it working like a full fairing tour bike should?

 

[sleepngbear]

Loving it, and I've never been much of a full-sized windshield guy. Quiet, no wind on the body or head, no buffeting, but low enough to look over and not through. Looks great, works great, and only about 15 minutes to install -- taking your time.

 

[TennesseeSmith]

This shield is massively better than the disaster that was the Honda tall shield on the CTX700D.

I'm 5'10" but a bit long in the torso. I get a small bit of buffeting on the top of my helmet. Based on the experience I had while trying to sort out the shield on the 700, I think a Laminar Lip will raise the buffeting just enough to get it over my head. It's not so bad that I'm urgent to solve the issue. I'll add the lip sometime in late June or early July.

For anything longer than a half hour or so, I really prefer the taller shield on the bike. Sitting unprotected in the 60 mph breeze gets old.

I put a couple of thousand miles on the 1300 before I added the tall shield. I've put a couple thousand more on it with the shield. I think the Honda tall shield will be a great choice for most riders under six feet tall.

 

[kniterider]

Loving it, and I've never been much of a full-sized windshield guy. Quiet, no wind on the body or head, no buffeting, but low enough to look over and not through. Looks great, works great, and only about 15 minutes to install -- taking your time.

My tall shield should be in by Saturday.. How difficult to install sir? I installed the vstream on my wing ,, no problem,,, but the CTX1300 appears to not be as obviously straight forward

 

[bob]

It's really not that hard to do.
HERE is a link to my photo album where I have a few photos of it. Be sure to read the captions
You do not need to remove ALL the panels you might think the service manual implies need to be removed. Careful reading of the specific sections starting with the Windshield removal and working back reveals far less of a job.

Before you start you will want to get a strip of 3M Dual-Lock material. This is not Velcro since but is the tiny plastic stubs on both sides that interlock, and is stronger than Velcro. I got mine at Radio Shack and they call it Super Lock strips, but on the peel off backing it still says 3M Dual-Lock . You only need 2 strips about 1-1/2 to 2 inches to go on the new shield in the same location as they are on the shorty.

1- pop off the front mirror covers. They unsnap from the bike and are also held loosely by a strap so they don't get lost if they are knocked off on the road. There is one tab between the front cover and the little back cover (just inside the mirror glass) that you need to take care with but nothing major. Just let the covers hang there by the strap.
2- remove the 2 top mirror cover clips on each side. Careful here since there are some very small insert/washers between the clips and the hole where they go so keep an eye out for those. Some of us have found one of the metal tabs inside one of those clips bent in. Now is a good time to simply use your screw driver to bend it back like the other metal tabs, but not too far since you do want it to hold the mirror cover. Again, nothing major but something to check.
3- While lifting the top center of the front garnish pull it forward and up/out from the bike. There are a few clips on the lower front of the garnish that latch into tabs on the center of the headlight assembly. The garnish will come off with some playing with it.
4- There are 4 screws with vinyl and rubber washers that go into expansion nuts to hold the shield on. One on each end and 2 in the middle. Remove those being careful to save those washers and paying attention to what order they are on the screw. The shorty shield will now come off.
5- Move the 2 center expansion nuts to the lower holes in the center bracket. Should be easy to see where that is. My tall shield came with 4 expansion nuts that were not "conditioned" and I considered using those, but decided it was best to simply save those for extras. Use the original nuts as long as they are workable. They should slide right out of the upper holes and slip right into the lower holes. The tall shield is a little longer below as well as above. This is to compensate for the extra loads of the taller shield caused by wind force.
6- Note carefully where the Dual-Lock strips are on the shorty shield and apply new strips to the tall shield in the same location. I carefully layed the shorty over my tall shield to verify where they should go. IMPORTANT: Clean the plastic where you will stick on the strips with rubbing alcohol and let dry before sticking them on. They will stay better that way.
7- Mount the tall shield using the screws removed before. Don't over tighten these screws, very snug is good enough since the nuts are in rubber.
8- Re-install the front garnish, clipping it over the tabs at the headlight first and then laying it down on the shield and lining up with the mounting holes on the sides. Press down, not too hard, on the top center of the garnish where the Dual-Lock strips are to latch onto the shield.
9- Reattach the mirror clips.
10- Snap on the front mirror covers.

Done.

Almost takes longer to read this than to do it!

Go riding and enjoy the calm comfort that results from increased wind protection and still smooth air over the top.

PS- I think I remembered everything. I am writing this from memory

 

[kniterider]

If that was just from memory then you got a **** of lot better noggin then me!

 

[bob]

Some things stick. others... what were we talking about?

 

[soggybottom]

I am thrilled that a manufacturer built an original design cruiser style bike and I hope others will follow, but why to put that dumbass low cut windshield just to look cool with no function was a mistake or after thought by Honda. They should have used the tall as stock and even thrown in the low one to entice those too cool little function riders to enter the dark side. I know some will honestly like the low function low windscreen, just sayin...

 

[sleepngbear]

Soggy, it really isn't that much different from all the other styles of bikes that come out of the factory with no windshield at all. It may seem like almost a no-brainer now to just put the tall on at the factory, because there are only two options. But I can see a time, if this bike catches on, that there could be more. It would be nice if they offered one or the other as a factory option, but I've never seen that on any bike other than full package options like the Deluxe vs standard CTX. I'd also be interested in something slightly lower than the tall shield if it could allow a little more wind with no buffeting and not much more noise. Even HD and Kawi have similar setups with shorty shields on a full fairing that are probably just as useful (or useless) as this one.

 

[jmmont]

First ctx 1300 in P.R. and test ride

Hello All, after waiting some months The first one comes to my island. On Monday, Planet Honda the bigger dealer in Puerto Rico call me and the manager tell me to take a test ride so I got a vacation days from work .On Tuesday and put some miles on this amazing bike and I love it.I found that the rides very very well on slow and up to 60 miles with the short windshield, had a lot of torque, I am 5,6 and I cant put my feet's flat, my back part of the boots are one inches up form the back but that don't affect me much, the narrow front of the seat make this position not uncomfortable. On Wednesday the bike was mine and go back to home and after ride it a little more found the little jerky throttle manage I called it little because is not too bad as my Suzuki m90,this bike has a terrible on off switch on the throttle grip, I fix it with cobra FMS,TRE,rear shock coil change and decreasing the diameter of the throttle cable base at the grip and increasing the diameter at the throttle drum and know this bike runs
amazingly well. Also found the ctx needs some rubber damping for the bars, the suspension is sweet but sometimes I feel the bars vibration when hit a hole or a patch. But I love this bike she is like a Cadillac on the road.

 

[sleepngbear]

Congrats on the new bike! I found the throttle a little jerky at first too, and the front suspension a little stiff. I get to used to the throttle and learned to use a 'firm but relaxed' grip on it, so it almost never jerks over bumps any more. And then springs do soften up after a few hundred miles -- mine is nowhere near as jarring as it was the first day.

Glad you're enjoying it. There must be some really nice riding down there.

 

[kniterider]

THANKS GUYS especially BOB,,with his super detailed instructions .. I installed my new windshield today,, about 20 minutes including straightening one small spring tab inside the garnish screw,, Now I have that gigantic bridgestones 205/50/17 run flat staring at me

 

[ManInBlack]

Does anyone notice their bike getting pushed around by the wind more with the tall windscreen. I got mine today and hit some big gusts going across a bridge and it nearly scared the poop out of me. Not sure if the windscreen has anything to do with it or if it would have been the same without it.

 

[TennesseeSmith]

I've not noticed a big increase in the push from the wind since I went to the big shield.

I have managed to ride a couple of times when it was windy enough that I was uncomfortable even on this stable machine. One evening it was so windy that I got off the highway and hit some local back roads to get a little shelter. That worked great until I had to start dodging tree limbs that had fallen into the road. I got back on the highway and toughed it out for the last few miles back to Corbin.

The CTX1300 has been my most stable bike in windy conditions since my original GL1000. I suspect this bike is better than that one, but I was young and fearless when I had the '76 GL, so I didn't notice or care as much.

I'm very happy with the wind performance of the CTX with the tall shield. My Laminar Lip should arrive on Tuesday. I'll report back on that after the weekend.

 

[sleepngbear]

I've not noticed a big increase in the push from the wind since I went to the big shield.

I have managed to ride a couple of times when it was windy enough that I was uncomfortable even on this stable machine. One evening it was so windy that I got off the highway and hit some local back roads to get a little shelter. That worked great until I had to start dodging tree limbs that had fallen into the road. I got back on the highway and toughed it out for the last few miles back to Corbin.

The CTX1300 has been my most stable bike in windy conditions since my original GL1000. I suspect this bike is better than that one, but I was young and fearless when I had the '76 GL, so I didn't notice or care as much.

I'm very happy with the wind performance of the CTX with the tall shield. My Laminar Lip should arrive on Tuesday. I'll report back on that after the weekend.

I've noticed a slight increase in the impact of side winds since adding the tall shield, too. Nothing serious or abnormal, just more than before. No worse than any other bike I've owned. It's definitely worth it for the added quiet back there. In fact, I was thinking yesterday as we were getting a bit warmish riding around in 85* heat if it might be better with the shorty shield, and then I remembered how much quieter it is now and quickly dismissed the thought.

 

[flytrap]

I have the Madstad windscreen (15 inch) and also noticed more impact of the wind but not nearly as badly as some previous bikes. The Madstad screen allows both height and angle adjustment. When I pulled the screen back a little more (smaller angle) I was able to cut down some on the effect. The interesting thing about the Madstad screen is that it works better the faster you go..so much so that when I hit 75-80 I feel myself kind of falling into the quiet bubble. It may also have something to with lots of air flow under the screen.

 

[MarkH]

I also have a Madstad windscreen (13 inch) and I have to say the bike feels more stable to me. With the wind blast over the shorty screen combined with strong gusts, especially from 10-11:00 or 1-2:00, my stability suffered because my upper body wasn't stable. The Madstad shield helps me be stable and that allows the bike to exhibit its natural stability. I've only been riding for 15 months and riding in strong winds used to be very intimidating to me, but my confidence and ability has gone way up since I started using this windscreen on the CTX.

 

[Ravgardner!]

Windshield

I also have a Madstad windscreen (13 inch) and I have to say the bike feels more stable to me. With the wind blast over the shorty screen combined with strong gusts, especially from 10-11:00 or 1-2:00, my stability suffered because my upper body wasn't stable. The Madstad shield helps me be stable and that allows the bike to exhibit its natural stability. I've only been riding for 15 months and riding in strong winds used to be very intimidating to me, but my confidence and ability has gone way up since I started using this windscreen on the CTX.

I'm not familiar with Madstad products but the web site description was interesting. Could you post some pictures of the shield? Their site lacked the visuals.

Rav

 

[bob]

Here is a previous post with the Madstad screen. There are a few posts on the forum with photos. Look through the different forums or do a search on it.

 

[wyrmsmeat]

Bob, thanks for this post. Only thing I'd add is that I found the Phillips screws behind the mirror cover to be pretty soft. If anyone is doing this themselves, be gentle when reinstalling, as you can quickly strip the soft metal in the screw tips. Of course, it just creates an excuse for a RIDE to the hardware store, so... Also, my tall screen didn't come with the hook/pile tape. Wasn't too much trouble to peel them off the shorty screen and reattach to the tall screen. Again, Thanks, Wyrm