National Cycle Deflector Screen
National Cycle Deflector Screen
CYCLE WORLD EVALUATION
Handlebar-mount fairings have come a long way since the you-cut/drill/grind-it days of steel-strap mounting systems. When the manufacturers of those windshields said universal fit, they probably meant it; it's just that one-size-fits-all usually translated into an exhausting afternoon of trying to cajole the blasted device onto the motorcycle, all the while accompanied by skinned knuckles and language that would shock a Welsh coal miner.
Luckily for us (and our knuckles) those days for the most part are over. As evidence we offer National Cycle’s Deflector Screen, a sporty, less-than-touring windshield that uses a wellthought-out mounting system that allows (after initial setup) the shield to be removed or attached in less than 30 sec. The Deflector
Screen is the smallest shield made by National Cycle, a 50-year-old company that also sells touring shields,
ATV shields, replacement shields for BMWs, mirrors and radios for motorcycles.
National Cycle makes two versions of the Deflector Screen; the standard, made of acrylic plastic and using a Uclamp mounting system, and the version we tried, the LX, made of Lexan and using a quick-detach mounting system. Suggested retail for the standard is $34.95, while the upscale LX will set you back $59.95. Add $5 for a tinted shield in either case.
What the LX gives you for the extra $15, besides the windshield itself being made of stronger, more scratchresistant material, is a collection of black plastic and metal parts that go by the names of Ballsockets and Quicksets and Rake Adjusts, all neatly sealed in clear plastic bags as you disgorge them from the shipping box.
Although the various parts are a little intimidating at first, some common sense and the nine-step instruction pamphlet make things pretty clear. With the many adjustments that can be made to the mounting hardware, National Cycle claims that the Deflector Screen will fit just about any motorcycle.
We took them at their word and mounted the shield on a dual-purpose Honda XL350. Lest there be any snickering out there in the audience, mounting a windshield — especially a quick-detach windshield—on a dual-purpose bike makes sense. First the majority of dual-purpose motorcycles spend most of their time far away from any off-road areas, usually pressed into service as commuters and errand-runners. Second, the seating position and wide handlebars, necessary for good control when the bike is ridden in the dirt, place the rider in an upright sitting position, a position that can get tiring on the freeway commute to work or school.
Having decided on the bike we wanted to mount the screen on, we then had to overcome the warnings of the man who stated, “It’ll do tank slappers,” as he pointed to the warning decal on the XL’s rear fender. HANDLEBAR OR FORK MOUNTED FAIRING NOT RECOMMENDED, it read.
Living dangerously, we proceeded with the installation, and ran into a problem. The handlebars of dual-purpose bikes are crowded places, what with control switch pods, mirror brackets, middle portion of the bars. The left-side windshield mount assembly went on easily enough, between the mirror bracket and cross-brace joint, but most of that space on the right side was occupied by the front disc brake’s master cylinder.
The only space open was cables and the MX-style cross-brace that spans the right on a bend in the bars. The assembly’s clamp didn’t fit all that well on the bend, but we figured with a little muscle the clamp could be persuaded to cinch down properly. Wrong. The only thing we accomplished was to strip the clamp’s threads. Luckily, National Cycle had sent us an extra clamp as a demonstrator earlier in the year. We located the clamp, and instead of going through the muscle procedure again, we removed the master cylinder from the bars, mounted the clamp, slid it along the bars as far as it would go, tightened it up, then remounted the master cylinder. Success, with fractions of an inch to spare. The whole procedure, from opening the box to a test ride, took less than an hour and a half.
To be fair, most motorcycles have more open space on their handlebars than the XL350, and shouldn’t present as many mounting problems.
Once mounted, the windshield did its job. That is, it shielded the rider’s body from the wind. At 15 in. tall and 16 in. wide, the Deflector isn’t intended as a touring fairing. It’s supposed to keep bugs and wind off the rider, and that it does well. One of our guys commutes 50 miles to the office, and the XL with the shield installed made the hour’s ride less tiring, especially on windy days. Contrary to warnings, the shield didn’t have an adverse effect on the bike’s handling, although we kept speeds below 70 mph. The Deflector’s weight of just over 2 lb. couldn’t be felt during lowspeed, parking-lot-type maneuvers.
The mounting hardware hasn’t budged at all since we installed the shield, despite a few lunch-hour wheelies and hillclimbs in the vacant field near the office.
The only problem we encountered was increased wind noise. The top of the shield funnels a blast of wind right at the rider’s helmet, making cruising with the shield more noisy than without it. We didn’t get a chance to try the shield on other bikes, but on a custom-style bike, say, with lower seat height and higher handlebars than the XL, wind noise will probably be less of a problem. As it is, earplugs and a good fitting helmet mask most of the noise.
We really liked the fairing’s easy on/off feature. The manufacturers claim a removal time of about 30 sec.
We found it took no more than 10 sec. to unscrew the two knurled knobs holding the shield to the handlebar and remove the shield. Within 30 sec. we had the shield stored in a safe place on the work bench and were on our way down the road. The shield goes back on just as easily.
Although the Deflector Screen worked well on our dual-purpose bike, it would be a lot more useful on a custom-style motorcycle, some of which have seating positions bordering on the ridiculous. The shield would diminish the wind blast felt by the rider, making for a more comfortable ride, without detracting from the chopperesque styling. Plus, the shield could be left in the garage should some serious, no-compromise profiling be on the agenda.
National Cycle sells special brackets so that the shield can be mounted to the slightly thicker handlebars Harley-Davidsons use. Another bracket is available to fit bikes with the increasingly popular cast aluminum handlebars. The shield is available through local dealers, or write to National Cycle, 2200 Maywood Dr., P.O. Box 158, Maywood, 111. 60153-0158. 0
