New guy from Florida - GS650L

[Wingsconsin]

Simple Green is a good cleaning agent as well..Spray it on full strength and scrub a little with the Scotch brite or sponge and rinse it off...

[Skinner]

Welcome to the club! As many have already stated, this is the absolute best place you can be for advice on your GS motorcycle. Check out the blog in my signature below for my adventures in restoring a 1981 650GL that looks quite a bit like yours. ;-)

Cheers!
K

[spyug]

On seeing the posts advocating the comfort to be gained from adding a windscreen I would just like to add a word of caution.

Screens can indeed add a degree of comfort at certain speeds but you should be aware that at certain speeds and in certain winds, they can be deadly. I found this out for myself in the first season of riding.

These larger screens can act as a sail and if wind comes from certain quarters, most notably "abaft the beam" in nautical terms ( rear quarters) they can push the bike in a direction you may not want to go. Often this can be totally unexpected as it was in my case. One minute I am riding along enjoying the country scenery in fall, next second I am in the on coming lane. Fortunately no traffic as it was a quiet country road but it could have been much worse.

In addition to that screens can be difficult to get just right especially for taller riders as the upper edge can be at the same level as your eyes. This can be very annoying and cause you to alternate between hunkering down to see through the screen and stretching up to see over. As you may have learned on your course being uncomfortable on a bike can take your attention away from paying attention to the ride, which also can have serious consequences.

Also screens of this height often will cause the airflow to meet your head and face straight on rather than going over. This can be very uncomfortable as the old brain bucket can be buffeted about, again adding to discomfort and or road debris and bugs can smack you in the chops too.

After the first riding season I didn't find the screen to be of benefit and removed it. My new to me CB 650 came with one and it was the first thing I removed.

I don't say don't get one but see if you can try one out first, perhaps if a friend might ride with one.

Enjoy the ride.

[tom203]

What spyug said ! I tried a windscreen very briefly and didn't like it (besides it was ugly). It does increase the profile of bike and when those logging trucks come at you, it's downright dangerous.

[eil]

I remember it took me a while to get used to the wind while riding at speed. I still don't like to cruise any faster than 60 mph when I'm on a trip.

My 750E came with a wind screen, but I took it off because all it did was shove air into my full-face helmet. (But it did look nice.) It's a much more pleasant ride without. So my advice would be, if you get a wind screen, get one that's tall enough, like the one in Wingsconsin's photo.

Finally, wear ear plugs. Seriously. Not only will it save your hearing but if you're like me and are not a fan of loud stuff, it will give you much more confidence to rev this thing the way it was meant to be. Which equals more fun and a happier bike. Don't worry about not being able to hear things. You will hear the important stuff.

[Wingsconsin]

The windscreen on my GS850 is tall enough to deflect the air over my head - but I still look OVER the windscreen rather than through it....
I think that is key on these bikes ... On my Goldwing I look through the windscreen but at 1000 lbs of machine it rarely it gets blown off line...

[flajason]

Do annoy all us folks from the land of the ice and snow with more pictures.

Consider it done.

20150131_131825.jpg

This was on Saturday. Went out a little before noon, down US1 along the river. Crossed over to A1A in Sebastian/Wabasso, then up into Melbourne, crossed back over and headed home. Picture was taken on A1A right about here.
Got home to find my new mirrors in a box on the doorstep. Installed and adjusted, then took it out again Sunday afternoon. I went out to the Compound which is a huge area of vacant streets. I went there to practice some of the MSF skills. Quick stops, swerves, and slow S turns. Practicing the swerves and quick stops came in handy as I had my first encounter with a cage not paying attention on my way home.

I was making a left turn at a light onto a 4 lane road. Single turn lane with two cars in front of me, and no one behind me. Left arrow turns green, and we proceed through just fine. The two cars take the turn wide and go into the right lane. I take a tighter line and stay in the left left lane and take the left position. I'm still accelerating and about to pass the car that was just in front of me in the turn, about 5 feet behind their rear bumper at this point, they decide "Oh, I wanted to be in the left lane after all!" Blinker comes on, and by the second flash they are already across the center line. Rolling off the throttle and quick brake drops my speed to just below theirs and gives me about 2 feet between their back bumper and my front tire. Swerve around them on the right, accelerate (a little more assertively this time) quickly past them, then back over in front of them once I passed them so as not to run into the first car that made the turn (who stayed in the right lane, and there was about two car lengths between them at that time).

Afterwards, I was a little surprised at the lack of adrenaline. No panic, no anger, just an acceptance of "so that's what you're doing, huh?", making an immediate decision on my out, and then executing on it. It just reinforced to me that I'm pretty sure I've got the right mental attitude about riding.

As for some of the previous things mentioned, I'm getting much better at speed. Like I said, the bike handles it fine, it's the sail in the seat. I found that I was probably being a little too stiff, and relaxing has made a big improvement. I mean, the buffeting is still annoying but I'm getting better at letting it roll over me and not transfer that energy into the steering.