I have an opportunity to get an adjustable windshield for my K75RT to replace the big barn door Comfort windshield that is on there now.

Wondering if it's worth the effort and cost(which isn't all that much).  Who has one and what do you think of it vs a fixed shield.  I'm especially interested in rain protection at cruising speed.  The comfort shield is excellent, but blocks too much air on hot days.  The adjustable looks like it may not be as dry.

Well worth having but you need to move the whole fairing forward 20mm to prevent the gauge cluster fouling the inner part of the fairing.

Also there's some additional parts needed for the gauge cluster that help mount the fairing. If you miss them off, the fairing hits the instruments. DAMHIK.

Have you been able to experience both windshields in wet weather?  How about really hot weather?   I remember an 800 mile sprint across Nebraska and Iowa on my K75RT in a rainstorm that followed me for 12+ hours.  The comfort shield kept nearly all the rain off, keeping me almost completely dry except for the little I got stopping for fuel. 

That comfort windshield's only drawback is that almost no air gets behind it.  That's nice when it's 40F and raining, but when I've been down in the southwestern desert at 115F a little air would be really nice.

I've been going through the parts fiches, checking bike photos and parts on the used market.  It isn't a simple bolt on proposition, so I want to make sure it's all worth it.

I'd hate to go through all the work and expense to get a shield that didn't work as well.

I can't help with that. I found the windscreen/instruments problem on a K1100LT I was servicing.

Yes, more water gets to you with the electric screen. Occasionally some droplets blow up into your face from the bottom lip of it.  Somewhat annoying if you're riding without a helmet or with the shield on your helmet flipped up.

Yes on better airflow than a fixed screen.  The best airflow on a fixed can be had if you get the screen with the foldable wings on the side.  You flip them around towards the front to get good airflow.



I prefer the electric screen though because you look over, not through, it when riding and if you have the right size screen it puts the wind over your head.  I run a +2.5" screen and it's perfect for my 6-2 height.  I keep it all of the way down except in heavy rain.

ETA: Not sure if it's urban legend or not but somewhere I read that part of the reason for going to the electric screen was that the fixed screen can make a little pocket of exhaust fumes to be inhaled behind the screen under certain conditions.

RicK G wrote:Well worth having but you need to move the whole fairing forward 20mm to prevent the gauge cluster fouling the inner part of the fairing.

I get where you're going with this but the fiche is kind of screwy on this as it gives the same part number for the original main fairing bracket and the main fairing bracket that's for the electric screen. It shows that both at Real OEM and in the 2001 ETK that I have. 46632316170

Duck, I have the screen with the wings now.  I have yet to find an angle for them that sends even a tiny bit of air back at my head and torso. 

Rain protection is important because I work all summer and do some of my touring in October or early May.  It's not unusual for me to be traveling during snow flurries or in 35F and drizzle.  And then, I've been in New Mexico in early July.

Who would have thought that a fairing could provide so much protection.

I have noticed that the fairing mount for the K1100LT fairing has the attachment for the instrument cluster so it can be tucked into the "dashboard" beneath the windshield mechanism.  It seems the more I research this the more complicated it gets.  I've had a headlight bulb fail in Montana.  All that windshield stuff makes replacing it look like a scary job.

It's been a while since I had a K75RT but IIRC you can flip them all of the way around so they're pointing forward to get some wind.

The windscreen is not attached to the cluster.

All of the electric windscreen stuff is above the headlight so replacing the bulb is the same.

Been there and done that with flipping them forward, not enough aiir to blow out a match on my bike.  I've had them every which way, and still no air when I need it. 

I can live with the heat as long as I stay dry when it's cold.  The reason I ask is that I don't want to give up dry for cool in the heat.  That shield just doesn't look like it blocks a lot of rain at speed.

Wish more of the 11LT owners would chime in.

In my many decades of riding, the K1100LT has the best fairing/windscreen I have ever known.  I can adjust the windscreen on the fly to have as much or as little air on me as I wish.  Provided I'm not riding into a stiff headwind, I don't even feel the need for my ear plugs.  It's a great set up!  I live and generally ride in an arid environment so I cannot offer much advice on the protection during rain, but I've been in an amazing hail storm and felt well shielded from the onslaught.  I give the adjustable windscreen very high marks.

I agree with BR2 that the K electric windscreen is the best thing since sliced bread but if your top priority is being dry then the fixed screen definitely wins. I rode one of my K1100LTs at night through about 1.5 hours of hard Montana thunderstorm rain in 2018 and, though not huge, the amount of rain the blew up onto my helmet shield did make it a fair amount harder to see. And a bit scary. I was very happy and relieved when I made it to my freeway exit.

You'll also have to wire it in. Certainly possible as I've seen (on The Internet) a K100LT that's been converted to the electric screen.

Here's the BMW wiring diagram for it. It looks more complicated then it really is since the up/down motor switches are built into the motor, etc... but it will still require a fair amount of custom wiring work to wire it in to a currently fixed screen bike.

Thanks for the wiring diagram.  The wiring doesn't really scare me that much.  I thing a bunch of it is on the windshield.

I think I'm going to give it a try.  Rather than go with all the trim to start, I'll just do the bare minimum to see if I like it.  I can do all the other stuff later.

Still looking for more experiences in heavy rain.

If you're going with the electric screen and plan to ride in rain then don't go with a smoked windscreen.  When I lived in Seattle and had to parallel park a lot I installed a smoked windscreen and always put it up when I parked so that idiots wouldn't not see the bike and back over it.  It worked well for that purpose but when I'd put it up in the rain it made it harder to see since it's always cloudy when it's raining.

duck wrote:If you're going with the electric screen and plan to ride in rain then don't go with a smoked windscreen.  When I lived in Seattle and had to parallel park a lot I installed a smoked windscreen and always put it up when I parked so that idiots wouldn't not see the bike and back over it.  It worked well for that purpose but when I'd put it up in the rain it made it harder to see since it's always cloudy when it's raining.

Good point.  I ride at night a lot, and don't like even lightly tinted windshields.  Fortunately, the windshield I'm looking at isn't tinted. 

I'm thinking I can put a safety yellow strip across the top of the shield to help drivers see the bike.  I know what you are talking about, I had my K75S Dakar Yellow SE knocked over by a woman backing up a Jeep.  About $500 damage to a totally cherry brick.

Some sort of strip across the top of the screen might help but you'll never be able to outsmart stupidity. Darwin always wins.

duck wrote:Some sort of strip across the top of the screen might help but you'll never be able to outsmart stupidity.  Darwin always wins.

I've noticed.  Fortunately, a fairly large number of those victories are highly amusing.