Modifying the Yamaha Double Bubble Windscreen


Superzoom

New Member
I think many people would agree that the stock windscreen on the FZ6R is not great, and the Yamaha Double Bubble is only marginally better.

Previously, I tried cutting down my original screen by about 4" in order to lower the edge of turbulent air hitting my helmet, and that actually worked very well. The wind noise became very reasonable, as did the turbulence, but the wind blast against my upper body was increased. It was a good compromise for going less than 120 kph, but at speeds above that, the wind blast just became too tiring.

I documented this previous attempt here:

http://www.600cc.org/forum/f87/yamaha-clear-double-bubble-not-impressed-19495/index2.html

So in my never ending quest for windscreen nirvana, I've resorted to another drastic measure. I took my Yamaha Clear Double Bubble and cut a window out of the BOTTOM of it with a jigsaw.

Now why would I do that? Well, I've been researching ways to improve windscreens, and I learned about something called "laminar flow". By arranging air flow into orderly layers as opposed to letting it come over and around a windscreen in a chaotic fashion, it becomes much smoother and less turbulent.

Laminar LLC is a company that sells what they call "laminar lips" which are narrow strips that attach to your windscreen and smooth airflow. This phenomenon is explained on this page of the Laminar LLC website and it's pretty insightful:

Laminar LLC - General Information

On our bikes, you'll notice that behind the windscreen is a black, plastic, triangular area that echoes the shape of the windscreen, but is smaller. I got to thinking that by cutting out an area at the bottom of my double bubble, it would let air flow underneath which would hit this black "sub-windscreen", and the air would be pushed upwards, along the back of the double bubble. This airflow would meet the air coming above the top of the windscreen, and through the laminar flow effect, the resulting air coming off the top of the windscreen would be smooth and less turbulent.

Anyways, that's what I'm hoping. I'll be testing out the modified double bubble tomorrow and will report my findings. Let's hope this strange fix will finally result in a windscreen for our bikes that both looks good and is less turbulent.

Wish me luck!

Here's a picture of my windscreen with the section I chopped out...
 

JnT4Life

New Member
Looking forward to hearing the results of your testing!
 

ME_with_a_B

New Member
Superzoom --- can you post up a picture of what your modified windscreen looks like installed on your bike? I'm having a hard time imagining it in my head. Thanks!
 

Spunky99

New Member

Superzoom

New Member
Sorry for the very late response to your responses!

The reason I didn't respond was that my bike has been in hibernation since I did the windscreen mod (six months ago!) and only took it out for my first ride of the season today.

I only took it for a brief ride, which included some freeway riding at 100-120 kph (60-75 mph). The ride was short, so the following observations are yet to be confirmed as certainty, BUT... the windscreen modification seems like a success. YAY! The wind from the Yamaha Double Bubble hits me right at the base of my helmet, which is probably the worst place to get hit for turbulence, yet the noise and buffeting seem quite reasonable. I would describe the effect as making the turbulence feel like I was going 20 kph slower than I actually was. So at 120 kph, the turbulence and noise was quite mild, and when I rode 100 kph, the turbulence was downright docile.

The overall effect is that the Double Bubble goes from being pretty bad to pretty good. It seems good enough to stop searching for other alternatives as a windscreen. I like that the screen now provides good protection for wind blast with only perhaps 1/3 of the turbulence of an unmodified Double Bubble.

I will write in soon with a long term review of the windscreen, as I definitely need to try it out for longer and faster rides in a variety of situations before I pass definitive judgment. I want to see what it's like riding for several hours at 120-130 kph, and see what it's like riding into a strong headwind and crosswind.

Spunky, I did expose the crystal and seem to have released all the magical powers contained therein!

Me With A B, I'll try to take a picture soon for you.
 

CrazyCawi

New Member
pictures would be excellent!
 



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