Rifle Windscreen for Concours

I found the stock Connie windscreen to be exactly the wrong height. I’m 6’1″, and the screen placed the turbulent airflow right in the middle of my helmet, causing lots of buffeting. Even the GPZ, with its much lower screen, was smoother and quieter because the airflow hit me in the chest.

The COG group favours the Rifle windscreen to improve this. Its standard sizes raise the height 1, 3, or 5 inches over stock. I did a survey of COG members and concluded the 3″ extra would be right. (Actually a lot of 6-foot members wished a 4″ rise model was available.)

Update: 3 years later, I’ve switched to the tallest windscreen, 5″ over stock. I found myself wishing for that extra 2″ on several trips, and have not found looking through the windshield instead of over it to be a problem at all.

Installation is simplicity itself, and goes like this:

Here is the original stock windscreen.

Remove the stock screen by removing the #2 Phillips screws. Keep the screws.

Note the screws aren’t all the same length: The four top ones (two left and two right) are shorter than the others.

Remove the stock screen. Note how the optical distortion makes it very hard to airbrush out the junk in the garage, causing the photographer to give up trying.

Naked Connie with no screen.

Put the lower Rifle component on using the screws removed from the stock screen. Remember the short ones are for the top.

Tighten carefully, from the centre out.

Lower piece mounted.

At the back of the lower piece are a number of mounting holes. These aren’t visible from the front because they’re covered by a foam gasket. But you can feel them as slight depressions.

Poke holes through the foam where each of the mounting holes is underneath.

Mount the screen to the lower using the nylon screws, washers, and nuts supplied. The screws are Phillips and the nuts are 11/32.

Tighten carefully, from the centre out.

Finished project — it’s hard to see the screen because it is very clear and less curved.

The instructions suggestion gently re-tightening the mounting screws every few days until the foam gasket is compressed and stable.