[alanmcorcoran]

It's hard to say on the windshield. It'd be a lot easier if you could press a button and it rolled down like a window. Then you'd be able to quickly compare the two situations. As it is, I have to try and remember what it was like when I didn't have it and my memory is not so good.

Overall, I'm guessing it's a positive. I have definitely gotten less apprehensive and more aggressive on the freeways. (One thing that may not be clear to non-California riders: freeway <> multilane highway. Until you have ridden on the grooved, scalloped, and seamed concrete surface, it is difficult to describe. There are stretches paved with asphalt and these are a dream compared to the normal concrete. Plus some sections of the concrete are far more turbulent than others. Like I said, hard to describe.) I think the lowered level of wind buffeting reduces the chaos enough so I can still maintain my sanity while screaming along over the cobblestones.

I did another 20 miles or so last night on the freeway back and forth to a party -a trip I would have done on surface streets in the past. Over these last ninety miles, I've learned that I can goose the bike up to 60 in fourth. If it's flat, downhill or wind aided, I can go into fifth and get up to 63-68. I'm not sure if the windshield is affecting the speed or not, it seems like I top out now at just under 70, but I don't have to kiss the speedo to get over 60. Most of the time on the freeway I'm at a tad above 60 or less, partly because of traffic, partly because it takes ideal conditions to accelerate up higher than that.