Well, all, let me say that I have "been to the well and drank from the water", so to speak. I did the Sturgis thing last week and rode the new 2012 Convertible and it is "marvelous" in all respects. The new windshield is approximately 3 inches wider side to side, 1-1/2" taller (regardless of what they print) and has the wind deflecters built into the bottom of the fairing which gives it more mass from side to side when removing it. And it has a small 3-4" cutout just above the dash which helps reduce felt turbulence according to one who seemed to "know his onions", again so to speak. Apparently the Motor company did their research in a wind tunnel and these results is what they came up with. I can say that I ran the bike on the freeway at 80 mph with my visor up on my fullface Shoei helmet and felt I could light a cigarette (if I smoked, which I don't) and enjoy a smoke going down the road. Put my hand up in front of my helmet and felt no turbulence at all until at the very top of my helmet. Then I reenacted the same scenario with my 2011 and when I put my visor up I was pretty much overcome with turbulence in all areas of my face and would have "smoked" that cigarette inside of 30 seconds! that's reduction of wind turbulence in my way of thinking. They did change the signals to down below the windshield which could allow the incorporation of an auxiliary light bar down the road if someone wanted to mount one on. As far as the gps is concerned, it looks like a nice unit and is mounted in a great place while you are using the windshield on the road but when the shield comes off, so does the gps. Suppose one wouldn't be concerned about the gps if all the stuff is off the bike and you're tooling around town anyway. When demo riding the bikes at Sturgis, you usually don't have the opportunity to try out the gps. Guess they don't want you crashing the bike while using something unfamiliar. Other than that, there are no significant changes to the bike other than a couple new colors. Not sure if I can upload a picture of the windshield but will try. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed the bike and feel this is a great size of bike and all for someone who just doesn't want a bigger, bulkier bike. It is so much more maneuverable and does all the functions of the others unless you are needing more room for longer excursions..........and then I think some conversions could also be made......remember that 2010 convertible that someone modified with hard trunk and hard bags??? and painted the bright orange color?? this bike could be done like that and wow, how cool??? Anyway, the water is fine..... Pork!
And, by the way, I met Cliffy and his delightful wife, Dolly.......both from London. We started talking about the bike and I asked him if he reads the HD forum about the convertible......he said he did, and I said I am Porkypig. He said, "I know you!!!!! I'm Cliffy! Ha! Great fun, let me tell you.
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Topic: the Ultimate Windshield. (Read 47175 times)