Givi A305 Windscreen

In the United States, if you want a windscreen on your 2006 599, the Givi A305 is just about the only game in town. So far as I know, the A305 is the only windscreen made to fit the 2006 599. Forget the Honda windscreen in the US. It's for the 2004 model. Honda has not brought its 2006 599 windscreen to the US. I wanted a windscreen for my 599 and ordered the A305 from Twisted Throttle. On May 30, 2006, the windshield arrived on my door step.

Naturally I had to install it immediately. The first step: opening the box.

The A305 comes with very simple installation instructions and mounting hardware.

Nothing seems to go perfect. Out of the four alan head screws that have to be removed, I stripped one. It turned out I was using an inch instead of metric tool. I zipped over to Planet Honda just as they were closing and a mechanic named Jeremy was kind enough to get the striped screw loosened for me. The stock screws were now out of the lamp brackets.

Next step was to figure out how the mounting hardware goes together. It turns out to be pretty simple. Working from the threaded end of the screw to the alan head you have the spacer, two rubber washers, and a metal washer. The metal washer is dished out so that the screw fits in flush.

Once the mounting hardware was sorted, I put the screws through the holes in the screen. On the inside you have the spacer and one rubber washer. On the outside you have the other rubber washer and metal washer.

The screen is flexible enough that I was able to fit it over the head lamp and get the screws into the bracket holes without dropping the spacers. But wait! The screws use a different size alan driver! It turns out that the Givi screws use the same size alan as provided in the Honda 599 tool kit under the seat. Within minutes the screen was mounted.

The windscreen is on. How does it look? You tell me.

 

 

 

OK, so the screen looks pretty darn good. I was tempted with the idea of applying limo tint to the screen to make it really dark, but the fact that it is curved over two axis and acrylic gave me pause. As it turns out, the level of tint actually seems to be just about right. The Italians know their stuff.

To test the screen, I needed a stretch of highway. I never had a real problem with wind at rural road speeds, but get up to the speeds traffic does on Interstates in the United States, wind blast becomes a bit tiresome. I did do a quick test after installation, but that was only to make sure the screen was mounted properly. The Interstate would be a real test.

I-476 in Delaware County, PA joins I-95 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Once you clear DELCO, the road expands to six lanes, plenty for going fast. Illegal fast without getting into any firm numbers. Of course this can only be done in the wee hours before traffic turns the most expensive stretch of highway of its time into a big fat parking lot.

I got onto I-476 at exit 3 and headed West. It had rained during the night so the road was wet and dry. The 599's Michelin Pilot Road tires didn't seem to care. I, on the other hand was puckered up tight. I bet my knuckels were white in my gloves. I also had rain gear on because before I left, it was still raining. When I got to leaving, the rain had stopped. I suppose that is a good thing. The rain gear is also super reflective and there were patches of fog.

Well, I got the 599 up to speed. The kind of speed that gets a PA Trooper's picture on the wall for most expensive ticket written. The bike was very stable and the screen did not even vibrate. It was absolutely solid as if it had been carved out of diamond.

I must say the screen did a respectable job. It would be unreasonable to expect no wind. And when the temperatures are up in the 90's, you really want air flowing through the vents of your motorcycle jacket. The harsh wind blast on my chest was reduced to a comfortable level. Insects would still hit my face shield though. The wind was not deflected over my head. Nor was it deflected into my head. The Shoei RF-1000 helmet did not seem to suffer any extra buffeting.

The bottom line is that for the money, I would rate the Givi A305 windscreen as a useful if not essential accessory for the 2006 Honda 599. Even if Honda sees fit to bring their screen to the US market, I think the Givi is probably nicer. Certainly Honda can't brag about their 2004 model year screen.