Let the Great FARKLE Begin!

I have begun to FARKLE the Multistrada. FARKLE is a term that is a combination of function and sparkle, used by motorcycle enthusiasts to describe the add-ons that make a bike safer and more functional, especially for longer trips (A more recent adaptation of the tem turns it into an acronym for Fancy Accessory Really Kool Likely Expensive). These include lights, heated hand grips, and, in my case, a windscreen that will stop the insane wind noise and buffeting I experience at highway speeds. I had a rainy night and started the project.

From my first trip, I realized that I would have to do something about the noise and buffeting. The wind flowed around the stock screen and came together right on the nose of my helmet. After a bunch of research, I settled on an MRA Vario. It adjusts up and down, offers an additional lip to direct airflow, and looks good on the bike - Winner!

I grabbed the Allen wrench (I'm still not sure why so many of these things require Allen wrenches?) and got started taking the old screen off.

My dad was always a proponent of having a dish to put parts into, and you never realize how good that advice is until a screw rolls away or you're looking for that tiny washer. Of course, he also recommends plastic or metal, a lesson I must have missed.

Gah! She's naked (It's a term I just found recently, denoting bikes with no windscreens and also minimal farkling).

I took the new screen out of the package and was surprised to see it was actually smaller than my current screen. It is also wider, and apparently this width helps to alleviate some of the convergence effect I noted above. Also surprising was the no returns policy of Revzilla. Apparently, this is pretty standard with windscreens, which can get scratched in the installation process.

My father was never too keen on reading the directions, unless he got stuck, at which point he would reluctantly crack them open. I used to be this way, but putting together cribs and Ikea furniture, as well as seeing how well it's worked for my wife for the past twenty years, I have taken to cracking them open toward the beginning of a project. Notice I said toward the beginning, not at the beginning. Consider it a nod and wink to men and our planning process.

I don't know who wrote these directions, but if there was a death penaly for crappy directions, this person would be praying for an electrical outage. They were just awful, and as I said, I've put together Ikea furniture. The pictures were almost completely black, and the prose was non-existent: pretty much useless.

 Still, I got the screen on with a minimum of fuss (it's very intuitive, when you get right down to it) and waited for a dry day to go for a ride. There are spacers that, once you create them...

 ...and attach them, create a little pocket for air to flow up behind the screen.

 Fully installed, it looks pretty sharp.