Can anyone tell me about Freewinds?

[thommo77]

Thats a nice looking ride. Doesn't look 'cluttered' like a lot of ADV bikes.

[chasio]

Maybe a slightly larger front wheel would have helped.

IME: a great all rounder.

I caught up with Rogson earlier today and he has a 21" DR front wheel on his to replace the stock 19". The DR wheel goes straight in but requires a relatively straightforward change to the fork brace and a replacement front mudguard setup.

[chasio]

PS I think that bike has been around a wee while: the ad below expired in May of this year but the price has dropped a fair bit since then: motorcycletrader ad for $8300

[chasio]

Givi do a replacement screen for the Freewind as well. In fact they do two: despite such a short production run, the stock screen changed (with the headlight) and they have different fittings.

Yesterday I fitted one of the 00-02 versions to mine and I attach a couple of pictures for anyone interested.

Performance seemed good on my initial run. I tried it cruising at *approximately* legal highway speed in a decent breeze, one run North away, then South into the teeth of it. I was happy that there was no discernible flutter and it had done what I wanted i.e. to push the wind right up off my chest. There is a bit of an air-gap under the front (above the headlight), which may have helped the flutter situation.

It was still pretty noisy as it hit my (Raid II) helmet but I use ear plugs for longer runs, so no worries there. A shorter rider may even be under the airflow (not that I am that tall at 5'10" ish but I have a long back and short legs!)

A bonus was that it seemed to suit head checks much better. On the stock screen I had found the airflow a bit 'snatchy' as I turned back and forward again, but with the new screen I didn't notice that effect.

Price was 50 quid and delivery was free (inside the eBay special E460 top-box!) when some rellies flew over from the UK

Cheers - Chasio