Taller Rifle or Cee Bailey? Opinions based on experience wanted

[Ron Dawg]

I need to get a taller Rifle or a Cee Bailey to replace the Rifle screen that I have. The PO was much shorter than I am (6'4") and I get a lot of head buffeting.

A longer Rifle screen is much cheaper, but if you have had experience with both, which one did you like better? I am leaning to the longer Rifle and then cutting the old one down for next summer. Kill two birds with one purchase.

Thanks!
Ron

[Pfloydgad]

27" Rifle, all the way. Nothing against the CB, but it buffeted the crap out of me. Side protection was pretty good, but over tyhe top, nope.
My 27" is perfect. And cheaper then a CB.
My $.02, take it if want it.
Ride safe all, ATGATT please.
Greg

[Two Skies]

Kind of makes you wonder if you couldn't make your own windscreen, with the width/wind protection of a Cee Bailey and the height/straightness of a Rifle.

When my Cee Bailey cracked, I put my stock windscreen back off, with the flare at the top cut off (so it was pretty much straight, and about 3-4 inches shorter).  The wind noise was still rather unbearable to me, so I repaired the Cee Bailey ('cuz I can't afford a new one) and put it back on.  MUCH quieter.

Hence, I would not recommend cutting the lip of the stocker off as a solution, but that doesn't have anything to do with your situation of course.

I can't speak to the Rifle, so I'll leave that to those who have had both for the comments.

[Mettler1]

   I'm 6.0 ft and used a 25" Rifle for 15 yrs. Had to replace the clear part about a yr ago. $140 from Murph's. In Aug. I won a Cee Baily certificate at the COG National. I ordered a 25" and installed it about a month ago. I have about 500 miles on it. I like it but not as much as my Rifle. I get more buffeting at times with the Cee Baily and the recurve at the top of the shield distorts vision thru the shield. If I didn't have the Rifle shield I would probably keep the CB on the bike. I'll be putting the Rifle back on before spring.

[julianop]

I've been advised to go the other way: from a Rifle to a Cee Bailey. As the weather up here in Minnesota gets colder I'm getting a lot of vortex wind at the back of my neck which is really difficult to protect. I have a balaclava, a neck gator, and a wool scarf, and I still have a cold neck. Folks on the forum here have recommended the Cee Bailey explicitly to solve that problem, but yes there is that curve at the top. On the other hand, the air stability from the front with the Rifle is wonderful, and of course there is no impact to visibility. If you are lucky enough to live in a warm climate the Rifle is probably going to leave you happier.

[Outback_Jon]

I don't have any experience with a Rifle (yet!) but I have the tallest vented CeeBailey.  I'm 6'1" and get a lot of wind noise off the CeeBailey.  A Rifle is on my short list of purchases.

[DannyL]

I'm 5'10" have a 25" C-Bailey and  removed it to put a stocker back on. The Bailey has an equalized air pressure since it has a vent, which the stocker has a suction towards the front. The 25" was too tall for me but I didn't want to cut it, so I was sitting really up right to see over it. The good part was the protection, the bad part was I felt like I was in a car. I'm not sure about the buffering however since it was too tall.
I like the stock one because I see way more. I rarely close my face-shield and don't seem to have any buffering, but I would need to vent it.

I'm thinking cutting the Bailey but i'll lose some of the flair at the top. does it matter.....?

My 2 cents.

[enumclaw]

6'-5", I had the Cee Bailey for a couple of years, the 26.5".  Initially I liked it a lot, and it looks good as well.  Then I got a Russell seat and it all changed; noisy turbulence, etc.  Went to a Rifle with the tallest shield, much better.  Still not perfect, but much better.  Us tall guys have a tough time being able to get it right, I have come to realize.  Still tweaking the setup on my V-Strom as well.

[Ron Dawg]

Great feedback.  Rifle wins.

Thanks!
 

[kzz1king]

I cut a piece of stiff foam to divert the air in the port to both sides on my rifle. I do not like the cold air blowing right on me. Leave it in in warm weather too. I make my own shields for the base.

[roadrunner322]

5' 11" with a 29" inseam.  So, my height is in my body.  I use a 26.5" Cee Bailey without the vent and it's just about perfect.  If I stretch a little I can see over it and if I duck just a little I'm completely out of the buffeting.  Quite happy with it.

[Squishman]

Rifle's replacements don't offer a 27". Are you including the height of the base?
Just wondering, because I might consider a taller Rifle replacement because I get a lot of wind noise with my 13" (cut-down from a cracked 17") even though I have a Laminar Lip. The LL has worked well for me for preventing buffeting, but I still get a lot of noise in my helmet.

27" Rifle, all the way. Nothing against the CB, but it buffeted the crap out of me. Side protection was pretty good, but over tyhe top, nope.
My 27" is perfect. And cheaper then a CB.
My $.02, take it if want it.
Ride safe all, ATGATT please.
Greg

[Ron Dawg]

I thought about cutting a temporary high shield out of acrylic I've got laying around to see what happens.

I WAS wondering about  dimensions, too, so when I got home I measured. Mine is 15" from bottom edge to the top edge of the actual clear shield. If you add the base, the height begins getting close to the Cee Bailey dimensions. So the tallest  offered on Murph's website or the Rifle site is a 19". That puts the overall height about 25-26". That's the way I've seen directions to measure. 19" plus the base puts the edge right at my eye level and that's about right, I think.

Also, can the padded weatherstripping stuff on the lower edge be used again, or should I order a new "kit"?
Thanks guys.

[Sidolsen]

I think you made the right choice. I don't have any experience with the CB shields, but I'm real happy with the Rifle that came on my connie. It's 15 inches measuring the clear part, 6' 0". In a standard tucked riding position I feel no buffeting at all and no noise.

[Ron Dawg]

I ordered up the 19" from Murph a couple of days ago. He said that Rifle is 3-4 working days from shipment and I assume a couple of days in transit, so I'll look for it next week. I'll post a report.

[Ron Dawg]

The Verdict:
Got the 19" Rifle and installed it. It's good! Usual great service from Murph. It shipped from Calif to GA by UPS Ground  in 3-4 days.

The old one unfortunately stuck to the weatherstripping and I broke it taking it off. So much for cutting it down for summer. A couple of the screw holes had "starred" and made it weak or it could've just been Mr. Hurry Up. Corner popped off and that was that.

I rode around the neighborhood and it seemed pretty good. Finally got a long high speed run today on the slab (up to 80 mph) and "NICE."  I discovered that the buffeting around my helmet was not only noisy, apparently my head stuck up enough to contribute to the light wobble on the grooved concrete. Granted, there was no wind today and the weather was clear and 75 degrees. Around 55-60 mph on the two lanes, it was also very nice. You can tell the Connie was designed for the 55 mph era.

That is a sweet speed on a gently curving road with the Connie. Interestingly to me, at 55 with my FF HJC visor all the way UP, it was as quiet as with ear plugs at 70 and visor down!

More stability-nice. The only downside is I can now hear the engine very clearly (the top  of the windshield is slightly below my eyes) and it's more noisy than I knew. Not bad, just louder.

So you guys who said "Rifle" got it right in my book. Thanks! Good $80 spent. Oh, btw-rode home in the rain (20 minutes) the other night and had a slightly wet chin and damp ankles on my overpants. Sweet.

Now, I just have to figure out a GPS mount... Wife's going to Kansas City in May and I've got some time off planned. I might right out through Miss (check out Graceland), over to Arkansas to preview, meet her in KC and maybe home through Kentucky!

[Mettler1]

    Ram mount!  Screwed mine right on top of the dash. Also buy cradle for your gps and a 1" ball for the cradle and the shortest arm. unless you get a waterproof gps you will need a clear plastic baggy to keep it dry. Even behind the windshield!




                     http://www.ram-mount.com/CatalogResults/PartDetails/tabid/63/partid/082065077045066045050048050/Default.aspx

[Ron Dawg]

Did you screw it into the material of the dash (if so, what kind of screws did you use?) or through bolt it (is so,what kind of bolts?) I was looking at the Ram and the install guide recommended a u-bolt around the handlebar mount, but I couldn't see how that would work and still let me see the instruments.

10-4 on the baggy.
Thanks.

[Mettler1]

    Well to tell the truth I just went to an old jar full of screws and found 3 or 4 short enough  so they didn't go all the through the insturment hood. Painted the screw heads black. I think they were sheet metal screws with a course thread. Diameter just big enough to get through the screw holes. The problem with using the handle bar mount is the vibration.

 

[Ron Dawg]

I kinda like the idea. How long have you had it in place? Any vibration (or flying GPS ) problems?