If you read our First Ride Review of BMW’s new G 310 GS, or the Mini ADV comparo that followed, you might’ve noticed that one of our complaints about the little GS’s street friendliness was its lack of wind protection. The tiny barely-a-flyscreen was great for bouncing around off-road but not so great once it was time to hit the highway and head home. Living in Southern California means freeways are an unavoidable way of life, so we called up the folks at National Cycle and ordered a VStream Sport Windscreen for our GS.
National Cycle offers three sizes of windscreens for this model, described as Sport, Sport/Touring and Touring, but we decided that with a center height of 14.25 inches and a width of 13.25 inches, the Sport would be plenty big for this pint-sized machine. We also liked its super dark tint, which blended in with the GS’s dark gray paint and pointy nose and didn’t look completely out of place.
The VStream Sport screen is made from 4.5mm Quantum hard-coated polycarbonate; National Cycle says the combo is 30 times more scratch-resistant than acrylic, with better optics and superior UV, chemical, crack and impact resistance. Mounting it is as easy as removing the four 5mm hex head bolts and stock flyscreen, then bolting on the VStream screen with the included 3mm hex bolts.
The improvement in wind protection was immediately apparent. Whereas in stock configuration I was taking the full force of the wind on my chest and (often peaked, wind-grabbing) helmet, with the VStream that wind was diverted around my torso to my shoulders and arms and to the top of my helmet. The larger Sport/Touring and Touring screens would likely decrease wind blast even more, but I found the Sport to be an ideal compromise between a sporty, off-road ADV look and decent protection.
At $129.95 and covered by a three-year warranty against breakage, the VStream Sport Windscreen is a necessary upgrade for any G 310 GS rider looking to better their ride’s road manners, without overpowering the little GS’s aggressive ADV looks.
For more information, call (708) 343-0400 or visit nationalcycle.com.
