Fully faired 1250FA weather protection

Wondering if the FA offers much wind/weather protection to the rider, compared with the half faired, or naked.

Could Bandits offer a view on that thanks?

Cheers GG

Not as much as a Goldwing, but a reasonable amount of aerodynamic protection.  
The FA fairings are basically taken from the Gsxr, so are designed more with wind resistance than weather protection in mind. 
I swapped the screen for a Zero Gravity touring screen, due to buffeting and fitted some Bark Buster Blizzard guards with Oxford heated grips to deal with any Arctic weather on our Tassie trip. She now provides a very comfortable ride in bad weather.

You definitely feel a little more protection on your legs. Its not perfect but it is there

Bikini fairing gsf allows for easy hand warming with easy access to the cylinder heads

You can't beat good wet weather gear regardless. I've had drenched leathers after my wet weather gear failed not good

I dont have a lot of reference to compare it to, I rode BMW F650s for a few years before getting my FA. I have the suzuki touring screen fitted (MRA make it I  believe) All I can say is it would not be the first time I have ridden in heavy rain and aside from my arms, from the shoulders down is pretty dry compared to the rest of me

Thanks everyone.

I like the look of the new FA and wondering about other advantages. I guess there are some disadvantages too with access to the insides.

Cheers GG

Others may disagree with me, but the more I ride, the more I'm convinced any sort of windscreen simply causes buffeting (unless it's one of those huge ones like a R1200RT has), and this buffeting is the cause of loudness/discomfort inside your helmet.

I do lots of highway k's on my 1250, and I can tell you, if I stand up on the footpegs at 110, it's a hell of a lot quieter than the wind deflecting off the windscreen.
Clean air is the key.

buford_t_justice wrote:Others may disagree with me, but the more I ride, the more I'm convinced any sort of windscreen simply causes buffeting (unless it's one of those huge ones like a R1200RT has), and this buffeting is the cause of loudness/discomfort inside your helmet.

I do lots of highway k's on my 1250, and I can tell you, if I stand up on the footpegs at 110, it's a hell of a lot quieter than the wind deflecting off the windscreen.
Clean air is the key.

Agreed!

I think thats right. I took a K series BMW tourer for a test ride once, I was looking THROUGH the screen, only time I have ever had a quiet ride.
I am 1.96m tall which is a complete pain, all bikes are designed by people 1.5m or less (except K series BMWs obviously)

For me the screen provides weather protection on a commute of 70km each way all year round, I am resigned to a noisy ride but at least most of me is dry. I often fold the extra bit of the touring screen down in summer and ALWAYS when my wife pillions, the buffeting is too much for her.

Now that this thread has been fully hijacked to talk about wind screen buffeting, I'll add my bit.   

I've used laminar lips on previous bikes with partial success. On my last bike, the DL1000 VSTrom, I had that, then replaced it with an MRA Vario touring screen.  I now have an MRA Vario screen on my FA.

The fixed laminar lips work ok for some conditions, but only really work well for screens that are just barely below your sight lines. Once adjusted however, the adjustable lips do a good job of deflecting the oncoming breeze into places that don't cause buffeting, and can make the ride relatively quiet.

BUT...

My experience has been that depending on the ambient wind direction and strength, the amount of adjustment needed to achieve the "no buffeting" state changes.  So if you are riding with the wind at your back, you may need one setting, and if you are pounding into a headwind, you'll need a different setting.  Getting a clean set of air around your helmet is what counts, as Buford_T mentioned.   But the screen set correctly gives you the advantage of also deflecting a lot of the bugs, rain, etc from hitting your face shield.

ALSO...

I've found that a lot of the buffeting around the helmet comes from turbulent air from the mirrors.  I noticed that adding 1.5 inch (38mm) spacers to the mirrors mounts not only gave me a better view of the road behind (less shoulder view) but also relieved some of that side buffeting on the VSTRom.  Not so much on the FA because the mirrors are a bit lower to start with, but it still made a difference.

Helmet buffeting is difficult to cure, because what works perfectly in one wind condition doesn't work so much in others.  The Vario screen helps a lot if you have the patience to adjust it for conditions.  I only do so if I'm up for an all-day slog into the wind.