This is not an article that’s going to earn me a lot of pageviews, but sometimes you just like a thing, and you want to tell people about that thing. In this case, that thing is an accessory windscreen that has the ability to completely change the character of your motorcycle.
Over the years, I’ve had two bikes that I equipped with Airflow screens: my 2015 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 and my current bike, a 2012 Kawasaki Versys 1000. Additionally, one of the main reasons I bought a 2017 Triumph Tiger Explorer XRx was that I thought it, too, could be equipped with the screen (Turns out, I hadn’t done my research well enough; Givi only offered an Airflow for the first-gen [2012-2015] Tiger Explorer).
The fact that I have made bike-buying decisions based on compatibility with an accessory that costs less than £200 (exact price depends on the bike you’re buying it for) tells you how good this accessory is. I have yet to encounter an OEM screen that comes even close, and the handful of other accessory screens I’ve tried over the years (including an unreasonably expensive MRA set-up on my 2006 Honda CBF1000) also haven’t been as good.
SOME NUMBERS
Price: £105 – £205 on Amazon, depending on make/model of bike.
Weight: 2.01 kg
Made in: Italy (37 on the Democracy Index)
SOME BACKGROUND
Givi’s a pretty well-known name in motorcycling. Founded in 1978 by erstwhile MotoGP racer Giuseppe Visenzi (therein, you can see where the company gets its name: the first two letters of his first and last names), the company produces all kinds of everything, with a particular specialty being luggage.
As it happens, the company started with engine-protection bars. The panniers and top boxes that most of us associate with the company didn’t show up until 1983. I have no idea when wind protection became part of its offering, but I’d guess it was early on; Givi’s website shows that it was producing aftermarket cowling in the ’70s.
Meanwhile, Givi’s Airflow system has been around for at least 15 years. I stumbled into the Cult of Airflow pretty early on because wind turbulence has long been one of the things that annoy me most about motorcycling. I love riding; I don’t love being cold. I don’t love having my head jiggled around at speed. Ten years ago, after returning from a 3,000-mile trip around Europe on the aforementioned V-Strom 1000, during which I had an almost constant headache from having my head battered by the wind, I decided to put real effort into finding a solution.
INSTALLATION
Fitting an Airflow screen is pretty easy, assuming you get the one that is designed for your specific bike. There is a universal version for naked bikes, which may or may not be a ballache to install, but for the model-specific version it’s simply a matter of removing your old screen and putting the Airflow in its place using the same hardware.
Emphasis on that last point: the same hardware. Be careful when dealing with rubber or breakable bits in the removal of your OEM screen; you’ll need to use those. The Airflow doesn’t come with any bolts or bits; in the box are simply the two sections of screen and a set of instructions that are hilariously useless (This is a common aspect of all Givi products by the way: awkward diagrams and badly translated instructions).
FUNCTION
The Airflow screen is really two screens: the larger attaches to your bike, the smaller attaches to that screen and can be moved by unclamping two latches. At its fully extended length, an Airflow screen can be as much as 7 inches taller than an OEM screen.
But the real selling point for me is the fact that the double-pane setup creates a magical air pocket that is quieter and less disturbed than what you’d get from a single big screen. For example (speaking of riding in Europe more than a decade ago) the Victory Vision that I rode to EICMA in 2015 was equipped with an ENORMOUS electrically adjustable screen. But at speed, the aerodynamics of the thing created back pressure, so I could feel wind (and rain) going down my neck and the back of my jacket got soaked.
I don’t really understand the physics of how the Airflow screen works, ie, why it’s so much better than other windscreens. Givi claims it has something to do with the Venturi effect but doesn’t explain how. The internet tells me that the Venturi effect is most often associated with fluid and explains it with equations that are beyond my comprehension. I never made it to calculus in high school; I got waylaid in algebra for two years because I sat next to girls on the dance team in class. So, you know, I wasn’t paying attention to algebra.
(Yes, my high school had a dance team. As well as three marching bands, a show choir, a cross-country skiing team, and an auto body club. I’m so old I can remember when public schools were well-funded)
Whatever the case, the screen doesn’t suffer from sail effect (getting caught in the wind and pulling you off course), and it manages to keep everything stable even at extra-legal speeds. Even at 80 mph, things are relaxed enough that a rider could open their visor if so inclined.
WHAT I LIKE
There are two main benefits to the Airflow: reduced fatigue and fantastic weather protection.
When I’m behind one of these screens I can last considerably longer in the saddle than would be possible otherwise. Recent proof of this came last month, when Bike magazine gave me the keys to a 2025 Triumph Speed Twin 1200 for three days. That time involved picking the bike up in Peterborough and riding it up to Carlisle (250 miles away) and back.
On that long, cold, and sometimes wet ride I found I struggled to stay on the Triumph for more than an hour without needing to stop, move around, shake off the cobwebs, and warm up. But when I returned Bike ‘s motorcycle and rode the 150 miles home – in rain and snow – on my Airflow-equipped Kawasaki, I only needed to stop once.
I was able to do that in part because the Aiflow blocked the wind that I’d had to fight against on the naked Triumph. So, I didn’t have to lean into wind blast, didn’t have to tense the muscles in my torso and neck. I didn’t have to tolerate the constant noise and feeling of wind battering my helmet.
Additionally, the magic pocket of undisturbed air meant that I was warm and dry. Well, relatively. But certainly a hell of a lot warmer and dryer than I’d been on the Triumph. These states of being contributed to my comfort and ability to stay focused on the act of maneuvering a motorcycle.
With an Airflow screen keeping the worst of the weather off me I’ve found I can get by without expensive, fiddly, battery-draining gear like heated vests. You just need to wear six layers…
WHAT I DON’T LIKE
There isn’t much that I don’t like about the Airflow, but it is worth acknowledging that a pocket of almost completely undisturbed air is, you know, a pocket of almost completely undisturbed air. So, if you are riding in snowy-rainy conditions you may not get the flow of air in your helmet that’s necessary to keep your visor from fogging up. But, again, you’re in a pocket of almost completely undisturbed air; so, it is possible to lift the visor.
Related to this aspect of the Airflow possibly being too good at blocking the weather is the issue of warm-weather riding. I personally have never been hot behind an Airflow, but remember that I like being warm. I have never been hot while actually riding any motorcycle.
But, I can imagine scenarios where that might be possible. In those cases, what I would do is remove the outer screen. All you need to do is undo both latches and slide the thing off. It’s just small enough that it would fit (a little awkwardly) in a Kriega R20 backpack or the like. Then you’re left with the main screen, which is low enough that your head will be fully in the breeze.
SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
Yes. As I said at the beginning, I doubt very much that this article will do much to boost Dancing the Polka’s numbers, but I’ve gone to the trouble to write it because, dude, I love the Airflow that much. Givi’s been selling these things for a long time but I want to do whatever I can to boost sales and encourage the company to keep making them. I’ll want one on a future bike, I’m sure.
Something else that inspired me to write this article was a story that UK moto-journalist Phil West is currently writing for Bike. The basic idea is: accessories that people love. I’d guess that article will come out in late April. Keep an eye out for it.
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