R1100RT Laminar Lip

 13/06/03

The Laminar Lip is an inverted air foil according the Laminar blurb. As air passes under the lip it accelerates due to the shape and lifts the air over your helmet. Sounds good to me. So, after reading a number of favourable reports on the net, I decided to ordered one online.

Laminar's ordering page says delivery by air from Santa Ana, California to the UK would take less then a week. True to their word it arrived, very well packed in just 6 days.

Fitting seems quite daunting at first, as one mistake in placement could be a big problem. As it turned out, with a little planning and two pieces of marker tape the Lip was very easily fixed.

The only thing Laminar stipulate is that it must be fixed at a minimum of 70 F/21.1 C air and surface temperature. Below that temperature and the 3M Dual Lock will not stick so well. I fitted mine in a warm, sunny dinning room, away from the bike.

After a few dry runs I ended up fitting it as high as the pads would allow. I marked the position of the lowest self adhesive pad with a piece of electrical tape on each side. Then thoroughly cleaned the area with isopropyl alcohol as it dries without leaving any residue.

This picture shows the position of the tape - just under the lowest Dual Lock pad.

After peeling the protective film off the pads, I stuck the lower right hand pad in position just above the marker tape. Then, after lightly pulling the Lip over; the left lower pad was pressed down. The other four pads automatically fell into place, all 6 pads were "very" firmly pressed down and the marker tape removed. Success - a good fit! I left the screen in the room overnight and fitted it to the bike the next morning.

Front view - All pictures are with the screen fully down.

Side view - Showing the location of the Dual Lock pads.

Rear view - Shows how the screen is effectively raised in both height and width.

Road test

I choose a route using A roads, Motorways and back roads, with my daughter as pillion.

I must confess I was disappointed. At speeds below 40mph it appeared to work well enough, though it had to be near fully raised to have effect. above that speed there was some turbulence that I couldn't tune out by raising/lowering the screen. My daughter reported a similar problem on the back, noticeably more turbulence and wind noise than the Secdem screen. At one time on the motorway doing 70mph my helmet started to vibrate blurring my vision slightly, it was only for a few moments, but long enough.

Returning home, I refitted my Secdem Screen.

Disclaimer:

This page is based on my own experiences with my laminar lip. You may of course experience entirely different results with your own. This page is an independent review.

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