Shortened Windscreen

[brianinpa]

I recently picked up a chrome trim piece for the windscreen and it came with a windscreen, so I now have 3. 1 21" and 2 19". The 21" is vented, and the "new" 19" is a lot better than my original 19" windscreen, so I am thinking it might be time to trim one to a shorter size for those hot summer months.

Has anyone done it before and how did it work for you?

 

[AVetterXS]

I just saw this pic the other day while surfing the net. I took note of the short windshield and thought it looked kinda cool.

 

[brianinpa]

I've seen several pictures and that's what got me to thinking about it. Craig even has a few on his site. I'm just wondering what kind of buffeting that creates. My worst windscreen will make a good candidate as a previous owner of my Wing dropped it as some point and it is scratched about two inches down so I am thinking about 10 inches will be the height when I am done.

 

[oldbob]

Many years ago, after breaking a couple of windshields on rough roads, I trimmed my Windjammer's windshield. I don't remember exactly how much I removed but it was probably more than six inches. As far as I can recall, the shortened windshield was not a problem.

Bob

 

[brianinpa]

Thanks Bob!

I think I am going to go pretty aggressive with the saw when I do it ... If the temperature ever gets above freezing!

 

[Terraplane Tom]

I think the Windjammer with the short windshields look cool.

 

[AVetterXS]

Ok, I am slowly becoming obsessed with this thread! I have a couple of extra windshields, now I just need to find a clean way to cut one. I don't know much about cutting plastic. I am guessing it has something to do with water and sandpaper and a bandsaw or Dremel.

 

[brianinpa]

A bandsaw of a jig saw. Whatever saw is used, just make sure it has really fine teeth and don't force it too fast. Tape the windscreen first so that the saw is dragging along the surface of the tape rather than the surface of the windscreen. Shape and sand the cut to remove any sharp edges. One of my other hobbies is wood working so I have several power tools that will make this a easy job.

Poking around Craig's site, there is one (I think it is on page 9 or 10 of owner submitted photo's - I didn't want to link to it since the owner is sitting on the bike an might not be a member here yet) where a guy has one cut flush with the "ears" of the fairing - looks really sharp, but that is just a little too low for my taste. Who knows where I will end up in the end. I really like the look of the shorter whindscreen, and now that I have several, why not!

 

[AVetterXS]

I am going to give it a shot. I have some ideas, and will defiantly make a Vettermentary of how I did it. Thanks much for the tips Brian.

We definitely need more technical guides and how-to's. I am gonna spend some time in the future trying to build stuff like that up on the site.

 

[Terraplane Tom]

I was thinking a scroll saw would be good to use, then use a belt sander to smooth the edges.

 

[limpy45]

I have 'modified' 2 windshields. I masked off on both sides where I wanted to make the cut, about 2" wide off both sides of the cut and shield. Drew a line with a pencil where the cut was to be and then carefully made the cut using a sabre saw with a medium grit blade. Sanded the cut with a belt sander very carefully using again a medium grit belt. O tried to set it up as the 'windbender' or deflector type of windshield. I road the bike a bit into the wind, which we have lots of here in ND and was not to impressed. I actually prefer to look through the taller type shield. That is why I have a 'Tulsa tall' on the 1500 wing.

 

[brianinpa]

Ok, back to this one. The engine is painted, the C5 ignition is igniting, the engine's aluminum is polished and shining, and some of the black plastic has been painted to match the rest of the bike (I just couldn't wait to paint everything so the bags are still black while the lids and trunk are gray: I'll paint the rest on a rainy day!) so I guess it is time to really do something about this idea.

Here are the two choices I like the most. One is 6 inches tall from the top of the metal windscreen clips and the other is 8. I want to see what others think of them before I send one across my band saw, so what do you think?

8 inch:

6 inch:

Oh and I am using a windscreen that does not have the vents and I am also toying with the idea of painting the lower part of the windscreen black following an arching line even with the top of the ears of the fairing so the cycle sound would not be visible through the wind screen.

 

[Terraplane Tom]

My vote is for the 6 inch one.

 

[steppenwolf]

I like the way you mounted your mirrors on the Jammer. Instead of black maybe a heavy tint.

 

[brianinpa]

I like the way you mounted your mirrors on the Jammer. Instead of black maybe a heavy tint.

Those are stock GoldWing Interstate mirrors and moving the mirrors forward from the handlebars gives a completely different view of what is behind you. As far as a tint, everything I am reading shows that tinting plexi isn't the easiest thing to do which is why I am leaning towards painting it. I am all about taking the easy route.

 

[AVetterXS]

Why do you even want to cut the windshield? if I were forced to cut mine I would go with 8". You still want the engineering aspect for airflow to work. I do understand the aesthetic of the cut, but is it practical?

 

[brianinpa]

Because I have 4 windscreens and three Windjammers . One windscreen is already scratched from where the previous owner dropped the bike and the windscreen scraped the road.

I want a little more wind in the face during the summer months and a little more of a sinister look.

 

[AVetterXS]

Well now, that makes perfect sense! Cant wait to see the result.

 

[steppenwolf]

I have the xtra tall windshield and like it.I look thru it but I always hated seeing that line when I had the regular shield on plus I seem to get a lot better protection from whatever with the tall one.I don't wear a full face helmet so that might have something to do with it.

 

[brianinpa]

All along I have been thinking I liked it at the 6 inch size and that is what I was going to go with. I could hardly wait until I got home from work because today was the day.

As I stated earlier, this is a lot easier with a bandsaw and my old Craftsman was just the right machine for the job.

The reason I haven't done this sooner is because I didn't want the rat-tail antenna from the Cycle Sound system sticking up further than the windscreen and until recently, I didn't have a proper antenna for the GoldWing. that changed recently when I picked up some parts in New York. I also had the chrome trim piece, and I actually almost forgot to put the dang thing on! So... here is what I wound up with:

I painted the inside of the windscreen black to "conceal" certain things that I place on top of the Cycle Sound pod as I am riding down the road...

I went for a ride this evening and oh I think this is something that will be nice in the hot months ahead.