Terraplane Windscreen Attachment Method

[desertrefugee]

Well, new guy and the first of (hopefully) not too many questions.

I have a windscreen on the way to replace the badly cracked one on a Terraplane I recently acquired. T he existing screen on mine is attached with numerous screws running around the base - in addition to what looks like a factory leading edge bracket. But, I see many Terraplane screens with what looks like "clips" on each side. I believe this is the factory setup. I can tell you that the fewer holes I need to drill, the more comfortable I'll be. Each hole represents another opportunity to spoil a brand new windscreen.

Could anyone please point me to a resource that describes the attachment method used on the factory Terraplane?

Thanks!

Darrell

 

[brianinpa]

Welcome to the forum... where do I know you from???

I was going to suggest this forum to you, but it appears you found your way here.

The clips would negate the need to drill holes in the windscreen and are similar to the Windjammer fairing (just larger), but it appears that yours does not have them.

I don't see why those wouldn't do the same thing.

 

[desertrefugee]

Hey Brian! Thanks for the photo. (We're old pals over on the NGW site).

Where can you buy the hardware you've shown above? That's the way I'm going to go with this! Are they Windjammer parts? (I'll look into it).

Thanks again!

Darrell

 

[brianinpa]

Craig Vetter's website is one place, or evilbay...

http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/Online_Store/Replacement_Parts/Details.html#Anchor-36621

 

[Ray-Paige]

Go to Craig Vetter's website> He offers them for sale.

 

[desertrefugee]

Thanks gentlemen. Pricey, but well worth it. I see he developed them to help avoid EXACTLY what I'm trying to avoid. Stress cracks emanating from holes.

 

[trikebldr]

Just a couple of preliminary comments about your existing windshield. That is NOT a factory bracket on the front edge! It's nicely made, but not stock! The front edge of that shield tells me it's also not a stock factory windshield. The radius of the folds and unfinished front edge are not the same as a factory shield. It appears that all of the side bolts are black nylon of about 1/4-20 size, and it also appears (at least on one) that they are tightened up too much. I think I see three cracks starting at three of the bolts. Even with plastic bolts on a plastic windscreen, especially with the foam tape behind it, finger tight is enough to hold them and not cause cracking. Also, when the holes are drilled, they need a light chamfer applied to their edges. Drilling must also be done with light pressure and a sharp drill to prevent micro-cracks during the drilling process.
Just for reference, here is a pic of my Terraplane's original factory windshield mounting. Note, the side screens are NOT mounted stock anymore. I made up my own sidescreens and joiners. My original sidescreens came to me broken, but complete, so I used one as a pattern. Turns out the two sides are not the same dimensions, so new patterns had to be made custom fit for each side.
I have seen several tonneu covers mounted by snapping them to the stock windshields and most of the shields do fail before too long. The only one that didn't was when the owner fabricated an aluminum frame along the inside rear edge of the shield to stiffen it. At highway speeds the covers tend to buffet in the wind causing constant stress on the shield. That will cause micro-cracks that eventually make it let go with major cracks. Also, just pushing those snaps on is a lot of stress the shield wasn't designed to withstand. Again, those cracks look to originate from the holes around the snaps.
On my Windjammer fairing on my other bike I have gone to 1/4-20 nylon black bolts to help spread the loading over a larger area with less tension on the bolt. I only tighten them as tight as I can with just my fingers. I am planing on dong this on the three front bolts on my Terraplane, also. BTW, all of those little white nylon bolts on my side wings have been replaced with black ones. They are all 8-32 screws, finger tightened.
Has anybody else had their passenger complain about wind buffeting in the sidecar? My wife is 6' tall and she says it knocks her head around quite a bit. I am planning to have a new windshield made that has the rear edge extended at the top so it is pretty much straight up rather than being slanted forward. This will add another 3" to the height of the windshield and hopefully eliminate all the buffeting.

 

[desertrefugee]

Wow! Good info! Thanks for the detail. I had already pretty much convinced myself that I would not be re-using the tonneau. You helped cement that position.

Appreciate the rundown!

 

[Terraplane Tom]

I installed a new windscreen, then added a tonneau cover to keep the rain out.