Unique Windshield

[isaiahsdad]

Just thought I would share a unique windshield dilemma and how I fixed it. When I bought my 99 Nomad, the previous owner had installed highway lights and the windshield got int the way, so he cut, yes cut the bottom of the windshield, brackets and all, about 3 inches off the bottom. Just hacked it clean off with a jig saw. Well, I am 6 foot 3 and quite a bit taller than the previous owner and I wanted to raise the windshield, but the gap left by the hack job prevented me from doing that. I went to Kawasaki and ordered some new brackets, which in itself was odd. The left side was $13 and the right was $26. No difference but left and right. Anyhow, the dilemma was when I looked into ordering the plastic, $413.00. I was floored. So, no windshield. Well as some of you know, I am a partner in a NASCAR venture. The kind of partner that does all the work, and he spends all the money. Well, back in January, we bought a 2001 Dale Earnhardt Sr car from a gentleman that we have bought from before in North Carolina. So I drove the 1300 miles from Oklahoma to North Carolina to pick up this car. The guy who had the car also builds cars for NASCAR and had a plethora of parts. I asked him if he had any broken windshields lying around big enough to make a motorcycle windshield out of. Well he told me to load the car on the trailer and he would look. About 10 minutes went by and he came walking back with a brand new, $1600.00 NASCAR windshield, still in its plastic wrap, and proceeded to hide it under the car. I was shocked to say the least, but very very happy. Made it home safe and sound and a few weeks later got up the guts to give it a go.

I took the old windshield off and used it to form a pattern of the top of the windshield, used white construction paper, for the bottom, and this is the laughable part, I got a salad bowl from the kitchen that was a little bit bigger than the headlight, and formed the bottom half of the windshield. Used the bowl to form the spot for the headlight, then the opposite arch for each side, left and right. I taped the pattern I made with 2 inch wide painters tape, and masked off any spot that the jig saw would come in contact with. Bought a plexi glass saw blade, and began to cut. I used a shop vac on blow to keep the blade cool to keep it from melting the plastic. Got a drill bit to cut the holes for the bolts, went real slow to keep from cracking anything, then when done, used a belt sander to put the bevel in the plastic. Now the plexi had a little curve because it was for a car, but not enough for the bend on a bike, and this was the one problem I was dreading from the very beginning and the solution surprised me more than anything. I bolted it all together. Thats it, just bolted it all together. The curve of the chrome trim was strong enough to bend the plastic into shape, and put an upward curve in it to deflect the air better. I got some Black plastic paint to cover the spot above the light, to hide the wires and the back side of my GPS and viola, it was done. It is twice as thick as the stock one. Has a built in scratch resistant coating, is speed rated for 225 mph, and looks as good as the factory one. It even has the safety seal that NASCAR puts on them after they inspect them. Another bonus.... I still have enough plastic for one more. I am going to do those little winglets below the windshield because they have yellowed a bit. Total cost, parts and all, less than $100. NASCAR, on a Nomad, a better combination could not be had!
By the way, I did some research before actually installing it and the stock plastic has to break away at 65 pounds of impact to keep from cutting you in half if you go over the handlebars. The NASCAR has an impact rating of 72 pounds. Hows that for a fit.

[skeeter]

Purdy neat. You are gonna have to rein her in a bit when someone passes you on a red and silver. Save gas and settle for last.

[dabull]

wow.... u da man!

[scott2007nomad]

Awesome, it's good to have the right friends.

[dennisbailey]

Good ole fashion American ingenuity.

[VulcanE]

Very Nice Job, nothing like "doing it yourself".

[tazfl]

Nice job, it looks good. It's always cool when you can make something yourself and save a bunch of money at the same time :)

[billz410]

I won't even describe what would've happened if I'd tried a venture like that. Looks good! Glad it worked!

[dogdoc]

Nothing like a freebie in my books. Good job.

[isaiahsdad]

Thanks y'all. For some reason, I enjoy something more if I can do it myself. I also appreciate it more as well. I would much rather do it myself then roll down to the store and hand over the cash. I do know my limits though, but I do what I can, when I can. It has always been a dream of mine to build my own bike. Someday I may get my chance. Until then, I will stick to the next best thing, my Black Beauty.