Windshield Again

[boogllasti]

Well - removing the Spyder mirrors is going to cause many problems.

They are also the front blinkers.

Mounting mirrors onto the bar ends really won't work well on the Spyder as you are really turning the bar much more than on a typical bike.

Nice idea, just don't think it will work here though.

 

[arachnomania]

I am 6'4" and am trying to find the best windshield for me. Read posts from the 9-12 era and wondered if anything new has come up since then for the taller riders. I have always looked just over a windshield before but got a lot of wind still on my Goldwing. Any suggestions about the cal-sci 25". I'm guessing that's the xl model you said might not work for someone my height. thanks.

 

[bjt]

I'm 6'4" tall and I've tried 7 different windshields since I've owned my Spyder. The first two, the BRP stock and the BRP Touring windshields performed very similarly, no wind protection at higher speeds.

My wife had an F1 (23") and has the Evo III (26") and neither one was tall enough for me. They kept the wind off my chest but concentrated a lot of the deflected wind at the base of my helmet, greatly increasing wind noise and giving me the bobble head feeling that many have described.

I had an Evo II (30") windshield that worked the best for keeping the wind off of me and greatly quieted the high speed ride as the wind was being deflected well over the top of my helmet. The downfalls of that windshield were that it was so huge that it looked goofy on the Spyder and I had to look through the top of the windshield while riding. I cut about 3" off the top and it still performed great without me having to look through the windshield. However, it still looked too big and goofy. I was removing the Evo II for all my riding except for long highway rides and after about 6 times of reinstalling it, it developed cracks around two of the screw holes and one of the holes cracked all the way through.

I got an Evo III slider that turned out to be too short for me. Even with the slider fully extended, I still got a lot of wind on the top 1/3 of my helmet which caused a lot of wind noise and head buffeting. Marcel made a tall version (about 3" taller) of the Evo III slider that I have now and I like it. Fully extended, it puts the wind right at the very top of my helmet. I don't get the head buffeting but I still have some wind noise. Its not as protective of the Evo II I had but it looks 100 times nicer on the Spyder and it works well. I keep it installed on my Spyder all the time.

Unfortunately, the only way you can know what will work for you is to test ride the different windshields. You'll find ride reports vary on all the different windshields, what works great for one person is horrible for someone else.

 

[Putt-Putt]

I am 6'4" and the EVO II works great for keeping the wind off of me, even after I cut 3" off of it.

What did you use to cut it with? As plastic chips and cracks real easy when cutting it.

I think I will be looking into the Industries 7 C.H.A.D

I have the EVO III right now and I do get too much Bobble Head effect.

 

[bjt]

What did you use to cut it with? As plastic chips and cracks real easy when cutting it.

Fine toothed metal cutting blade in a bandsaw. No chips or cracks while cutting. None have developed on the cut edge over time either. Too bad I can't say the same about the mounting holes.

 

[Putt-Putt]

My EVO III would be a lot better if I could just bend the whole thing farther forward. As it is it's too short & slants back to driver too much. But would be at the perfect hight if it could be bent forward. I got a heat gun but I was affraid it might melt it. Plus thats a pretty big area to heat. One side would probably get too cold by the time you got to the other side. :dontknow:

 

[bjt]

Have you tried contacting Marcel to see if he could do a re-bend for you? If it was me and I had a heat gun, I would (carefully) try it myself first to see if I had any chance of bending it. I agree that his new windshield designs are slanted back to the rider a lot. His first windshields were a lot more upright.

 

[jeuchler]

...Unfortunately, the only way you can know what will work for you is to test ride the different windshields. You'll find ride reports vary on all the different windshields, what works great for one person is horrible for someone else.

I have become a fan of altering stock, or "modifying the mod."

I haven't tried as many shields as Brian has, but I cut my F1 down four times now, and rebent it--at the time it felt like it was a radical bend.

After this past Sunday's test ride, I'm content. It was 39 degrees in New England, and the new modded mod worked great.

I just cut it with a jig saw (low speed), then ground it down with a belt sander little by little:

 

[bjt]

Nice John. It doesn't even look like an F1 anymore, much sleeker. :2thumbs:

 

[Director]

BRP is supposed to be developing a new "Tour" version. May be worth waiting to see what they have in mind. The most effective ones are too tall for my taste and the ones that look good on the Spyder, don't seem to work too well based on most posts here.

Here is a pic of the new BRP Ultra Touring Windshield. I have one on order.

 

[Putt-Putt]

I have become a fan of altering stock, or "modifying the mod."

I haven't tried as many shields as Brian has, but I cut my F1 down four times now, and rebent it--at the time it felt like it was a radical bend.

After this past Sunday's test ride, I'm content. It was 39 degrees in New England, and the new modded mod worked great.

I just cut it with a jig saw (low speed), then ground it down with a belt sander little by little:

How did you bend it? Did you just do the top or from the base where it mounts to the spyder. This is where I'd like to bend mine if possible at the base.

 

[NancysToy]

How did you bend it? Did you just do the top or from the base where it mounts to the spyder. This is where I'd like to bend mine if possible at the base.

This is going to be a lot more difficult. You could change the mounting hole spacing very easily. If it was bent while on the Spyder, you could damage other parts with the heat, and could actually need to stretch the plastic of the windshield to obtain the bend you want. I'd have to want to do this real, real bad to take the chance. Why don't you like it so close? I always thought one of the drawbacks of the Spyder shields were that they were located so far forward, so the wind came back over them and hit the rider. Seems to me that closer would be better.
-Scotty

 

[Putt-Putt]

1. The vents in the shield rub on the spyder dash.
2. It comes back so far you have to be carefull not to hit your face and or helmet shield on it when getting on and off the spyder.
3. bending it forward would raise the shield to give you better wind protection. As it is it comes to about my chin.

And I agree that it might damage the dash with the heat gun thats why I haven't done it yet. Unless someone has a good idea of how to do it.

 

[tatt2r]

1. The vents in the shield rub on the spyder dash.
2. It comes back so far you have to be carefull not to hit your face and or helmet shield on it when getting on and off the spyder.
3. bending it forward would raise the shield to give you better wind protection. As it is it comes to about my chin.

And I agree that it might damage the dash with the heat gun thats why I haven't done it yet. Unless someone has a good idea of how to do it.

throw it away.....that was my idea..... :clap:and just my opinion don't like windshields.... :2thumbs:

 

[jeuchler]

How did you bend it? Did you just do the top or from the base where it mounts to the spyder. This is where I'd like to bend mine if possible at the base.

Putt--

I cut everywhere except the base. I bent (hard) at the top to make a new lip. See the pics in the post above...

 

[Spydr in KS]

Bending

I have an F1 Evo III Shorty. It had no bend at the top. After a few miles I was a beat up bobble head. I decided to "tune" it per the F1 web site with a heat gun. It heats slowly and I didn't detect any danger of melting. After about ten minute of heating and trying to bend I was able to start bending and for a nice flair at the top. It was easy and made a huge difference. I now love the look and ride of the shield. No really tall toenail looking shields for me!

Dave

 

[bjt]

I have an F1 Evo III Shorty. It had no bend at the top. After a few miles I was a beat up bobble head. I decided to "tune" it per the F1 web site with a heat gun. It heats slowly and I didn't detect any danger of melting. After about ten minute of heating and trying to bend I was able to start bending and for a nice flair at the top. It was easy and made a huge difference. I now love the look and ride of the shield. No really tall toenail looking shields for me!

Dave

Hey Spyder in KS, do you have a picture of your Spyder with the Evo III shorty on it? I imagine it looks pretty good on the Spyder but I would like to actually see it. :nopic:

 

[Putt-Putt]

Putt--

I cut everywhere except the base. I bent (hard) at the top to make a new lip. See the pics in the post above...

But what did you use to heat it; to be able to bend it.
I tried a heat gun for a couple of minutes. Kinda afraid i'd melt it. But to go all the way across at the base from right to left I would think it would cool off too much on the side you started heating on to bend it even. Any suggestions?

 

[Spydr in KS]

Tuning a F1 Shorty windshield with a heat gun...

Here are a few pictures of my F1 Evoluation Shorty. The first is before I tuned it and the second is after using a heat gun to bend the top. See the F1 web site for videos of how to do it. Keep the heat gun moving back and forth across the area you want to bend. Heat the outside and inside. It took longer than I thought. It was a good ten minutes to build enough heat to allow flexing the windshield to the shape I wanted. It bent very slowly and took some force to move it. With the heat gun I just don't see a danger of melting the shield or getting it so hot you would lose the shape.

 

[bjt]

:2thumbs: