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Gary Rhoades' Windshield Wind
Wings |
| Following are some pictures of my little windshield
modification, which should be pretty self-explanatory. This farkle requires drilling
mounting holes in your windshield, so is not completly reversible. I should mention that
I've only tried it with my simply curved Rifle +4 windshield, and it may not fit very well
with others with more complicated shapes. The item I ordered from JC Whitney was Windshield Side Wings - Clear ($31.99), catalog #06PG3275R. S&H was another $10. The kit includes two pre-cut plexi windows, and 4 sets of fasteners. The fasterners include chrome plated pot metal fronts, aluminum backs, stainless screws and rubber grommets. The front plates are made up of the base plate, with threaded nuts wave-soldered on. In the set I received, a couple of the nuts were misallinged at soldering time, and pointed at the wrong angle. These kits are provided to JCW by Maier Mfg USA (530.272.9036), whom I called, and they sent me a replacement set. I practiced on the bad ones. The plates are designed to angle back about 15 degrees; I cut relief slots in the sides with a hacksaw and bent it forward 30 degrees. I cut four slots on each of the two sides, of each of the four front plates. I replaced the backing plates with flat washers. The ferrous metal of the plates will rust and the cheap chrome will probably corrode, so I painted everything with clearcoat before assembling. Black would be good too. A half-inch corner of the lower corners of the windowlets had to be cut to clear the windhsield support stays. The picture showing hand clearance is misleading due to the angle of the pic - there's actually more clearance than it appears. As you can see from the lousy pic of the fasteners, two relief slots in the sides isn't enough to make a smooth bend. A more expensive, but similar alternative is to buy Valk wind deflectors, which mount with compression fasteners and don't require drilling. Also they're adjustable for angle. Cost about $200 from Honda. There's at least three new versions shown for the 1800 wings, but all will probably cost just as much. I'd be interested in hearing your feedback if you decide to give it a try. Cheers, Gary |
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