Creative thinking on a monday.. With pics...

[Dave]

Thinking bout mirrors wind wings , wipers and other junk. I saw a deal on the net (whispering here) where a company made wind wings out of lexan and didnt use any brackets but used the windshield mounting studs to mount the wind wings.. Ah Ha.. I searched a few years ago for lowers for my honda shadow cause even with the windshield i had severe helmet buffeting at high speed. I didnt find anything i liked and mostly because of price..  So after looking a a few pics of chrome ones that i liked the design but not the chrome i made my own out of lexan and they worked great and are still on the bike. I still have the pattern at work.. Ok back to today... Heres the pics .. I have to make the bottom angle match the top more closely but this was 15 minutes in the design change and i cut it with a sabre saw tonite when i got home for a better feel of what i wanted. I narrowed em up about an inch from my first design..  Oh ya the guys get 60 bucks for these :?:  :?: Outrageous. I also have a little extra design as with lexan when you tighten it down enuff to hold the windshield frame eventually its gonna crack or star at the bolt holes.. Ill let you in on that acfter i get the final prototypes done and on.. * thats a lot of typing for a monday..
Dave
ps: ill smooth the edges real purdy too..    

[river1]

you need to careful when you take pics of shiny things, i can see your reflection in the wind wings :?

looks good

later jim

[Dave]

you need to careful when you take pics of shiny things, i can see your reflection in the wind wings :?

looks good

later jim

       

[EMSjunkie]

Glad to see you made it back home........I noticed you were out wandering today, bothering the neighbors      

those wing windows look pretty good, nice addition


Vance

[jaybee]

Nice.  In the reflection you look pretty happy with your work, too.  

[kb426]

I had left over lexan from dragster windscreens. about 12 years ago, my buddy has me make wings for his roadster. I put them in the break and bent them, drilled the holes and off he went. They're still on the car. You bend lexan but only once. Twice usually results in 2 pieces. I see you have the same thing. Good job.

[river1]

I searched a few years ago for lowers for my honda shadow cause even with the windshield i had severe helmet buffeting at high speed.

not enough ballast in the helmet?      

later jim

[enjenjo]

I searched a few years ago for lowers for my honda shadow cause even with the windshield i had severe helmet buffeting at high speed.

not enough ballast in the helmet?      

later jim

You ever hold a balloon out the window? Same principle.

[39deluxe]

I may have to get a '32 just so I can have some of those. Nice work. I wasn't aware that you can bend Lexan in a break. Now that I have learned something today I can go to bed.

Tom

[Dave]

I may have to get a '32 just so I can have some of those. Nice work. I wasn't aware that you can bend Lexan in a break. Now that I have learned something today I can go to bed.

Tom

We do it all the time.. But yes only once.. All our machines have lexan guards. i made lexan boxes and everything with our box break. The one thing with lexan is you need to over bend it to get a good 90 but if you over bend a touch it can usually be brought back by hand.. I guessed at the angle i wanted the wind wings and it looks good and there isnt a bunch of brackets to move around either.. Of course i was gonna make a big deal outta this but Bill had to do it 30 years ago before they even invented lexan so he has one up on me again  :!:
Dave



             

[EMSjunkie]

Of course i was gonna make a big deal outta this but Bill had to do it 30 years ago before they even invented lexan so he has one up on me again  :!:
Dave



             

Thats what ya get for messin' with them Kansas Boys    

Vance

[C9]

Not sure of the exact year, but Lexan has been around since the 60's.
Lexan's a trade name for Polycarbonate.
Even so, Lexan has turned into the generic name for the stuff.

I get mine at Home Depot, it's listed as Polycarbonate and has an ultraviolet coating on one side - which goes on the sunny side.


Anyway, clever stuff on your windwings with the bending in the brake bit.
I wasn't aware you could bend Lexan without heat.
Any special precautions with using the brake?
Light clamping pressure etc.?

What thickness did you use?
My windwings are .240 and are working well.
They're about 12 years old and still very clear.
I wash them with car wash soap when I wash the car.
The only scratch on them is where a clown at a car show did the glass test trick with a diamond ring.

This pic shows how clear they are after about twelve years of running them.



They're cut out easily with a 60 toothe carbide blade in a table saw.
Put down a piece of plywood on top of the saw table and clamp it.
The paper covered Lexan slides over the wood easier and keeps the machined edges of the table grooves from scratching it.

Cut the curves with the table saw by cutting a bunch of straight cuts and connecting with a disc or belt table sander.

I break the edges with a file and wet sand the edges with 240 grit wet/dry used wet and finish with 400 grit wet.
Doesn't take that long and they look like glass on the edges when you're done.

Not trying to take away from what you've done, just another way to do it.

Reason I ask how thick the windwings are is that I made a set of quarter windows out of .187 and at highway speeds they got into aerodynamic flutter.
Made another set from .222 and the flutter went away.



I don't think you'll have a problem with .187 since they're supported at the leading edge.
The quarter windows are mounted on the center and unless you do other airplane-like stuff the lightweight stuff will flutter.
Get an airplane control surface into flutter/vibration and that's pretty much the death knell for the airplane unless you slow down.
Even then, you can't always slow down fast enough.

My windwings are .240 fwiw.
They work fairly well on the old style clamp mounts, but I did swap the slot head bolts out for some allen heads so I could clamp them a little tighter.

The original windwings were glass, but cold weather and the slot head bolts allowed the heavy glass to slide and/or pivot downward.
The lighter weight Lexan cured that.

You'll find that the windwings work pretty good, especially so in cold weather.

The quarter windows work ok and tend to make the air that turns in off the windwings stay outside for the most part.
Appreciated by Sweetie who's 5'1" tall.

I take the quarter windows off in summer cuz they tend to interfere with the ingress/egress bit, but they stay on until the weather warms up.

Last three Saturday mornings to the donut run, 25* F.

Good thing I have a heater I can turn on if it really gets cold....

[Dave]

Anyway, clever stuff on your windwings with the bending in the brake bit.
I wasn't aware you could bend Lexan without heat.
Any special precautions with using the brake?
Light clamping pressure etc.?

What thickness did you use?
My wind wings are .240 and are working well.
They're about 12 years old and still very clear.
I wash them with car wash soap when I wash the car.
The only scratch on them is where a clown at a car show did the glass test trick with a diamond ring.

jay i copied the set i saw on the net and they used 1/8.. We will see how it works but the way they are configured i really dont see a problem.. Ill report back when we get plates good weather and a chance to really drive it. i wont need the quarter windows with the new Bop Top as it comes to the rear of the door opening on the sides. Bending 1/8 in a brake is easy and i just clamp it and bend it .Ive never worried about how much clamping pressure etc.. I tried bending 1/4 once and although i did bend it it took a lot of * and didnt really bend well . Ill try another small piece later this week when i get time.. If worse comes to worse ill find some 3/16 and use that. i was trying to eliminate the expensive brackets and my posts are closed in the inside with a stainless plate to start with so id have to remove that to mount the brackets and they are nicely tig welded in. The rubber around the windshield sits on that piece and will surely help to keep water from coming thru. The next thing im making is washers about .100 thick for mounting. I drilled the holes in the wind wings to a little over 1/2 and im gonna make stainless washers with a 3/8 hole in them to slide inside the wind wings and ill use regular washers on the out side of them so i can tighten the wing nut down really good without distorting the lexan too much.
The only other thing i have to change is im gonna need longer studs for the top of the windshield posts.. Thats a fairly easy fix just a little lathe time..
Oh ya the lowers i made for my old scooter were 1/8 too and made pretty much the same way only twice as long and they didnt move a bit.. I do plan on working the edges of these a bit more too but i doubt if ill wet sand em  
Dave  

[river1]

I searched a few years ago for lowers for my honda shadow cause even with the windshield i had severe helmet buffeting at high speed.

not enough ballast in the helmet?      

later jim

You ever hold a balloon out the window? Same principle.

:ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)

[Dave]

I searched a few years ago for lowers for my honda shadow cause even with the windshield i had severe helmet buffeting at high speed.

not enough ballast in the helmet?      

later jim

You ever hold a balloon out the window? Same principle.

:ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)

You can be replaced..
Hey I did stop at the bike shop after work and the scoot will be comming home thursday or friday.. All done cept the trunk liner but they assured me its comming.. new tires at 439.00 but ill feel better with the metzlers..
Oh ya the final prototype wind wings are in place and ready for a test run.. Guess what  :?:  :?:  :?:  last time i checked were under a winter weather advisory     ...
Oh well
Dave