Reshaping Windshields.......
Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 2:22 pm
.... or the high price of being cheap?
I recently paid $59 for a nos aftermarket Clearview windshield for my R1100RSL. It was still in the original packaging and was taller and wider than even my old 1150 shield. Great deal right? Well, as soon as tried to install it I saw I was going to have problems. Even after I tried spacers it was still hitting the body work when the shield was lowered. With the shield off it was easy to see that the problem was not just in the corners but the whole lower leading edge on both sides was curled down. In other words, no cutting, sanding, or grinding was going to cure this and still look right.
So why bring this up on an Airhead forum? My old R100RS had problems with buffering. The windshield had a kicked up lip at the top that put the airflow just below ear level. I read different things that folks did to try to reshape theirs but in the end I took a saw to it and cut the whole lip off. On the R1100RSL though, this was not going to be an option.
So here’s what I did.....
I used a large wok to boil water, and a white terrycloth towel to manipulate the hot plastic. I figured white was better than anything with colors that might transfer to the shield. I was also using the towel to rest the shield on while working it.
1) I brought the water to a heavy boil.
2) I held the affected parts of the shield in the boiling water for about 1 minute.
3) Then placed it on the towel and slowly manipulated it a little at a time.
4) I went back and forth doing this and holding it to the bike until I got it to where I needed it.
There are no stress marks or scorching in the plastic, and you might not even know that I did anything to it at all.
It looks great and fits perfect with no spacers at all!
With a big enough pot, I feel you could reshape almost any part of a shield.
I recently paid $59 for a nos aftermarket Clearview windshield for my R1100RSL. It was still in the original packaging and was taller and wider than even my old 1150 shield. Great deal right? Well, as soon as tried to install it I saw I was going to have problems. Even after I tried spacers it was still hitting the body work when the shield was lowered. With the shield off it was easy to see that the problem was not just in the corners but the whole lower leading edge on both sides was curled down. In other words, no cutting, sanding, or grinding was going to cure this and still look right.
So why bring this up on an Airhead forum? My old R100RS had problems with buffering. The windshield had a kicked up lip at the top that put the airflow just below ear level. I read different things that folks did to try to reshape theirs but in the end I took a saw to it and cut the whole lip off. On the R1100RSL though, this was not going to be an option.
So here’s what I did.....
I used a large wok to boil water, and a white terrycloth towel to manipulate the hot plastic. I figured white was better than anything with colors that might transfer to the shield. I was also using the towel to rest the shield on while working it.
1) I brought the water to a heavy boil.
2) I held the affected parts of the shield in the boiling water for about 1 minute.
3) Then placed it on the towel and slowly manipulated it a little at a time.
4) I went back and forth doing this and holding it to the bike until I got it to where I needed it.
There are no stress marks or scorching in the plastic, and you might not even know that I did anything to it at all.
It looks great and fits perfect with no spacers at all!
With a big enough pot, I feel you could reshape almost any part of a shield.
but remember to use a good quality peanut oil to grease up the pan first, it's very important 
