Plexistar II Windshield (aka Moe's windshield)

[alanmcorcoran]

Got my windshield today. Had to go somewhere so I put it on sort of quick like, and then, after I got back, effed with it for an hour and a half. Here's what it look's like:



Since there seems to be a great deal of interest in windshields, I'll quickly delve into two aspects of it: Installation and The Effect On The Ride.

Installation: Installation was both easy and, well, difficult. Easy, as in you can get the thing on your bike in about 15 minutes. Difficult, as in, you can then proceed to eff with it for the rest of your natural life. You can screw around with the orientation and position of fork mounts. It is no exaggeration to say there is an infinite amount of adjustments you can make to the fork mounts starting with how far you stick the "L" brackets into the windshield, to the placement of the collar, to the orientation of the connector, to the angle of the "L brackets, to the angle of connector, and so on etc. etc. You can also screw around with the handle bar mounts and there are at least four different areas to mess with there as well.

Effect On The Ride: The top of the windshield, when I first installed it, was about at eyebrow level or slightly higher. This means I am looking through the windshield to see the horizon and the top edge of the windshield cuts right through my plane of vision. (Not real thrilled with this.) The windshield reduces the wind on my upper torso, hands and face to zero (this is good!) However, it introduces a new area of turbulence, best described like the buffeting of a heavy flag in a strong wind, around the sides and back of my head. Flipping up my face shield, I can feel the wind on my temples and above. Quick impression: The windshield sharply reduces "wind chill", especially chest and hands but introduces a new annoyance in the form of re-directed wind that is distracting. I experimented with raising the whole thing up, but then the hand cutouts start to encroach on the hand levers - so I put it back to it's "natural" position.

So far, I'm not that impressed. I like the reduction in chilliness, but I hate the way it looks, I hate the loss of visibility and it doesn't really eliminate the wind. I'll give it a few more days before I take it off, but I think I'm going to go back to no windshield.

[mrlmd1]

Your windshield is probably too big, or too tall. You shouldn't be looking across the edge of the screen, it should be below your line of sight. That can be distracting and a safety issue.
How tall is it? 19 or 21"? Too bad you can't trim a few inches off the top.
My windshield is much shorter, 15", I should have found one maybe 17", but I like it. It certainly keeps most of the love bugs off me in the spring and fall, and altho my head is in the wind, my body and hands are well protected from the wind and flying debris.
I don't think gain in top speed should be the reason people get a shield, but rather protection from all that's coming your way should be the goal.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

So far, I'm not that impressed. I like the reduction in chilliness, but I hate the way it looks, I hate the loss of visibility and it doesn't really eliminate the wind. I'll give it a few more days before I take it off, but I think I'm going to go back to no windshield.

Poser! :biggrin:

I think your expectations were a bit too high. That air has to go somewhere. Shields are not for everybody and the "ideal" adjustment is not the same for everybody. Keep screwing with it for a while.

The top of the shield should NOT be directly in your line of sight; above or below but not right in the middle. Have a look at my pictures again. I ended up with the hand-guards above where they were designed to be. To clear the levers, then, I had to move the shield forward slightly and to get the wind off my helmet (more or less) completely, I stood it up straighter than I would really like. This puts me looking about 2 inches through the shield in my normal riding posture and IIRC, puts the horizon about even with the top line on a level road.

I had to screw with it for about a week and changed the "adjustments" about 6 times before I got it right. Now, mine is even a little larger than yours and when adjusted for max. wind deflection, it presents some resistance at top speed........which is why I recommended the one you have that is slightly smaller.

The good news is that your model is MUCH easier to adjust than mine.

[Moedad]

Alan, yours is mounted higher than mine. My helmet buffeting seems minor compared to what you describe. We should get the bikes next to each other and compare, maybe even try riding each others.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Moedad

Alan, yours is mounted higher than mine. My helmet buffeting seems minor compared to what you describe. We should get the bikes next to each other and compare, maybe even try riding each others.

:plus1:

Good plan!

[alanmcorcoran]

Originally Posted by Moedad

Alan, yours is mounted higher than mine. My helmet buffeting seems minor compared to what you describe. We should get the bikes next to each other and compare, maybe even try riding each others.

Will do.

I think Easy was right - the problem is one of expectations. I expected it to be totally wind free. I'm a little tired of effing it with it for right now, but maybe I'll be inspired to take another run at it.

[Sarris]

Alan:



17", fits great, works great, looks great, enough said.

:whistle: :banana:

PS: I now have a chrome Suzuki tank emblem centered on the top chrome band. :biggrin:

[alanmcorcoran]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

The top of the shield should NOT be directly in your line of sight; above or below but not right in the middle. Have a look at my pictures again. I ended up with the hand-guards above where they were designed to be. To clear the levers, then, I had to move the shield forward slightly and to get the wind off my helmet (more or less) completely, I stood it up straighter than I would really like. This puts me looking about 2 inches through the shield in my normal riding posture and IIRC, puts the horizon about even with the top line on a level road.

Mine may actually be higher. Or it's at least close. Is the top of your shield a little above eyebrow level? How tall are you? (I am 5'11" [Patrick - add height and weight to member profile!])

I am definitely looking through the top two inches at least - probably more like three. I haven't re-ridden it since I effed with it last night. I ended up reversing the orientation of my fork mountings - there's about 12 legitimate ways you can put them on, and I think mine were a 13th. The current mounting looks a lot cleaner than my old one.

I can probably bump mine up another inch via the various effings, but it will be higher than it's designed for and will be difficult to get the "rake" right. I need to ride with it more to see what the tradeoff is with rake and height.

One last bitch: Would it kill these guys to include some photos in the effing instructions?

[Chris]

Just checking in, guys.

Delighted to see the windshield conversations as this is a high priority with me right now.
At a dealer a new windshield is about $200 installed with the installation being about $60. I'm OK with tools, should I do it myself?
At the $200 level I took another look at mine (bought the bike used) and I think the windshield was installed backwards!! So I put it on right (???) and finished about the time it started raining. So no results yet.
Still, interested in y'all's comments (I'm Southern).

Chris, Atlanta

[Graydog]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

One last bitch: Would it kill these guys to include some photos in the effing instructions?

Instructions! You don't need no stinking instructions! Take the windshield off. Discard the instructions. Put the windshield back on. Now its right. :lol: