May 14, 2021
Yeah, drive, not ride. ??
For a few years, there’s been a particular windshield style I’ve been interested in. The ‘laminar flow’ uses not one, but two sheets of plastic to shape the airflow around (or over) the rider.
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| Image courtesy of Madstad Engineering |
Two aftermarket companies manufacture laminar flow windshields for my bike. One is in Florida, one is in Washington state. They rarely come up for sale used; many that buy them love them and will keep them on their bikes forever.
I had posted my desire to at least look one over, and maybe sit on a bike, just for a comparison to how I have my original equipment windshield currently positioned. I just can’t seem to find anyone with one of these reasonably close for a trial fitment.
On a trip a week ago, a buddy of mine sent me a photo of an ad on a nationally-known buy-sell-trade web page. Needless to say, it was a terrific price, and it was described as in great condition.
Understand that the biggest thing with these shields is that you look over, not through the shield while in use virtually all the time.
Because these come in a rather large box from the vendor, nearly everyone tosses the box in the recycle bin. Getting a replacement box to ship the thing….now you can see, it becomes a problem.
I wanted to wait a week before really committing to the purchase. After having an email conversation about it, I decided to hold off a week, if still available, I would pursue the purchase.
I woke up last Wednesday night “I want it!”, finally managed to contact the seller after a day, yes he still has it.
“You’re willing to travel nearly 800 miles for this?”
“Sure,why not!”
I got a return call from the seller yesterday morning “Yes, I still have it, when will you be here?”
“Saturday or Sunday. I’ll send tracking info when I get moving.”
I quickly put together a few things - a change of clothes, a few snacks, a few cold bottles of water.
“Be careful - I love you!”
“I love you, too - and I will.”
Now, I probably would have taken the motorcycle, but in the middle of determining whether or not I needed to take the tow-behind trailer to carry the item, a minor problem was discovered. I’ll not belabor that part of the story; suffice to say I was a bit frazzled when I hit the road - heading south and east to head north.
I started this blog post...watched a little TV and was out.
May 15, 2021
Today is going to be a long day.
Up very early, and on the road. I’d gotten gas on the way to Los Lunas yesterday. Taking the Accord Hybrid means I’m getting much better fuel mileage than I would on the bike, not to mention nearly three times the range.
I have roughly 400 miles to my destination in Colorado Springs and about 5 hours to get there. One fuel stop and one bio-stop later and I'm there.
I meet the seller, and we do the deal within five minutes. From there, we have a nice discussion about motorcycling, bike issues, and our careers - as we’ve both recently retired from our vocations. I knew I’d been there for a while, but didn’t realize how long - an hour and a half!
So, southbound...and heading for the barn. I made a stop for fuel, then a bit later, a stop for a bite to eat. That was not smart. Sleepy monster was biting me. Activating all of the smart systems in the car really helped, and the drive was steady.
Eighteen hours, 1200 miles for the day. At about the thousand mile mark...I had to tell myself that I’d actually felt better on the bike than I did in the car.
It was good to get away from the task that’s been keeping me busy these last few days - prepping my home for painting. It was good to get away, but I really wanted to get home to continue that task.
May 19, 2021
Installed. Zero issues, thanks to a good video on YouTube that goes through the windshield removal process.
Wow...different looking, isn’t it? It grows on you over time.
Need to take it for a ride soon. It certainly is function over form.
May 23, 2021
A short ride for breakfast, then at speed to see how it works. My wife now states the wind buffeting she’s experienced on the back of the bike for over a decade is largely gone.
The hardware starts to fade away as your eye is definitely above the upper shield as you’re operating the motorcycle. It's going to take me a bit longer to get used to it.
Success.
We're now close to being ready for our next adventure. Find out about that part of the story soon!