Needing a beat-up windshield for experimenting

[Heavy Armor]

I'm interested in cutting down an old windshield to make a low Harley Whatever-Glide styled windscreen. Any condition will do so long as it's not broken 9" from the bottom.

[GrandpaDenny]

I'm interested in cutting down an old windshield to make a low Harley Whatever-Glide styled windscreen. Any condition will do so long as it's not broken 9" from the bottom.

Something to consider before you cut down that far is that the Harley fairing is much taller. Unless you're just after looks, that is.

[Nails]

Mr. Jensee gave me a spare windshield on the condition that I cut it way down because it was so scratched up. I did, to 9", and then painted it black on the inside. I liked it a lot, especially when it's ridiculously hot out.

But I switched from a crappy Bilt helmet to a nice Nolan, mostly because my hearing is going, going, gone. (Even as I'm going deaf, loud sounds hurt my head more. Ear plugs don't get it, dunno why.) The Nolan is quieter, but a lot quieter than that when out of the wind blast -- the cheap helmet was loud everywhere, all the time. I put back a 12" windshield, but it just made me want to duck my head a couple inches.

I currently have a new, huge windshield. When I get my bike back on the road, I'll cut it to something like 15" (need more testing), which should put me just out of the slipstream and smiling in my helmet -- even if it is stinkin' hot.

If you were anywhere nearby, I'd be happy to let you try my shorty. There's a good chance I'll "put the top down" again from time to time.

[Heavy Armor]

Mr. Jensee gave me a spare windshield on the condition that I cut it way down because it was so scratched up. I did, to 9", and then painted it black on the inside. I liked it a lot, especially when it's ridiculously hot out.

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That's EXACTLY what I had in mind! Thanks for the pic.

Also, the white+black scheme looks really cool. I like what you did with the chrome and the headlight surround. Very sporty!

[Nails]

This is discussed elsewhere in here, but I want to mention again that the short windshield allows more laminar wind-flow: good, clean wind; less helmet jiggling. And pushing my head back a bit in the wind is what god intended in the first place.

I've also found that the XII's huge trunk contributes to rider turbulence. Some have reported cleaner air just by removing the rack and crap on the trunk lid.

This setup works swell for me in hot weather -- setting aside personal issues with god-given noise that I might yet solve a different way. (Other threads already chatter about different earplugs.) I remain conflicted; and for summer trips of just 2000 miles or so (over a couple weeks) I might still go short. But for longer rides in potentially cold/wet weather, more coverage is nice ... and quieter ... and less tiring (even with some helmet jostling). I'm talking about lots of boring superslab, which is what the XII actually does best IMHO. On funner roads, the shorty screen wins hands down. (Better mass centralization is a whole nuther topic.)

For me, it might boil down to a short West screen (relatively nearby) and a tall East screen (lots of fly-over country). Honestly, I might just need another bike.