Windshield Lowers

[pancho]

I ride in Arkansas and Oklahoma where you do not need to wear a helmet,,, that is cool, but it leaves you without any shade under a sometimes brutal sun unless you are wearing a hat. Behind a stock windshield, I can wear a baseball cap backwards at any speed, but that is very limited help in keeping the sun off your mug. I want to wear a large brimed hat, but the problem seems to be the air coming over the tank from the underside.
    After keeping up with Joshcornkids trip and his and Mallets endorsement of the Rifle lowers, I thought that the Rifle product would be the way to go.....  but I had the same problem as Josh,,,,  a cobra light bar, and did not want to relocate the turn signals as he did. So after burning up in the sun for the last couple of months,, I decided to spend an outrageous amount of time and build a set of lowers that would fit my bike the way I wanted them to.
    First step would be a set of clamps,, I would start with a couple of slabs off this piece of aluminum.



Then I would face mill them down and bore an off center hole to match the taper of the tubes.



Mill them into shape, drill and tap some holes and end up with come clamp and mounting pieces.



I should be able to cut the shields from sheet aluminum, finish the clamps, and get them mounted up over the next few days.... I will post pictures as I move forward and we will see what I end up with, and how well they work.

[hubcapsc]

You can really make stuff!

-Mike

[pancho]

You can really make stuff!

-Mike

HA.....  yeah, well it still remains to be seen what I end up with.....

[Farther]

I've always admired the work a good machinist can do.

[pancho]

I've always admired the work a good machinist can do.

I certainly don't fall into that category..... I had a small stack of money come my way several years ago and purchased some machines and a bit of tooling and measuring equipment..... taught myself with some help here and there. It was all about wanting to do a big bore job on my Harley. I collect a Colette, a face mill  or a lathe tool here and there the way some people collect coins....... like to be able to do it all     everything manual

So a flat file and a bit of polishing on the pieces, and they are good enough for me..



They mount up just fine,,, we will see if I have a good enough grip on the taper  of the tubes.



On to the shields.

[pancho]

Cardboard template and cut the first one out with the Harbor Freight scroll saw,,, work on the fine tuning.



Cut out the other one and do some work with files.   A bit more finishing and I need to decide...... paint or polish.

[Farther]

Polish!

[rich_kildow]

Those are sharp!  Way better than my show chrome lowers, and I bet you don't have to coax those clamps on with a dead blow hammer.

[pancho]

Well, they ended up painted..  Here is what I ended up with.....  I think maybe different hardware and gloss black on the front if they work......   I going to try them out     see if I can wear a sombrero

[BF]

I'm thinkin' you could take up smoking and reading a news paper behind those.   

[pancho]

Those are sharp!  Way better than my show chrome lowers, and I bet you don't have to coax those clamps on with a dead blow hammer.

I wonder if you put them on too high,, or maybe turned over......  the tubes are tapered in that area,,, about 20 thou per inch.     

These lowers seem to work perfectly, nothing distracting about them at all other than their appearance,,,,  no harmonic vibration,, no wind noise, nothing... it's more like there was a piece missing and I put it on.  It certainly did cut down the breeze substantially,, but like everything it is marginal... don't think I'll be reading the paper while cruising,, but I should be able to keep a hat on.    Now....   to find the perfect hat.

[salty1]

Great work! I'm with Father, polish em. 

[pancho]

Great work! I'm with Father, polish em. 

What are you guys thinking???  front side,, back side,,, both?

[rich_kildow]

I thought about upside down and to high, but any lower and they will hit the fender...don't ask me how I know  .  I went very slow at first tapping them on to make sure they were spreading the clamp rather than gouging the fork tube.  Once I was sure they were indeed spreading and not doing damage, I put them on the rest of the way.

[Farther]

Great work! I'm with Father, polish em. 

What are you guys thinking???  front side,, back side,,, both?

Front side.

[salty1]

Great work! I'm with Father, polish em. 

What are you guys thinking???  front side,, back side,,, both?

Front side.

Front side.

[pancho]

Like this???



I'll have to look at it for awhile,,, I need to paint the front of the other one gloss black or put a clear coat on it and see what it looks like.

[salty1]

I like it best polished Pancho! You do nice work.  

[The emperor has no clothes]

I like it best polished Pancho! you do nice work. 

+1

[BF]

I dunno.  Polished.....that's a lot of metal.  You're gonna put somebody's eye out with those things.   

[6tigo]

Black with black fastener heads for me 

[custom1]

Maybe polish the inside half of each one and paint the outside. Make a line from the polished metal part of the shield to the outside of the fork tube.  Dividing them in half will make them look smaller and blend in with the shield. And the bolt heads will be in the polished half so they disappear also.

Like this...
(Please excuse my terrible paint skills.)

[BF]

Have you considered a different material for the wings....lexan maybe, or something similar?

[pancho]

Have you considered a different material for the wings....lexan maybe, or something similar?

Not until you mentioned it!!!  I used aluminum just because I had it. At some point I will cut a couple out of acrylic or lexan and paint them flat from the back to match the bottom of the windscreen. For now, I think that gloss black on the front of the aluminum is my best bet all around,,, it just fits in better to me.   I do like lowers, they certainly cut down on some of the wind.

[salty1]

I agree with Bruce in using an acrylic or lexan. The hard painted surface will start looking shabby after a few hard hits. Your idea of painting the back would work or better yet can one purchase the plastics materials in black.?

[Brian]

Awesome job. Have you considered painting them yellow to match your tank and fenders?