A big thanks to rayzar52!

[SilveradoCA]

That fine gentleman gave me - free of charge - a shorty windshield he had in his Pay It Forward thread.

 

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm nowhere near the 6'9" tall rider for whom the stock unit was thoughtfully designed.

 

My new one is a Show Chrome unit, slightly tinted, about 4" shorter than stock. It showed up in the mail today, I slapped it in place (too easy, 5 minutes tops - plus I was happy to find that only one of the cowl trim tabs on my new '08 was broken previously.

 

Off for a ride: it's better for sure. The top is honestly right around my line of sight, depending on if I'm in "slouch" or "attack" position on the seat. That said, I can get my view up over top of it if I sit up VERY straight, as though some misanthropic headmistress might whack my knuckles with a ruler. That will be helpful in rain, or in the evening with a shield full of bugs.

 

I'm awfully glad to have it, as I have a 4200Km trip lined up for the end of the week. I'm positive that had I kept that OEM unit in place, I would have gone out in a tiny mushroom cloud soon enough.

 

I think ultimately I'm going to have to get Clearview to custom make me one in 'Sons of the Shire' size; based on the measurements I took, it will need to be about 2 or 2.5" shorter than this for me to be really happy looking over the top of it. That would make it 6-6.5" shorter than stock.

 

Has anyone ordered a custom size for Clearview? What was the turnaround time like?

[slowrollwv]

If the shield is still a little too high you can cut it down to a Hight that fits you. Or you can cut the stock shield down and keep the new to you shield incase you mess up on your cut. I have cut a few down and it is not hard to do. Put a few strips of masking tape on the shield then set on the bike and look straight ahead and mark your line of sight. Make a pattern of the arch you want and mark the tape and use a jig saw with a metal cutting blade and make your cut. Use 180 or 120 sand paper folded a few times and let rest in the bow of your fingers to smooth the edge of the shield. Just leave the masking tape on while you sand the edge so you don't scratch the shield.

[SilveradoCA]

If the shield is still a little too high you can cut it down to a Hight that fits you. Or you can cut the stock shield down and keep the new to you shield incase you mess up on your cut. I have cut a few down and it is not hard to do. Put a few strips of masking tape on the shield then set on the bike and look straight ahead and mark your line of sight. Make a pattern of the arch you want and mark the tape and use a jig saw with a metal cutting blade and make your cut. Use 180 or 120 sand paper folded a few times and let rest in the bow of your fingers to smooth the edge of the shield. Just leave the masking tape on while you sand the edge so you don't scratch the shield.

 

I was ready to cut the stocker had I not found rayzar52's post. I'm a carpenter by trade, so cutting it isn't scary. I will likely do so before I order a custom one, to dial in the best height.

 

Do you think a metal blade would work any better/worse than a plexi-glass blade in the jigsaw? I can easily get either. I had thought to use either a compass or a string to mark the arc parallel to the OEM shape.

[slowrollwv]

I was ready to cut the stocker had I not found rayzar52's post. I'm a carpenter by trade, so cutting it isn't scary. I will likely do so before I order a custom one, to dial in the best height.

 

Do you think a metal blade would work any better/worse than a plexi-glass blade in the jigsaw? I can easily get either. I had thought to use either a compass or a string to mark the arc parallel to the OEM shape.

 

Either blade will work. The stock shield gets a little wider as you get lower. I put a nice arch in mine but left the sides as high as I could to help give the wife some wind protection.

I have a Show Chrome 4" extra wide and 13-1/2" tall on mine now and it fits me very good and I am 5' 10".

[SilveradoCA]

Either blade will work. The stock shield gets a little wider as you get lower. I put a nice arch in mine but left the sides as high as I could to help give the wife some wind protection.

I have a Show Chrome 4" extra wide and 13-1/2" tall on mine now and it fits me very good and I am 5' 10".

 

I think that's probably the same shield I got from rayzar. It's wider than the stocker as well. You're 4" taller than me, so it makes sense that 13.5" is still too tall.

 

I have no passenger to worry about for wind exposure, so I'm happy to go as low as I need to.

[slowrollwv]

OK they do make an 8" tinted shield that should hit you with out cutting it.

[SilveradoCA]

If I can't get a result I like by cutting this (or the stock one), I'm going to have Clearview custom make me one at the right height, with a vent.