Cut down my stock windshield, from the bottom...
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 702
Likes: 1
From: U.S.S.A.
Cut down my stock windshield, from the bottom...
The top of my stock shield was right in my line of sight for looking at traffic up ahead. Other than that, it was fine. I tried a Clearview 9.5" in dark gray and a recurve, but found that (1) it was too low, got buffeting and much more wind and (2) it was too dark when looking at objects nearby (parking mostly).
Not wanting to go through the hassle of buying another shield and having it not be right, I decided to cut down my stock screen by 3/4", but from the bottom, not the top as most people seem to do.
I masked the bottom of the shield with painter's tape, then, using the other shield as a template, traced the bottom contour onto the taped stock screen, exactly .75" above the bottom. Five minutes under a jigsaw with a fine-tooth blade, and the job was done. No finishing the edges (they're all hidden), no polishing and a totally factory look.
Unless you're lopping 6 inches off the shield (the taper would make the shield too narrow at the bottom), I recommend cutting your shield off at the bottom. Super-easy. For me, 11.25" seems to be the perfect height to look over the shield without getting too much buffeting. YMMV.
Not wanting to go through the hassle of buying another shield and having it not be right, I decided to cut down my stock screen by 3/4", but from the bottom, not the top as most people seem to do.
I masked the bottom of the shield with painter's tape, then, using the other shield as a template, traced the bottom contour onto the taped stock screen, exactly .75" above the bottom. Five minutes under a jigsaw with a fine-tooth blade, and the job was done. No finishing the edges (they're all hidden), no polishing and a totally factory look.
Unless you're lopping 6 inches off the shield (the taper would make the shield too narrow at the bottom), I recommend cutting your shield off at the bottom. Super-easy. For me, 11.25" seems to be the perfect height to look over the shield without getting too much buffeting. YMMV.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 13,023
Likes: 989
From: Just Outside Chicago
Nice Job!!!!!!!
Glad you were the pinny gig..or i mean ginny pig..I had thought this SAME thing before but was looking for a TEST shield to try it on...You must have big *****
....Thanks R.W.
....Thanks R.W.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,598
Likes: 52
From: South Jersey
I have a 9 1/2 clearview with recurve and the top edge is in my line of site. I have thought about this before because I didn't want to cut the recurve off but the bottom of the clearview seemed too difficult to cut 3/4 of an inch off so I chickened out!
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 702
Likes: 1
From: U.S.S.A.
Just trace the bottom of the shield onto a piece of cardboard and cut out the template. Tape up your shield at the bottom with painter's tape, then trace the shape onto the painter's tape. Cut with a fine tooth jigsaw. Really, the whole process took me under 20 minutes. No polishing the edges or anything fancy. The clearview will also flatten out to aid in the cutting and tracing.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 28,552
Likes: 3,954
From: Vermont
Thinking outside the box, good for you. I just made a third position for my tour pak by only having to drill two holes in the chrome support bar and three holes in the tour pak, looks factory! And I didn't even have to fully remove the tour pak to do it.
Last edited by dawg; Apr 22, 2009 at 07:28 PM.
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6th Gear
Joined: Sep 2023
Posts: 14
Likes: 18
From: Queen creek AZ
I was thinking about this as well, from the bottom. I was wondering if you just drilled new holes would the windshield drop down the 3/4" into the fairing? Is there hard stops there that prevent it from dropping down?