Windshield Issues

[Theophilus]

I just returned from an incredible trip: Houston > Texas Hill Country > Del Rio, Texas > Alpine, Texas > Big Bend National Park > Houston. The only bad thing about the whole trip was that I dropped the RT at a gas station in Alpine the morning of our long return trip. The bike fell on its right side against the gas pump and mashed/scratched the windshield, which did not crack. The pump is fine. The reason for the drop was my poor technique for putting the bike up on the center stand, as was pointed out and corrected by the bike's previous owner, who assisted me in righting the bike.

 

The windshield is now slightly crooked, but you have to look hard to tell. I have several questions more or less related to this event:

 

1. I plan to polish out the marks from the windshield. They are remarkably shallow. Any suggestions for the proper plastic polish?

 

2. It is not clear whether the windshield (Aeroflow after-market), the raising/lowering linkage, or both are actually deformed/bent. The deformation is slight enough that I am afraid that when I remove the windshield I will not be able to tell that either the shield or the linkage is deformed. With everything assembled, I think the think that what allows the eye to catch the misalignment is the comparison between the shield line and the line of the top of the front fairing. The old "the best way to tell if a bar is crooked is to lay it beside a straight one" sort of reasoning. Any ideas on how to tell which components are actually bent? (maybe re-install the original windshield and see if the misalignment goes away...hmmm...just now thought of that...seems like a good idea...)

 

3. Any thoughts on whether the dealer will be able to assess this any better than I can?

 

4. If the shield is bent, I may buy another, or I may live with it. If the linkage is bent.... I am guessing this is going to run into serious $$$. Any thoughts on what I might be in for or how much of the front of the bike should be involved in the repair should the linkage turn out to be bent?

 

5. I might try to attempt to reverse the process (minus actually dropping the bike on the reverse side ) by forcing the windshield the other direction. Thoughts?

 

6. On a different but related subject, some of the little rubber bumpers on which the windshield is supposed to rest when in the fully down position are missing. This has caused some marring in one spot on the windshield, and I would like to replace the missing pieces. Is this a part that can be bought? Or am I at the mercy of the dealer on this?

 

I appreciate any input, especially from anyone who has BTDT.

 

Ride Safe.

[Tony_K]

It's not the windshield. They either crack on not. They don't deform.

 

You have bent the arm.

Don't try to "adjust" it by pushing on the other side

You will bend that arm too.

 

You can take the shield off and that will tell the tale of the arm. You may be able to bend it back but if that is not your forte' let a bodyshop guy try it , replace or let it be. You most likely can get it close to normal again done carefully.

 

Polishing. Unless you are familiar with polishing plastic you may just want to leave the marks. Any scratch that catches your fingernail will need to be sanded out. Many different grades of paper up to 1000 then a polish with a buffer and approprate pad and compound. Don't do it right and you run the risk of a mild melt deformation as well as a more screwed up shield.

 

Rubber mount is the least expensive worry on your list.

[Lineareagle]

+1 on the windshield arm is bent not the windscreen.

 

I wouldn't bother to try and polish the scratches unless you have a lot of time, and even then for the price of a windscreen wouldn't be worth it to me.

 

Great care in adjusting the arm. EASY does it!

Support all parts that you do not want to adjust, if it is too bent then replace it would be a real bummer to have it come apart at speed!

[Ken H.]

The rest have been accurately answered, but to #5, the bumpers can be had at some good hardware stores. Or of course a dealer. But if you are talking about the lower forward most two, most aftermarket screens never go down flat enough to touch them anyway. So aside from something to plug the hole they're rather useless.

[Theophilus]

All,

 

Thanks for the input. Here is my current take (following my original numbering):

 

1. I still want to try getting the marks out of the windshield, and I have many grades of sandpaper, up to 2000 grit, so getting the marks out will not be a problem. What I need advice on is what polish(es) to use to bring back the gloss and get rid of swirl marks to finish the job. Any ideas?

 

2. I agree that the linkage(s) is (are) bent. I hope it is only the right-hand one. I just looked very closely at the linkages, and, while the LH one seems aligned parallel to the centerplane of the bike, the RH one does appear to be bent at approximately 5 degrees off of this plane, toward the centerplane of the bike. There is also a squeaking sound accompanying the raising/lowering process that I do not think was there before. The windshield IS deformed now, BTW -- we just hope it is elastically deformed and will spring back when removed from its supports. If I am able to remove it from its mount (could be difficult if it is sprung too much), I should be able to use the removed, undeformed windshield as a template or gage to determine how much the linkage needs to be bent back. Actually, it would probably be better to use the factory shield for this purpose, since we know it is not permanently deformed.

 

3. I am still interested in thoughts regarding dealer competency to fix this problem short of replacing all suspect parts.

 

4. I am also still interested in thoughts regarding extent of parts (and their cost) needed if the "just replace the offending parts" strategy is adopted.

 

5. You have convinced me that trying to force the windshield back the other direction while still attached to the linkages is not a good idea.

 

6. The missing bumper (there is only one) is one of the top ones, and Ken is right, the Aeroflow does not ever contact the lower bumpers. It does however contact the upper locations, and the windshield is being marred whenever I forget not to lower it all the way and it comes against the bumperless location dynamically while under way. So, I do want to replace this bumper. I could pull one of the lower ones out, since they are not being utilized, but I would like to not have any unplugged holes, and I am not sure the bumper would just pull out instead of severing, leaving the "barb" end inside my fairing. I was surpised to see a suggestion that such an item might be had at a hardware store. (a) What specifically would one ask for? (b) What size? If I decide to go the BMW part route, © is there a way other than asking the guy at the parts desk to find out what the part number would be? If so, I could just order on-line and simplify my life.

 

Thanks again and in advance!

[Baba_ORiley]

 

1. I still want to try getting the marks out of the windshield, and I have many grades of sandpaper, up to 2000 grit, so getting the marks out will not be a problem. What I need advice on is what polish(es) to use to bring back the gloss and get rid of swirl marks to finish the job. Any ideas?

 

I've had good luck with Novus brand plastic polish on my bike's windshield. Really cleared up hazing and small scratches. It's a 3-step process and is used often in aviation to restore aircraft windows.

 

http://www.noscratch.com/novus/

 

You can also find it on eBay and Amazon.

 

.

[Ken H.]

1. The NOVUS 3-step products may get you there, but be aware some screens have a coating on them that can't be polished. The removal area of the coating will just spread and spread.

 

2. The screen itself will almost certainly go back to its original shape when 'released.' It's virtually impossible to permanently bend one.

 

3. A dealer will just replace the lift assembly.

 

4. Go here for the parts for the mechanism, only some of them are available separately - R1100RT screen lift

 

6. The bumpers are listed here, not sure which is which though. Measure your remaining one? Upper Faring

[mefly2]

If the marks are not too deep, Meguires Plexiglass polish (designed for aircraft windscreens) has worked for me; they also make a cleaner, but the polish works better. If you will have to replace the lift mechanism, why not take it out and see if you can gently return it to the proper relationship by hand ... before assuming it needs to be replaced?

[AndyS]

Meguires Plexiglass polish (designed for aircraft windscreens) has worked for me;

This is available in various levels of abrasivity (is that really a word??) and with patience you should get a reasonable result. However I would put money on it that you will never get it all out, and when you compare time taken obtaining the relevant products plus doing the job, you would find it as cheap to get a nice new undistorted unscratched aeroflow.

Andy

[Theophilus]

Thanks for the great input. I learned some interesting things by visiting the Aeroflow website (imagine that - kind of like reading the manual, I suppose.)--

 

(a) Aeroflow actually recommends (and sells) the Novus polishes and scratch removers (as well as some other products).

 

(b) It will be well worth the cost of obtaining a good multi-step plastic polish (that I can use for lots of other things, too) when compared to a new $200+ windshield. Worst-case scenario: I mess it up and have to buy the shield anyway. Best-case scenario: I get a like-new finish on the whole windshield.

 

© They use and recommed Rain-X for thier plastic windshields, even though the Rain-X bottle says not to use on plastic. This is a great discovery, as anyone who has used Rain-X on glass can attest.

 

Thought you all might find this interesting.

 

Ride Safe

[Wooster]

Theophilos (btw are you one of the three hundred?),

 

Regarding point number 1, while I've not tried it, some riders say they use tooth paste (yes tooth paste) as a polishing compound when trying to buff out scratches on helmet shields.

 

Wooster who feels your pain having done the same darn thing with airhead/windjammer; broke windjammer's shield on gas pump

[Clive Liddell]

Ken wrote:

 

6. The bumpers are listed here, not sure which is which though. Measure your remaining one? Upper Faring

 

Just been to check and the upper bumpers are the longer ones, and these are not "hardware store" items. BTW my screen used to use the bottom bumpers in the fully raised position but having just tried it it seems to now stop just short of them ???