Nomad Windshield

[49Reo]

I am running a Show-Chrome windshield and frame. My windshield will only lower to about 2 1/2" from the headlight pot. I ended up cutting 2" off the top, (I am a tall rider to boot; 6'3") Now I see over instead of through. I have almost no helmet buffeting with this setup. However, on a hot day a couple of years ago, I took my chaps off and rolled them up, stuffed them down between the forks and handlebars, eliminating any wind coming up the inside of the windshield; THEN I had a lot of turbulence. It was like having airflow up the inside "equalized" the air pressure thus reducing turbulence. Food for thought....

Regards and such,
49Reo

[chief]

We have an ACCESSORIES area on the web site that lists a bunch of drifter/drifter related stuff  - including various windshields.

This is the windshield list...
http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/reviewpost/showproduct.php/product/55/cat/23
I got the "standard" size - which is 20.5". Dimensions are in the listings.

[greenbarn]

Chief, I tried to find the rifle replacement, and I found they list a whole bunch of windshields.   Do you have what they call the "classic" on their main website??

http://rifle.com/Motorcycle-Windshields/Classic/Harley-Davidson/Rifle-Classic-Windshield-for-Dynas-FXD-06-.aspx

D'ya remember your height/width measurements by any chance?

[chief]

Right now I have the Rifle replacement plastic.

[Troll]

  The helmet buffeting problem has largely been eliminated. Very happy with the results. Last night, coming home from Road America, I was running 60-62 on the county highways, and 75 on the interstate.  Unless it's raining, or cold (sure wasn't last night) I keep the face shield open on my HJC to let in air. The big problem had been that the wind would make the shield vibrate, which would in turn, shake my head a bit. That, unless I'm behind a truck, is gone.  The Nomad windshield has a sliding door behind the main windshield that lets you adjust the size of the cut out above the headlight.  As far as I can tell, looking at part numbers, the actual plastic is the same for the Drifter windshield and the Nomad. I chose the 18.5 inch windshield when I ordered the new plastic because I felt it would give me a greater range of adjustment than say, the 21...

[greenbarn]

Looks like a good project.

Troll, what has it done for helmet turbulence since you put it on??  Or maybe you didn't have any of that trouble with the lowers (you said they've been on since '10)??

I've got what I believe to be a stock Kaw shield on my 800 and the helmet turbulence is something I've been fighting with.  Yesterday I put the shield all the way down as far as it would go (it was up about 2" from bottom) and leaned it back as far as it would go (it was approx middle of tilt).  Haven't had a chance to ride it yet to see how it does. It was too high anyway - had to look through too much windshield in town when I was looking at the road closer in front of me.

CHief:  you mentioned your windshield has a smaller headlight cutout which helps for helmet wind.  What shield are you using??   I had thought maybe that was some of my problem before - Where I had mine previously there was about 3" cutout around the headlight.  Now it's a little closer...

[Troll]

  Ok, the results are in....the first 65 miles were interstate at 70-75 mph, then the next 115 were in town and rural hiway, including 5 miles of stop and go...mostly 60 mph..........48 MPG!  I firmly believe that I should be able to get anywhere in this state on one tank of fuel, or less and now it looks like it might be happening! The place I stopped for fuel was the same place I stopped  the first time I took the Drifter on this trip. That time I was concerned I would have to push, this time the low fuel light wasn't on yet!

[marshalldoll]

I used Nite Shades sold at Autozone to tint my winsheild. Worked fantastic.
Dan

[Troll]

I did that with the windshield I had on the bike...took some getting used to. I don't know, at this point whether or not I'm going to tint this one too. I used testors model car spray paint, and it worked quite well, but it seemed a little fragile. Since it's painted on the inside, it lasted for a year with only one little touch up.

[49Reo]

Are you planning to tint the bottom red on it? If so, I found a transparent red paint that is for motorcycle windshields, as well as taillights. I tried it on a piece of Lexan I scrounged from a glass shop; it works great. You could likely pick it up at NAPA or LORDCO, or some such auto parts outlet.

Regards and such,
49Reo

[chief]

Yeah, the shield I put on mine has a smaller cutout around the headlight (and is wide). The cutout helped with the drifter helmet bobble problem.

[Troll]

  Let me start out by saying that this is one big a$$ windshield. Apparently it's the stock F&S size, but it's bigger than anything I ever had before. 21" tall by 26" wide....I thought it might screw with the fuel mileage, but I put about 250 miles on since installing it, and I've been getting about 47 mpg. Aerodynamics is a strange thing, so it looks like it actually cleaned up the front of the bike, and made the air flow smoother. I'm going to Road America on Friday, so that will be a test of mileage over a known route at known speeds...This whole thing started out as a way to put on lowers cheaply. I bought the lowers and mounting brackets from a '99 Nomad wreck on eBay for like $40...Everything came in the package, including the bent windshield framework. I installed the lowers back in '10, and been happy with that but not the national cycle Honda windshield I got used. It was ok, but not what I really wanted. I have a friend who is an absolute genius when it comes to body work, and he straightened the bent frame without messing up the chrome...The only modification I had to make to the bike was to drill,tap, and then helicoil the upper tree for the top mount. The Nomad has bosses cast in to accept the mounts, the Drifter (and the Classic) do not. No big deal..I juggled some spacers around, bought new Stainless hardware for the windshield, and installed it on Saturday. Played with adjustments on Sat. evening, and then took off Sunday morning on the shakedown run. Pics show the mounts and the adjustable door.....