Sharing a few new pictures

[cywelchjr]

I've been looking on Vetter's site, and all he mentions is that you want the top of the windshield 1" below the horizon, and that you can trim it. He doesn't mention HOW to do that. Can anyone link me to some instructions?

Your right, he doesn't say how. It's pretty simple really if your careful. It's best to have backing material or to sandwitch it between other material for protection (plywood or similar) and a fine blade in your saw (a jigsaw can do a good job) and mark the cut carefully and don't rush the cutting. Then sand the edges to clean them up.

BTW, did you find those vetter saddlebags I mentioned earlier? There was a trunk too (seperate action from the same vendor) but it was just the part I have been looking for and I jumped on it. Price was pretty good too. IIRC the bags had the mounting hardware (although for a goldwing) that could probably be modified for your bike.

[CatatonicBug]

I did see the bags, but I can't afford to spend any more money on the bike right now. They seem to pop up relatively often, so I'm sure I'll be able to find what I want eventually.

I read somewhere else that a bandsaw is a good way to cut them. It seems a lot smoother way to put a blade through the acrylic. Has anyone tried that? I have a bandsaw, table saw, jigsaw, scroll saw, compound mitre saw, and several others. I just want to find the best way.

[cywelchjr]

I did see the bags, but I can't afford to spend any more money on the bike right now. They seem to pop up relatively often, so I'm sure I'll be able to find what I want eventually.

I read somewhere else that a bandsaw is a good way to cut them. It seems a lot smoother way to put a blade through the acrylic. Has anyone tried that? I have a bandsaw, table saw, jigsaw, scroll saw, compound mitre saw, and several others. I just want to find the best way.

I would think that the bandsaw would be practically ideal.

I got the matching trunk for those bags, so I should have my aftermarket venture done in another week or so, just gotta repaint the panels to match the rest of the bike and get it mounted. I need to get another rattle can of paint (fortunately I know the color). I've got the adhesion promoter and the clear, just need some more of the color.

[CatatonicBug]

Glad you got the parts you wanted. Be sure to post pics when it's all done!

[Poprock]

Bandsaws rule for slicing windsheilds. I have cut mine down on my Pacifico fairing 3 times, and we've done some cutting on a couple of Vetters too. Get 3" wide masking tape and cover the front of your plexiglass with that. Mark your cut line with a sharpie pen on the back side. The masking tape will keep the saw table from scratching your plastic. Afterward, smooth the edge with a jitterbug sander. Not a hard job. Random Orbit sanders are too hard to control for me, and you can put up to 600 grit paper in a jitterbug. For rain, you need the windshield to be below your line of sight. It'll still kick air over your head. Or you can add a Laminar Lip for a higher lift and a real sweet ride. $84 for their 17.5" cruiser lip. I'm saving up for one of those.
I ride with a full face modular helmet, and there's enough air to blow the rain off my face sheild, but minimal that actually hits me. I'm 6'2" and I cut over 3" off my original sheild.

[cywelchjr]

Glad you got the parts you wanted. Be sure to post pics when it's all done!

I'll certainly do that. Of course it's still a 20 footer, but it's MY 20 footer .

If I can find the right stereo to go into it I may even put the cyclesound unit back into the fairing, but the one that came in it doesn't work, so I gotta find a good one that fits (although I do have two of them so I guess I could butcher one of them to put a more modern unit in it.

[Bigfoot]

Restoring the gold

I have been experimenting with ways to restore the gold on the MNS. I have done a few pieces with a translucent gold powdercoat. It actually comes out really nice. The best I have done so far is the grab bar. On that, I removed what was left of the original varnish and used some neverdull to remove the rest of the gold (alot of it was already wore off). Then I polished the aluminum and then used the translucent gold powder. For good measure I used black powder on the grooves on the side and letters on the back. It came out real nice. I also did the headlight ring. Please excuse the Arkansas bugs on the headlight ring, haven't cleaned the bike off from the last trip yet. I am going to find some pristine chrome pieces for the airbox covers and make them gold. Any flaws in the base surface show through the gold, it is truly translucent.

[CatatonicBug]

NICE! Can you post a source for that translucent gold powder? My neighbor has the powdercoating equipment, and I would LOVE to turn the headlight ring on my new fairing into Gold. I could definitely re-gold the carb caps, and the gas cap too.

[Ken Talbot]

You can trim the windshield with a jigsaw. Mask it well to prevent scratches, use a medium blade, and a slow cutting speed. The slow speed will prevent heat build-up which causes the cuttings to melt, then reset in the kerf behind the blade, basically closing up the cut again. Once cut, use a progression of finer files then sandpapers to get the cut edge as smooth and polished as you want it to be. More info at this tech tip.

[Bigfoot]

I got the powder at columbiacoatings.com. It has a slightly more copper color than the original gold but only noticable if you have the two next to each other. I will eventually have all of the gold done so it won't matter.

[DenyP]

I'm 6'2" - On the TimeMachine, the shield top is just under the field of view which I feel is optimam. Little Mo has a new Vetter QuickSilver fairing. the top of the windshield is several inches lover then my field of view. That still works for me, but then Little Mo is a Special and I want to retain the Sport Bike feel.

Deny

[motoman]

Hey there Catotonic Bug..............just like others have said, to each his own. You mentioned wanting a luggage rack, which I do have a couple that have come off of specificly 81 Venturer. If planning on using one of these, I believe the grab bar has to go 'bye-bye'. As far as the stock airbox, unless your gold on it is totally trashed, you will regret putting on pods. It WILL have a bit of power loss, and will be a jetting headache. The stock airbox IS designed to flow well at all power ranges, and is matched to work with the stock exhaust, which by the way at all rpm ranges will produce the best and smoothest power at ALL rpm ranges............ya, I'm also a purest at heart..........stock 110's for jets and all that unless above 5-6,000ft. elev. and then only drop one step in mains. Super looking bike with only minor blemishes by the way!.........easy fix if your patient, and can look like a bad-ass sport tourer! Windshields: stock on the Venturer is 21", which I finially changed to a 24".......no regrets as my 81 Venturer has left many a bike reading my rear plate at a buck twenty........gee, and I thought 85 was tops........least that's what it says reline in third looking for fourth. With Yammy accessory tail trunk and barn door on the front, it does start a bit of a weave at 105-110........but hey, it's a classic tour bike, not a speed demon, and never was designed to be that, just the worlds quickest in the 1320 back in the day. It just took me till 81 to own one of these beast new. By then Kaw. took the wind out of the XS's sail, but was short lived when the V-max hit the street.........as the saying goes, win on Sunday, sell big on Monday...........and still holds true in the motor sports world. Just my opinion and 30yrs. association with these bikes. Another tibit of info too is back then in 81 the Wing was still classified as a cruiser and The Venturer was officially classified as a tourer. In my book it was THE sport tourer of the day before that term was was even used......Okay I'll stop right there.

[motoman]

One other thing, the 80-81 MNS's were a limited production andalot of dealerships did without. Spread around, most dealerships could only get one for the season, and alot of those triedto hold onto them for show to bring customers in so as to sell them other bikes, specially if they were dealers for the other big three. Back then knew several guys that would talk and say not to mess with a MSN unless you wanted a spanking. For that matter they would say the same thing bout the 850MNS..........have to admit, they looked wicked and bad standing still parralel parked on main street at night. After seeing one parked on main street where I grew up in Durango, Colo. one night after I purchased my Venturer1100 .............never forget that! They were definitely the 'bomb'!

[Jerry]

but I had to drill the lock out of the right side tonneau cover. Vetter says that's the only thing to do if you don't have the keys. Evidently the lock sets are easy to find/replace at any locksmith.

I found mine at the local True Hardware store. Same part # lock fit the missing lock in one of my saddlebags as well as the tonneau cover. The locks come with a couple different locking "arms"; I recall one of the arms ift very well but was not the one on the lock as it came out of the packaging.

[CatatonicBug]

As far as the stock airbox, unless your gold on it is totally trashed, you will regret putting on pods.

No worries there, Motoman. I will NEVER get rid of the stock airbox on this MNS! It's the biggest chunk of gold on this thing, and it's in pretty good shape too! Only problem with it is the PO melted the drain/filter thing off the bottom. They drilled a hole on the left side of the bottom to act as a drain hole when on the side stand though, so I guess that's ok for me.

So, you say you added the taller windshield, and left it tall? Is there a concern about the field of vision in inclement weather? I just saw a pic of someone's vetter fairing with the windsheild cut so low that it had no vertical area on the sides! Seems like that would take away from the protection that the windsheild is designed to provide. I just don't want to get caught in a situation where my vision is dangerously obstructed. I Rain-Exed it last night, so maybe I'll wait until the next time it rains a bit and see how it fares.