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My CalSci windshield

Order a very small can of product called Weldon #3 or #4. It will fuse the crack, make it almost disappear and be as strong as any other part of the shield. I've built aquariums with the product. I used it to fusethe supplied block spacers together, as I didn't want the tape on the blocks to weather, discolor, and mess up the look.
 
it looks to me you've over tightened the bolts therefore make the plastic ridged .
it needs to flex a little.
 
treybrad said:
Well, this seems to be the main Cal Sci windshield thread, so I thought I'd post up my most recent impressions.... not great.

Last week I emailed them inquiring about a replacement and attached these pictures.





I explained that I had only had the screen since winter, and this small crack had appeared. It isn't near the mounting holes, it's right in the middle, and IMO is a manufacturing defect.

Well... here's the reply I got from Cal Sci....



That's it. Not what I was expecting.

I was expecting an apologetic tone at least, and hoping they'd stand behind their (expensive) product and support the customer.

Am I asking too much? A $200 screen that cracks in 5 months? Let's say I pay $50 and it cracks in 5 months again... what now? I'm on a $120/year replacement program? And that's not including the initial cost...

The whole thing just rubbed me the wrong way. I was really happy with the screen, I had even stopped reading all of the other threads on screens because I was all set in my mind....

Yesterday, after I got the email, I noticed it had managed to crack all the way through....



It doesn't seem to make any difference aside from the aesthetics. The mounting is still solid (Dale's nut plates -- aweseome), no additional flex. I guess I'll just leave it as is until something happens unless y'all can see this being a potential hazard somehow.

:(

Needless to say, I'm off the bandwagon.

trey

*edited to add... I try to go with smaller vendors when I can. I bought the Cal Sci over a Givi, a Beowulf exhaust instead of a Yoshi or Leo, Seat Concepts seat vs. Corbin, etc, etc. I do this because I think it's good to support smaller business. And while it usually costs a little more, above average customer service usually makes up for it. I guess Cal Sci didn't get the memo though.
Click to expand...

I just did the same thing Trey! I installed Dales nut plates and when I tried to adjust the shield enough for aligning the holes, it cracked.
I may give them a buzz. If Madstad would have been available, I would have went that route first though.
 
OriginalRocket said:
Order a very small can of product called Weldon #3 or #4. It will fuse the crack, make it almost disappear and be as strong as any other part of the shield. I've built aquariums with the product. I used it to fusethe supplied block spacers together, as I didn't want the tape on the blocks to weather, discolor, and mess up the look.
Click to expand...

Thanks Rocket -- I'll check that out.

johnakay said:
it looks to me you've over tightened the bolts therefore make the plastic ridged .
it needs to flex a little.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Did you see the pictures? It cracked at the bottom, in the middle. No where near the mounting holes. It looks to me like it wasn't the correct radius (it wasn't, which has been widely reported the you have to coax it to the right shape) and the stress finally created a crack at the bottom of the 'vent' hole.

turbodieseli4i6 said:
I just did the same thing Trey! I installed Dales nut plates and when I tried to adjust the shield enough for aligning the holes, it cracked.
I may give them a buzz. If Madstad would have been available, I would have went that route first though.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it seems the type of plastic they use is more prone to cracking...

Cal-Sci on R1200RT

CALSCI Kudos - ADVrider

Question on Calsci Shield

What's annoying is, seems like Cal Sci used to offer much better support of their products.

trey
 
Yikes! I'm glad I have a Puig windscreen on order. Should be in this week. Mine CalSci hasn't shown any cracks yet.
 
It is not hard to re-radius a windshield when the manufacturer gets it wrong. Rather than force it into shape with the mounting screws, I usually reform them. Often I can find a chair back of the right radius and with a couple of towels over it I heat to about 300 degrees (F) and re-form the windshield to the correct radius of curvature. A short-cut method is to use force to install, but then stress-relieve the windshield with heat in the location where you want it to give. I have done that before but it seems like a less elegant approach.

Another thing that may be going on here is that the NASA vent looks like the cutout should have had bigger radii at the corners and then should have been edge rounded and possibly flame polished.

Now, of course, NONE of this should have to be done by the owner. Yes. Poor design / manufacturing
 
I'll have to dig up the date. It was cool out when I cracked mine though, a warm bath would probably have saved it for a while.
I think my next one will be a Madstad.
 
Last edited:
Was out tinkering around today and noticed a couple things on my crack maybe someone that knows plastics might make sense of.


NC700X Valve Check 005 by treybrad, on Flickr

Those lines are stress related I assume. The way they all converge to that one point at the top is interesting.

It's kind of hard to see, but this thing is obviously just not radius-ed correctly. Shame on CalSci for producing such a poorly fitting windshield, but shame on me as well for forcing it to fit -- it didn't seem that bad when I was installing it. The way the crack has widened itself and popped forward, it obviously wasn't happy and was under quite a bit of stress.


NC700X Valve Check 006 by treybrad, on Flickr

Oh well. It seems to be holding together well enough and not developing any new stress cracks (yet). Live and learn.

trey
 
I think this thread just just Cal-sci a whole bunch of NC700 windscreen sales. I'll be going with Madstad when I upgrade.
 
CalSci will loose this customer to Madstad. I haven't contacted CalSci about this and will just accept the loss as a learning experience. $200.00 down the drain for a Junior pioneer.
Next!
 
ray said:
Are there any polycarbonate tall windscreen? All I've seen are acrylic.
Click to expand...

National Cycle is about the only company i know of that touts plexiglass. They run scary videos about acrylic. The only problem is that they are comparing the PC to straight acrylic vs. impact modified acrylic. Two different materials.
 
Update on my CalSci debacle. It's finally starting to get cold here in Texas (well, kind of ;)) so I put the cracked CalSci back on hoping I could get another winter out of it. I bought a Givi for summer duty earlier in the spring.

Well, I'm not sure if the plastic has managed to get more brittle sitting in my garage all summer, but I managed to develop a new crack during a 400 mile round trip to Dallas for the motorcycle show. Was worried it might crack all the way through before I could get home.


Untitled by treybrad, on Flickr

This little one coming from the top right of the vent was starting to develop last winter before I removed it, so I've been trying to stop drill them as they pop up, which seems to help stop the spreading. The one going towards the mounting screws could very well be my fault. It just went 'POP' as I was tightening the screen down. Didn't think I was using too my force, but... who knows. I was intentionally using a poorly fitting screwdriver so I couldn't apply too much torque.


Untitled by treybrad, on Flickr

With the new cracks, the bottom crack that went all the way through has really opened up:


Untitled by treybrad, on Flickr

So, this thing really seems to be self destructing..... an overall shot of the carnage:


Untitled by treybrad, on Flickr

Needless to say, I'm planning to replace it ASAP. Madstad, here I come!

trey
 
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