Thicker CeeBailey?

bicyclist

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Last year, my shield developed a crack while I was riding around Newfoundland. I made a temporary repair and contacted CeeBailey when I got home. They sent a new shield. Not knowing the cause of the crack and expecting a repeat performance, I left the original shield on the bike hoping to get as much use out of it as possible. This year, while in Texas, the crack began to grow, so I made another repair and got home OK. In preparation for the next trip, I installed the new shield and discovered that it is thicker than the original. Dunno whether this is a running change in their production to solve the cracking problem that has affected a few shields.
 
My first CeeBailey was about 2 or 3 hundredths thinner than the space allowed by the spacing between the brackets with the stock bolts. I shimmed that one with some old bicycle tube. That worked for a while but then the screen cracked.

The one they sent me after that was the same thickness as the stock screen. It has cracked, too, but I stop-drilled it and the crack hasn't grown.

It's definitely not any thicker than the stock screen was.
 
Phil, my original CB was the same thickness as the stock screen. I measured it after your posts about your thin first one. The new one is thicker than the original and the stock screen.
 
I must have had a 2nd gen (vs 3rd gen) since mine was the same thickness as the stock. Glad they are making them from thicker material.
 
Mine just cracked too, bad enought that I can't trust it...will need to install the stock shield until I can get a replacement. :(
 
Can anyone post an actual thickness and the purchase date would be helpful too;)
 
BigBill said:
Mine just cracked too, bad enought that I can't trust it...will need to install the stock shield until I can get a replacement. :(
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Bill, can you stop-drill the crack? The crack that had come out of the stop-drill hole that I had re-stop-drilled in Houston the day before I saw you and Tim in Baton Rouge hasn't grown a bit since I saw you guys and I've ridden in some strong cross-winds. I think those are the conditions that cause the cracking.
 
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I haven't had trouble with my Clearview but also made it a point to deburr the mounting holes with fine sandpaper. And for part of the year, I use my V-stream barndoor because it offers so much more protection. Now that one flexes like crazy in the wind because of its larger size but so far so good.
 
I was thinking of a Cee Bailey for Traveller when the time came, but listening to all the cracking prob's has given me second thoughts. Have the folks who have experienced the cracks with the CB compared notes to see if there is some commonality which would indicate a design flaw or a stressed area?

Mike
 
Indeed Phil, I did that at work before I rode home.
I wonder if C.B. will allow me to select a smaller size for my warranty...


Phil Tarman said:
Bill, can you stop-drill the crack. The crack that had come out of the stop-drill hole that I had re-stop-drilled in Houston the day before I saw you and Tim in Baton Rouge hasn't grown a bit since I saw you guys and I've ridden in some strong cross-winds. I think those are the conditions that cause the cracking.
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DirtFlier said:
I haven't had trouble with my Clearview
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Is Clearview making a screen for the NT now? I was very happy with the Clearview I had on my Concours, but when I got the NT, they weren't making a screen for it.
 
National Cycle makes a w/s for the NT. It is thicker than the CeeBailey. I bought one and it works well. The only thing about it that kinda bothered me was the distortion where the aerodynamic shape changed. Still it is a good shield and may be worth looking in to.

http://shop.nationalcycle.com/perl/cycle/N20002


You are right Phil, Clearview does not list a shield for the NT.

Parabellum also makes one for the NT.......

http://parabellum.com/PARABELLUM-Replacement-Windshield-for-the-Honda-NT700V-P78C18.aspx
 
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Oops, I made a mistake when I referred to my primary NT windshield as a "Clearview," because it's a Cee Bailey.

I agree with TimW about distortion in the National Cycle windshield. It's at a point just below the top and makes all the cars look much lower and squattier like they'd been "chopped & channeled" at a 50s hot rod shop. :)
 
mikesim said:
Have the folks who have experienced the cracks with the CB compared notes to see if there is some commonality which would indicate a design flaw or a stressed area?
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Mike, I think that the problem has been resolved with a thicker shield.
 
George, I'm not sure about that. My first CeeBailey was definitely a little bit thin. I tried shimming the mounting screws with bicycle inner-tube rubber and that didn't help. The screen cracked catastrophically as I was on the Cimarron Turnpike west of Tulsa in January. I used 100mph tape to hold it together until I got home.

The 2nd CeeBailey was the right thickness, but it's also cracked out of the right upper mounting hole. I stop-drilled the crack and it didn't spread for a long time, but then between Fort Stockton and Houston when I was on the Epic Ride last August, it grew about an inch and a half. I stop-drilled it again at my brother-in-law's house and so far that crack hasn't propagated any farther.
 
Here is a thread with information including CB & Honda shield thickness measurements, pictures of the shouldered mounting screw, etc....

2 years later CB is still making shields of incorrect thicknesses, sometimes thinner than original, sometimes thicker than original. If the thickness is not the same as the original at the mounting holes, I would not accept it. The shouldered mounting screw is designed for a specified thickness of shield, anything thicker or thinner and the shield will not mount correctly with the original shouldered mounting screw. Measure it when you get one. Send it back if it is not the correct thickness.

I still have my unused thin CB windshield. CB sent me at no cost a correct thickness shield 2 years ago and it is still mounted on the NT. It now has a 1" crack at one mounting hole that was caused by me flying through it after being hit by a deer. I tried repairing the crack with an acrylic solvent but the crack is so tight little solvent was able to penetrate the crack. 1000 miles later and the crack hasn't grown. The crack in my correct thickness CB is clearly not a CB manufacturing issue....any shield could fail during an accident. Too thin or too thick of a shield is a CB manufacturing issue. Measure it when you get one. Send it back if it is not the correct thickness.

It's upsetting that CB can't seem to consistently make the proper thickness shield. But, knowing that, (and this is telling part of the story) I would buy another one today if mines fails. And when it arrived, I would measure it, and send it back if it was not the correct thickness.
 
Phil Tarman said:
The 2nd CeeBailey was the right thickness, but it's also cracked out of the right upper mounting hole.
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My first one was the same thickness as the stock shield, but the replacement is thicker. Might be just coincidence or it might be that CeeBailey is tired of replacing shields and decided to use thicker material. Like you, I'm not sure, but I'm hopeful.

edit: I posted this reply to Phil's post before reading Dan's post. Apparently, my thicker shield is just a random occurrence. Part of the issue may be that the stock shield is shaped to sit flat on the mounting brackets and the CeeBailey isn't. Dunno. I like its effectiveness, but if this one cracks, I won't replace it with another if I have to pay for it.
 
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Found this interesting video on You Tube on the CB windshield.

http://youtu.be/n9nVZT8ve-Y

Evidently the Honda OEM w/s sits flush with the mounting brackets while the CB does not. So when tightening the bolts some stress is introduced into the windshield.
 
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