Windshield..... ON!

Late last week I decided to put the windshield back on my trike.  I had it off because I needed to replace some hardware that attaches and holds the windshield on the bike and I had to come up with a creative way to do this.  I ended up deciding to use 2 eye bolts where the broken plastic parts had been.  Each eye bolt goes through the holes in the windshield and then the rods fit into the eye bolts and the other end some brackets on the handlebars.  Once I had the plan in mind,  I headed off to the hardware store to find the bits and pieces I would need for the project.  Wandering through the store I found paint supplies, cabinet hardware knobs, plumbing supplies.... oh wait!! I need rubber washers and the ones used in taps would work well.  Here's the eye bolts and here's the size I think will work best.... and some Nylock nuts and metal washers.  I put a nut onto the eye bolt, a metal washer, a rubber washer and put it through the plexi glass windshield then added another rubber washer, metal washer and finished it off with a Nylock nut, doing it all up fairly snug.  The second eye bolt was done the same. Putting the rods on, I put a nut on, then a metal washer and fit the rod through the eye of the bolt, added another washer and a Nylock nut and tightening it up to allow a small amount of movement while still holding it firmly.  The other end of the rod fits into a homemade aluminum bracket on the handlebars.  This has turned out to work very well for holding on the windshield, and it actually looks pretty good too.  I am going to get some fancier nuts, probably acorn nuts, as they look so much nicer than the Nylocks and I could use some 'lock tight' to make the fancier nuts hold as well as the Nylocks do.

I liked the look of my trike without the windshield on it, but was getting a sore neck and upper back each time I rode very far. With the windshield on I can ride a lot further and not get that stiffness and pain. The pressure of the wind can cause a lot of stress on the body and the windshield helps a lot to take that wind pressure off the body.  It also deflects many of the bugs.