Page 1 of 1

Another broken windshield swing arm - wide aftermarket shields too much?

Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2020 3:17 am
by jackronner
I've got an extra-wide and tall shield, and I'm beginning to think you should think twice about getting one since it may over-tax the arms.  Some strong, but not violent, winds on on my 1500 miles tour this weekend.  It's made me think that the pot-metal aluminum is purposely weak to prevent damage to the actuator mechanism, or else they're just cheap sods at BMW. Replaced the last one with a stainless steel Chinese one;  much cheaper and stronger.

Re: Another broken windshield swing arm - wide aftermarket shields too much?

Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2020 10:23 am
by bandytales
I obviously don't know what size your windscreen is, but on the Hexhead/Camheads the winscreen arms have always been marginal. For those folk who have uprated the arms, I have never heard of a problems. So based on that anecdotal evidence, I think once you have the stronger arms fitted you will be fine.

Re: Another broken windshield swing arm - wide aftermarket shields too much?

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 4:44 pm
by AwesomeDad
bandytales wrote: I obviously don't know what size your windscreen is, but on the Hexhead/Camheads the winscreen arms have always been marginal. For those folk who have uprated the arms, I have never heard of a problems. So based on that anecdotal evidence, I think once you have the stronger arms fitted you will be fine.
Were the arms upgraded in later model years? If not what is the upgrade?


JJ

Re: Another broken windshield swing arm - wide aftermarket shields too much?

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 11:51 am
by realshelby
AwesomeDad wrote: Were the arms upgraded in later model years? If not what is the upgrade?


JJ

Starting with the Wethead RT in 2014, the windscreen linkage is much stronger. I cannot remember hearing of one breaking, and I have tested large screens on them at up to 130 mph. I have raised them at 100+ mph.


The Hexhead in 2005 and Camhead series in 2010 all had some owners that upgraded to aftermarket linkage bars to fix the weak links.