Bird Strike - Windshield Break

[2andblue]

And the score is:

• Crow: 1
• Pre-2015 CalSci Windshield: 0

Sustained a stiff albeit glancing hit from a crow to the windshield.

Windshield was good for the ride home but about a 1/2” crack has developed from one of the mount holes.

Came around a corner which led into another tight uphill S and a crow (I believe) flew up from the side of the road. I wasn’t about to jump / make a significant change to the line as I needed to make the next corner that was right there.

Saw the bird, heard the thump, saw it get thrust into the ditch. Got through the two subsequent turns then in a safe spot checked windshield & Blue over and all looked good. @laker9142’s windshield bracket didn’t budge. Noticed about 10 miles down the road a crack developing on the windshield; guessing there is no repairing / stopping the split once it starts.

Will talk with CalSci tomorrow, expecting to replace but if they say an acrylic epoxy / super glue would work, I’d try it.

Wayne, Carol & Blue

 

[Konehead34]

The old school way of stopping a crack would be to drill an appropriately sized hole at the end of the crack.

 

[ron203]

Just wait until the a/c hits it. Er,…. never mind. At least it didn’t go in your helmet.

 

[2andblue]

The old school way of stopping a crack would be to drill an appropriately sized hole at the end of the crack.

Thank You - I will ask about this!

Wayne

 

[2andblue]

Just wait until the a/c hits it. Er,…. never mind. At least it didn’t go in your helmet.

Nope no part of the bird hit us.

If we were on a naked bike it might have been a different story.

Wayne

 

[Bud]

Nope no part of the bird hit us.

If we were on a naked bike it might have been a different story.

Wayne

Glad it was just the windshield and neither of you were injured. You were awful close to having a more serious experience. You were very very lucky! The bracket is well worth the money for sure.

 

[rlievenski4555]

So glad this ended up as a minor incident. My hope is that you can get the windscreen figured out quickly.

 

[laker9142]

Dang Wayne, glad you're ok. Glad the bracket held up. The last one I sold to edgyteen was broken due to nothing more than a stationary drop with the calsi all the way up. So yours could have been much worse, obviously. Drilling the small hole is #1.#2 may be to source a new super glue by loctite that comes in a tube with a blue light activator. I've recently filled 2 cracks in ABS very successfully. Acrilic would even better since the blue light can penetrate all the way through. I got it at Menards

 

[connie_rider]

Glad your ok!

 

[ron203]

We had member who hit a buzzard on the way to the Colorado national a few years ago. Wipe out.

 

[2andblue]

Dang Wayne, glad you're ok. Glad the bracket held up. The last one I sold to edgyteen was broken due to nothing more than a stationary drop with the calsi all the way up. So yours could have been much worse, obviously. Drilling the small hole is #1.#2 may be to source a new super glue by loctite that comes in a tube with a blue light activator. I've recently filled 2 cracks in ABS very successfully. Acrilic would even better since the blue light can penetrate all the way through. I got it at Menards

Upon further review multiple small cracks have started, see below image. Manufacturer noted that acrylic gluing has not been as effective as one would think on these windshields. Flexing maybe? <--- my own conjecture...

The old school way of stopping a crack would be to drill an appropriately sized hole at the end of the crack.

See above, numerous small cracks resulted. IF it were one crack I may try this, Manufacturer stated this is a valid approach for a single shorter crack and may help the windshield last months to years longer.

We had member who hit a buzzard on the way to the Colorado national a few years ago. Wipe out.

Yeah - Buzzards come two sizes, Big and Bigger. When I saw the bird come up my first thought was a vulture tending to roadkill. Again there was no way I wasn't driving through this thing, too many variables to risk shaking up the bike - if it were to have been a vulture @laker9142 could name is bracket The Buzzard Bully, as I think it would have held-up just the same.

So glad this ended up as a minor incident. My hope is that you can get the windscreen figured out quickly.

New Windscreen inbound, should be here before the end of the week.

Thanks for the kind words all - all in all not not a big deal, luckily got away clean here. These hazards are an inherent risk of our sport. I think the biggest action that prevented escalation was recognizing the object crossing our path was not immovable, remaining calm and not freaking out - trying to avoid the hazard while forgetting about where the newly changed trajectory would have placed us could have been disastrous - there were not many options I liked there.

Wayne, Carol & Blue(little poked in the eye for now) LOL

 

[Just Cliff]

I hit a buzzard 2 years ago returning from CO. I took it out with the top of my helmet, luckily it didn't take me off the bike. Best I can tell his wing caught my windshield and cracked it in 2 directions. The shield had about a 8" horizontal crack and a 2" downward crack. I had some acrylic glue leftover from my working days and glued it back up, it's been holding great ever since. I have another on the shelf, but just haven't swapped them out. The cracked gives it character!

 

[ursharkfuel]

A high speed run with my windshield up too high cost me the screen that came with my 2011 when I bought it in 2018. I have no idea what brand it was, all I know is it wasn't stock and it was very dark. The crack started at the bolt hole and slowly moved up and across the screen. A stop drill hole would have held up the progress, early on. That fix worked great on the jets I repaired in the USAF. We did so to get flights when the crack was within tolerances, if not we reskinned or replaced the assembly. I'm sure the C-14 doesn't have a dash 1 manual to tell you what is and isn't an allowable stress crack that can be stress relieved by a stop drill LOL.

Jon B

 

[Jorge]

Crows are not small birds...glad you're OK
Several years ago we were going along US6 (2-lane) in Eastern PA and saw a turkey on the left shoulder. Stupid bird decided to take off...sort of like a 747, slowly gathering speed. Once airborne it banks right...I ducked as far as possible over the tank bag and Irene buried her chin bar into my back and it skimmed her helmet. Scary but no harm done.
About a week later, riding the Adirondacks, an unseen bird hit her on left side of the helmet hard enough to dislodge her faceshield.
Neither of us will ever ride with anything less than a modular!
Clearly the avian crowd was after us on that trip.

 

[Strawboss]

Yikes, glad you are ok, guess I need to reassess my open face helmet on the scooter.......wait, I might be slower than the bird on that thing!