SwitchBlade Windshield	SwitchBlade quick release mount system	Windshield bag

The SwitchBlade® Windshields utilises the new SwitchBlade Mounting System, which allows riders to easily install, switch, or remove their windshield in less than 5 seconds

A few months back I started a new contract which was going to require me be riding my bike to work every day on the motorway in wind and rain, which as you will know if you are a bike rider is not a fun experience especially on a cruiser as without a windshield doing 70 MPH or more in high winds tends to rip your arms off.

So I decided I would invest in a windshield, I did however want something that could be easily removed as I really only needed it for motorway riding, for general every day cruising a tall 2up windshield gets in the way a bit as your looking through it rather than over it. My search for a quick release windshield did in fact only return 1 result for my bike (Yamaha V Star) which was the national cycle SwitchBlade, so that is what I bought.

The only issue I had with installation was with the clamp straps, in the installation docs it doesn't tell you that they have a top and a bottom, so I was initially trying to fit them the wrong way up and couldn't and as a result I thought the spider brackets were not long enough and wasted 2 weeks waiting for NC to send me longer ones. On my second attempt I actually noticed that the straps are curved to match the shape of the forks, so after this the installation was a snap, just attach the straps, brackets, screw on the mounting cup with the nuts and your ready to go. As advertised the windshield really can be mounted and removed in 5 seconds, it is as easy as pie, the windshield looks great on the bike, blocks all the wind and the mounting brackets do not look out of place without the windshield either.

I purchased the largest 2up windshield for maximum protection, which does the job perfectly, but at a price. The top of the windshield is unfortunately right at eye level for me, so I either have to sit up straight to look over it, or crouch down slightly to look through it. I am only 5'9 so I would imagine anyone 5'11 or taller would not have this problem. If you are my height or shorter you may find the SwitchBlade Chopped or Shorty models may suit you better, although the downside to shorter windshield will most likely be some buffeting on your head.

I also bought myself a set of chrome lower deflectors (see picture right) which deflect the wind away from your legs, which is also very handy on windy days riding on the motorway, far less effort to keep your legs closed so you don't get a crutch ache.

These are attached to the same mounting bracket used by the windshield, you simply reverse the position of the chrome nuts to allow for the increased width this adds, and bobs your uncle. In total the total installation time should be less than 1 hour. You do however need a torque wrench for the nuts, which cost me £50 and I doubt I will use it again, so it might be worth asking the local garage to fit it and save a few quid. Note though that the chrome lowers are not quick release like the windshield.

Cruiser Customizing

I ordered the above items (and others) from www.cruisercustomizing.com in the USA who advertise heavily on google and all the major cruiser web sites and to be fair they do have some of the cheapest prices, oh and the site is written in ColdFusion too :-). I ordered from the states as even with shipping and duty it is still cheaper than ordering from the UK which is usually double the price.

Unfortunately I can't say much about their sales, support or order processing abilities as they seem to be utterly clueless about  how their own web site works. I contacted them to check all the items were in stock before placing my order and was told yes. I then asked them if they accepted paypal as it was not an option on the shopping cart payment page. This is where the fun and games started, they told me that in order to pay with paypal I must place my order online and get an order number and then transfer the money to their paypal account using that as a reference. This was not possible because you don't get an order number until after you have paid, which I can't do because I want to pay with paypal. We spent about 1 week going round in circles with me trying to explain this to them and sending them screen shots of their own web site to show them how it worked.

Eventually I managed to get them to manually create an order and I paid them, only to then get an email saying that some of my items were not kept in stock and had to be ordered specially, so they lied to me when they told me they were in stock, so this was another 3 week wait. When I finally got the shipping confirmation I noticed they had shipped it to the wrong address, so they then had to recall it, another 3-4 week delay. When they got my order back my windshield was broken, so another 3 weeks while they ordered another one. It took 3 months until I finally got my order, by which time I had nearly finished my contract, so defeated the purpose of why I ordered the stuff in the first place.

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