Buddy wants me to clean his Harley's windscreen...

[g35_coupe]

So I started a headlight restoration business and my friend stated the spider-webbing (RIDS) on the plastic creates a glare for him at night. No large nicks/gouges that I can tell so it's just normal wear from cleaning. If it's Lexan, would it have any UV protection? I thought some headlights were made out of polycarbonate and some from Lexan but both would need some sort of protection from turning yellow quickly. Would a headlight restoration be sufficient for this? I have some Poorboys SSR 3, the Diamondite Plastic Restoration Kit which have 2 compounds, and some MicroMesh abrasive compound. I have no ideal how the MM and PB SSR stack up against the Diamondite pair. I would be using the yellow and orange pads that came with the Diamondite kit via cordless drill. I would rather not wet-sand since there's no UV damage but even if I did, I would only go down to about 12000 6000, or even 3200 grit MicroMesh. If I get a good process, I could even add this onto my line of work.

Any ideas on how I should tackle this?

[Buckskincolt]

So I started a headlight restoration business and my friend stated the spider-webbing (RIDS) on the plastic creates a glare for him at night. No large nicks/gouges that I can tell so it's just normal wear from cleaning. If it's Lexan, would it have any UV protection? I thought some headlights were made out of polycarbonate and some from Lexan but both would need some sort of protection from turning yellow quickly. Would a headlight restoration be sufficient for this? I have some Poorboys SSR 3, the Diamondite Plastic Restoration Kit which have 2 compounds, and some MicroMesh abrasive compound. I have no ideal how the MM and PB SSR stack up against the Diamondite pair. I would be using the yellow and orange pads that came with the Diamondite kit via cordless drill. I would rather not wet-sand since there's no UV damage but even if I did, I would only go down to about 12000 6000, or even 3200 grit MicroMesh. If I get a good process, I could even add this onto my line of work.

Any ideas on how I should tackle this?

IMO The Harley Windscreens are a lot softer than headlights. Most have a UV coating so if you sand it will be removed. My experience is that when windshields get the spider webbing it's time to replace them. There are some good aftermarket shield manufactures out there that are much more reasonable than a OEM windscreen. A picture of the windshield would help.

[Bobby B.]

The S100 Special Surfaces Cleaner is a great product to use to prevent from getting any spider webbing. Since the Windsreen already has the spider webbing I would try using the Diamondite Plastic Restoration Kit.

[g35_coupe]

Do you know if they are solely Lexan or polycarbonate? I am leaning towards just a light polishing compound and see how much that improves things. I don't have the part with me to take a picture with light projecting through it.

[Buckskincolt]

Do you know if they are solely Lexan or polycarbonate? I am leaning towards just a light polishing compound and see how much that improves things. I don't have the part with me to take a picture with light projecting through it.

They can be either. It may not even be a OEM shield? look at the base where it mounts and see if it has the Harley LOGO. How old is the bike?

[SouthernStyles]

Id try hand polishing in a small spot and if it give good results us your PC and fix it up.

[TLMitchell]

So I started a headlight restoration business and my friend stated the spider-webbing (RIDS) on the plastic creates a glare for him at night. No large nicks/gouges that I can tell so it's just normal wear from cleaning. If it's Lexan, would it have any UV protection? I thought some headlights were made out of polycarbonate and some from Lexan but both would need some sort of protection from turning yellow quickly. Would a headlight restoration be sufficient for this? I have some Poorboys SSR 3, the Diamondite Plastic Restoration Kit which have 2 compounds, and some MicroMesh abrasive compound. I have no ideal how the MM and PB SSR stack up against the Diamondite pair. I would be using the yellow and orange pads that came with the Diamondite kit via cordless drill. I would rather not wet-sand since there's no UV damage but even if I did, I would only go down to about 12000 6000, or even 3200 grit MicroMesh. If I get a good process, I could even add this onto my line of work.

Any ideas on how I should tackle this?

You first need to determine the windshield material in order to decide if you even want to touch it. OEM H-D shields are polycarbonate with a hard coating. The coating is easily removed using abrasives turning the shield into junk. (don't ask how I know this)

Aftermarket shields are most often acrylic and something you can work with. On my past 4 or 5 Harleys I've replaced the OEM shield with acrylic ones from FastAire within a week because I didn't like the OEM height. Over time I came to appreciate the serviceability of the acrylics... when they get scuffed up I've polished by hand and eventually moved up to a DA with various polishes and pads. My last experiment with a trashed shield with M105 and orange turned out well enough I saved the shield.

Here's a blurb from Cee Bailey's Web site, a premier restorer of aircraft windows.

Disclaimer: We only offer this service for acrylic windshields; we DO NOT offer this for Lexan or Polycarbonate windshields. Most OEM windshields are polycarbonate, or "Lexan," windows, and there is no effective way to remove scratches. Polycarbonate is so soft that any attempt to remove material by abrasion will do more harm than good. There are hard coated varieties of polycarbonate that are less prone to scratches, but trying to repair a scratch on these applications will only remove the hard coating, and render the windshield unserviceable. To tell if your shield is made of Polycarbonate or Lexan, look for a stamp on the windshield that indicates "PC", GE, for General Electric Lexan, or the words LEXAN or POLYCARBONATE. If any of these are on the shield, we cannot attempt to restore it. If unsure just give us a call.

The full story is at:

Motorcycle windshield restoration service

I can replace a dresser windshield with a new aftermarket one for around 40 bucks. At that price it really isn't worth it to put forth much effort to refinish or restore. YMMV.

TL