carbon fiber windshields

jr_amsoil

jr_amsoil

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Mar 15, 2006
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Mitchell, SD
i was wondering if anyone would have any interest in carbon windshields. i know a guy who is starting to make them for all sorts of different sleds.
 
Sounds interesting. Any pics or idea of which model Yamaha sleds they would be available for? Any idea on the prices yet, or is it too early in the game?
 
Boomer said:
Sounds interesting. Any pics or idea of which model Yamaha sleds they would be available for? Any idea on the prices yet, or is it too early in the game?
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probably the apex's the nytros don't really have a windshield. maybe the srx and viper. the main thing would be making molds and then you would have to sell enough of the parts just to make enough money to pay for the money in the mold but i think there would be quit a bit of people interested in it.
 
srxspec do you think people would be willing to put that kinda money in a hood and side panels. i would guess it would be around a thousand for that stuff.
 
how much would the windscreens be? i know there would be a large interest in viper dash pods, you may start a poll of what people would be interested in what
 
heres a pic of one that i made, I was always planning on getting into making some to sell on ebay but i never got a chance. I have made a tall and low

sledpics022nq4.jpg
 
there is a ton of things a guy could make. i would say a carbon windy would be in the $100 to $170 range depending how big.
 
I had thought of making Carbon accent panels in the past, but also had a hard thought when I heard that Chevrolet did a crash test years back with a camaro that had a carbon hood that literally cut the roof off of the car.
I know that there are going to be nay sayers saying "how", carbon is very strong when you apply forces latterally across the surface IT makes the material knifelike. I am not saying that you shouldn't use carbon for a windy but JUST BE CAREFUL! Just my $.02
P.S Was thinking of making molds for carbon panels for the apex a couple of years ago when they first came out, just need a donor panels to make the goods.
 
definatly good point. when carbon breaks it splinters unlike metal whinch dents and bends. I have a carbon windy and could imagine hitting something and slicing my throat on it, but then agin if your hitting something you may have other problems.

I have always wondered about aftermklt cf hoods, and how they would react in an accident, woudl they pop off the mounts and go threw a windshield? or if you hit a pedestrian it would splinter and cut them.

But there is a sulution to all of this If one where to add a layer of kevlar to the windy it would splinter just crack. they make carbon kevlar hibrid aircraft seats so if the plane crashes the seat cups you.
 
Kevlar does not soak the resin up like cf or glass it is closed cell and the resin cannot penetrate it. Someone spent a TON O money with the intentions of building a bada$$ offshore race boat made out of kevlar and when they took it out into big water to test and beat the snot out of it, it came back with stress cracks and areas that delaminated because of the type of material it is. The thought behind using kevlarto build the boat was if it will stop a bullet it should be strong enough to build a light weight/fast offshore boat. The way the material was described to me is it is like a window screen material that wont absorb the resin so the resin has no holding power to the kevlar. T
 
just need a donor panels to make the goods[/COLOR].[/QUOTE]

that would be the main thing is getting donor panels to make a mold. if i guy couldn't sell big quantities of the parts it wouldn't even be worth a guy7s time though
 
jr_amsoil said:
that would be the main thing is getting donor panels to make a mold. if i guy couldn't sell big quantities of the parts it wouldn't even be worth a guy7s time though
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Well you have to understand, everyone builds molds somewhat differently. I used to work in a shop where we built high dollar high quality close tolerance molds.
The thing is, when you make your parts you have to be careful when demolding so that you dont damage your investment in your mold so that your mold will last you a long time. Plus if you don't properly prepare your mold you can also run into problems with your parts sticking to it and now you make a mess of your parts and your mold.
I also agree with the donor parts thing, I know that I wouldn't want to trust anyone with my parts, and not knowing if they would come back in general or if they would get switched out for someone elses junk. T
 
I would be interested in getting some carbon fiber windage plates, i remember last year someone on here had them for sale, or they were on ebay, My windage plates arent looking the greatest and polishing them everytime i turn around to keep rust off is getting annoying, plus id like to save a little rotating weight if i could. if you guys know where i can get a set it would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sxr700Bandit said:
Kevlar does not soak the resin up like cf or glass it is closed cell and the resin cannot penetrate it. Someone spent a TON O money with the intentions of building a bada$$ offshore race boat made out of kevlar and when they took it out into big water to test and beat the snot out of it, it came back with stress cracks and areas that delaminated because of the type of material it is. The thought behind using kevlarto build the boat was if it will stop a bullet it should be strong enough to build a light weight/fast offshore boat. The way the material was described to me is it is like a window screen material that wont absorb the resin so the resin has no holding power to the kevlar. T
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I have never had problems with kevlar at work obsorbing resin, it jsut takes alot more work to impregnate it with resin, we get prepreg kevlar all the time it si used alot on aircraft nose cones and cowls. One major problem with kevlar is it obsorbs moister and oil like a wick, so im constantly having to do repairs to remove oil and water. As for light whiegt kevlar can get heavy over time as it soaks up moisture
 
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