windshield rake

[gjslutz]

I don't have any fur on the roof, so a hat helps the skin. I get air buffeting around sunglasses with the aeroshield. The goggles help as well as ear plugs with the air buffeting.

 

Gary

[lowflyer]

At the risk of highjacking the thread.... the "broomstick" test doesn't mean much if you're going to measure to the top of the windshield.

 

In any kind of "inversion" the windshield is going to fold back into your lap, or be torn off.

 

The only meaningful test is to take the broomstick from the top of the rollbar to the top of the frame at the rad support, or perhaps the top of the engine, since both are likely to remain in their original location.

 

The rollbars are mostly a joke in a "7", IMHO, without a full cage.

 

Ken Edney

Chandler, AZ

[slngsht]

At the risk of highjacking the thread.... the "broomstick" test doesn't mean much if you're going to measure to the top of the windshield.

 

In any kind of "inversion" the windshield is going to fold back into your lap, or be torn off.

 

The only meaningful test is to take the broomstick from the top of the rollbar to the top of the frame at the rad support, or perhaps the top of the engine, since both are likely to remain in their original location.

 

The rollbars are mostly a joke in a "7", IMHO, without a full cage.

 

Ken Edney

Chandler, AZ

exactly, but still some places measure to the top of the windshield. Mine is designed to clear my helmet by 3" if I run it to the rad support.

[Mondo]

It's kind of relative.... racing=full-cage... but if you drive mainly roads I'd be more concerned with adding side protection. I wouldn't say a properly made rollbar is a joke, have you ever seen a pick up roll over? They don't have to meet car safety standards (maybe newer ones do) and I've seen the cab tops flattened.

Guess it depends on how you plan driving... more risky, more rollbars;)

[lowflyer]

Sorry for highjacking the thread, but...

 

Let's be honest here, if we actually thought we were going to be in any kind of accident, would we ever get into our 7 type cars? There's a great line in the movie Grand Prix, where the character says that race car drivers have very poor imaginations, for if they truely thought about what would happen to them if they hit a tree at 150 mph, they would never get into their cars.

 

I certainly wouldn't. When your head is about the height of the door handles on a Taurus, and your butt is 4" off the ground, and the only thing between you and the tire on that Ford F150 in the next lane is a 1 1/4" tube and a piece of aluminum there isn't much hope of "walking it off".

 

Many of my compatriots with Stalkers have added removeable pieces to their rollbars to provide a "roll cage" feeling. It offers no additional side intrusion protection that I can see, and only limited additional inversion protection. I would certainly not go wheel to wheel on a track with that type of minimal protection, but then again I'm old (plus I did all that crazy stuff when I was much younger).

 

An autocross is a good, safe way of enjoying a "7", without much risk other than some paint damage from a "rogue cone". And the type or size of a rollbar shouldn't be much of a consideration.

 

I do drive my car on freeways, when necessary, but with a "heightened sense of awareness" of all the other cars around me - much like riding a motorcycle. I'm much happier driving around on a two lane back road, at about 40-60 mph (depending) and staying in my own lane and just enjoying life.

 

Ken Edney

Chandler, AZ

[wankel_locost]

i agree with ken. being a motorcyclist since over 20yrs, i've seen my share of situations where what saved my booty was being able to fit where a car couldn't. to escape is divine! taking that thought into mind is why i'm designing a cage, with side protection, and then putting the rest of the mcsorely 442 tubes onto it. i'm no engineer, but i figure some cage is better than no cage, and by extension, that will make the 1" sq tubes the weaker links. sort of a caveman's crumple zone concept that i never want to actually test. i'll pay a penalty in weight, but i'm considering it an investment in survivability. heck, it'll be more protection than i have every time i ride my goldwing.

Godspeed,

dennis