Homemade headlight guard

I did the same, 'cept I wasn't brave enough to try the tabs. I just velcroed mine to the lens, top and bottom.

Sarah

nice... i just used some 3m clear bra. so far so good.

Loctite makes some "clear" doublesided tape that would hold it with or without the tabs. Look for the red type plastic cover on the tape.

taoshum wrote:

Loctite makes some "clear" doublesided tape that would hold it with or without the tabs. Look for the red type plastic cover on the tape.

I used the Velcro so it was easy to remove and clean, and in case there was an issue with a LEO or getting it inspected.

Yea, the double sided tape would be a mess to remove... if the velcro is steady, why not...

My friend cut a nice thick piece of Lexan, for a guard, and glued it right to the lens. A rock hit it, first time out, and broke the lens without hurting the Lexan. I guess he needed to space the Lexan out from the lens a little.

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After the headlight on my KTM was broken by a rock for the second time I decided I needed headlight guards on my bikes. After looking around at what was available, I decided to make my own and started with the WR since its headlight wasn’t broken yet.

I used some cardboard to make a template of the headlight opening and added tabs so I could use Velcro to hold it on.  Then I used the template to mark a 3/16” Lexan sheet that I picked up at Home Depot. After cutting it out and smoothing the edges, I used a propane torch to heat up the plastic so I could bend the tabs back. On the first try the plastic came out with a wrinkle in it but the second time was satisfactory.  This was actually fairly easy to make and pretty cheap too. Now I just need to find some blue Velcro.

Was cutting the Lexan easy? How and what did you use to cut it? I just picked up a sheet of it to do the same thing but I thought I saw somewhere that a special type of knife was needed to cut this stuff.

Nice, aint nothing better than some DIY action

I made one using an old visor. I got the idea off a forum but I have no idea which or who it was. There's about 3mm gap between the screen & the lens which will hopefully be enough to protect from rocks etc...

Do any of you know if you need any special cutting tools to cut Lexan? It's not expensive but I'd rather not have to go buy another sheet of it.

WolfpackFBNS wrote:

Do any of you know if you need any special cutting tools to cut Lexan? It's not expensive but I'd rather not have to go buy another sheet of it.

use a medium pitch blade in a jig saw. cut at the "low" side of your available speed with a variable speed saw or the stock will melt as you cut and leave a huge burr hanging on the bottom edge of the cut... {in some cases "on high speed" the plastic will fuse back together just behind the cut}..so do not use high speed.
Be good if you can protect the stock from saw scrapes/damage by putting some type of masking tape over the surface the saw will sit on/.. or inverse cover the base of the saw with some kind of tape.. either way it will work.
When your done the blacksmith part of the rough cut ...belt sand the edges smooth ..again taking light cuts all the way around so as not to melt the plastic instead of sand it. I prefer to lay the belt sander on it's side clamped to a bench top with the belt running horizontally.. that way the sand operation is not as aggresive..

best of luck

rarepartbuilder wrote:

WolfpackFBNS wrote:

Do any of you know if you need any special cutting tools to cut Lexan? It's not expensive but I'd rather not have to go buy another sheet of it.

use a  medium pitch blade in a jig saw. cut at the "low" side of your available speed with a variable speed saw or the stock will melt as you cut and leave a huge burr hanging on the bottom edge of the cut... {in some cases "on high speed" the plastic will fuse back together just behind the cut}..so do not use high speed.
Be good if you can protect the stock from saw scrapes/damage by putting some type of masking tape over the surface the saw will sit on/.. or inverse cover the base of the saw with some kind of tape.. either way it will work.
When your done the blacksmith part of the rough cut ...belt sand the edges smooth ..again taking light cuts all the way around so as not to melt the plastic instead of sand it. I prefer to lay the belt sander on it's side clamped to a bench top with the belt running horizontally.. that way the sand operation is not as aggresive..

best of luck

Cool Beans! I'll have to borrow a jig saw from my neighbor and give it a shot this weekend!

I actually have access to a 3M product meant for protecting rotor blades on helicopters from debris, it is essentially a thick screen protector type product. It would be perfect for this or protecting the frame where your boots rub, it can be cut to shape easy enough with scissors then apply it with a heat gun or hair dryer and then its pretty much permanent after words but won't leave a residue if removed.

If people are interested I could probably share some of it, this is what it looks like its perfectly clear once the plastic that protects the adhesive is removed.

blusmoke wrote:

I actually have access to a 3M product meant for protecting rotor blades on helicopters from debris, it is essentially a thick screen protector type product. It would be perfect for this or protecting the frame where your boots rub, it can be cut to shape easy enough with scissors then apply it with a heat gun or hair dryer and then its pretty much permanent after words but won't leave a residue if removed.

If people are interested I could probably share some of it, this is what it looks like its perfectly clear once the plastic that protects the adhesive is removed.

Where did you get it from?

My dad's in the aviation industry, Its probably similar to if not the same product as the 3M "clear bra" except that the rotor tape comes in different thicknesses.

I cut out a lens protector tonight it went on great, with just a couple air bubbles if I were to do it again I would try to use some water or something like the solution used to put a screen protector on a phone.