Topic: To Windjammer or not....? Opinions

[frenchy51]

I'm sure you've all been on pins and needles waiting for my decision---I've decided the Jammer is becoming wall art. I had to take it off to weld up the bracket that was cracked. So I took it for a ride naked (the bike-not me). I couldn't get the smile off my face. More fun to ride. Handles better, sounds better, looks better. I have a halogen headlight coming and turn signals that I'll attach somehow. Thanks for all the opinions-love this forum!

[Stev-o]

Good decision!

[Kelly E]

The 75 and 76 750F models use a one piece bracket for the headlight ears and turn signal stalks that fits into holes in the upper and lower triple, rather than ears that slide over the fork tubes like every other SOHC4. In 1977 the F2 model got regular chrome ears.
[/quote]

The 75' 400 Four that I did also has a one piece bracket for the headlight and turn signals.

[Don R]

 The 400F has the bracket for the headlights too.

[Bankerdanny]

The 75 and 76 750F models use a one piece bracket for the headlight ears and turn signal stalks that fits into holes in the upper and lower triple, rather than ears that slide over the fork tubes like every other SOHC4. In 1977 the F2 model got regular chrome ears.

The 75' 400 Four that I did also has a one piece bracket for the headlight and turn signals.
[/quote]

Interesting, I didn't know that. I'll have to pay closer attention to the next 400F I see.

[jakec]

PART 472

[ofreen]

Those who know me also know my opinion of the 'Jammer.

You and I have been the most consistent defenders of the Windjammer on here, I think.  The Windjammer SS went on my 750F in the winter of '77-'78 during the gas shortage and the long lines. They wouldn't let you get gas in a can, and the bike got three times the mileage of my '62 Impala, so I filled the car tank up, parked it and siphoned out of it for the bike.  I was riding the bike back and forth to college and the weather was miserable, so I bought the fairing on sale at Hinshaw's Honda in Auburn, WA and had them install it.  It sure made the commute back and forth to school more pleasant in the sloppy PNW winter weather.  And I came to like not having bugs stuck to me everywhere I went in the summer, so it never came off.  Then I took the bike to Alaska where the Windjammer helped extend the way too short riding season.  I've used the bike for commuting as long as I've had it, riding as long as the road was ice free. 

The fairing was on there for 42 years until I took it off earlier this summer when I repaired the bike after we got hit by a pickup in July '18.  The bike landed heavily on its left side and slid.  Because of the fairing, the most serious damage was to the alternator case.  The trim on the fairing was gouged and the bracket bent.  There is no question the fairing saved the bike from more severe damage. 

When I getting was the bike back to riding condition I took the fairing and bracket off.  I dug the headlight, bracket and turn signals out of the cardboard box where they had been for over 40 years, still like new.  After all these years, riding without the fairing makes the bike seem like a totally different machine.  As much as I've appreciated the SS over the years, I doubt it will ever go back on.  I am not going to commute on the bike anymore, the increased traffic and idiot drivers makes it rather foolhardy.  I am enjoying the bike in its new (old) form, but I'll never regret having the Windjammer on there all those years.

[HondaMan]

I have the great privilege of riding these bikes both ways, mostly because mine has one and most that come to me don't. After I test-ride someone else's 750 on the freeway for 20 miles and then get back on mine, I smile because it's still there, since 1972. Heck, like you, Ofreen: mine was slammed from behind-right by a fast-moving GT750 in September 1972 (the bike was still new!) and it flipped mine out from under me: and like yours, all it got was some pavement rash on the alternator cover (still there) and bent exhaust pipes on the right side. That was the day that, if I had any doubts left about riding behind it, changed my mind - and for the last 46 years.

But, I do wish yours had protected your foot....

[ofreen]

Thanks for that, Mark.  I'll hang onto mine. Right now it sits in an honored spot on a shelf out in the shop wrapped in a couple of garbage bags.  I see trim kits are available on Vetter's site, so I'll probably get one to fix the gouged trim on mine.  It is surprising how little the fairing was damaged considering how hard it hit the road, then skidded, a testament to the strength of 42 year old ABS and the design.

I've never weighed it and was curious, so I put it on the scale this morning.  The 1977 vintage Windjammer SS and bracket weighs 34 pounds.  The bracket accounts for 7 pounds, and is a little heavier than original due to the reinforcement I put on it years ago.