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wind restrictor fo SRL

2K views 26 replies 14 participants last post by  DonnasSky 
#1 ·
I see a lot of positive comments on the Robert wind restrictor.

Is the GM wind screen (I think a $380 dealer add) really a poor option? I've seen a few negitive comments in other threads. I added the GM screen to my SRL but I'm thinking of dropping it and getting one of Robert's.

Also - is the Robert wind restrictor difficult to install? Does it require drilling holes or putting screws in the body?

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
You Have to drill holes to add the GM paddle and I'm not about to drill on the body of my SKY.....SEAL9
 
#5 ·
Template?

Not to put a supporting dealer out of business but posting your template and instructions on "How To" would be very cool.....

HoldHard
 
#6 ·
is the Robert wind restrictor difficult to install? Does it require drilling holes or putting screws in the body?

Thanks!
No drilling whatsoever! Super simple to put the wind restrictor on.....unscrew 4 factory screws, replace them with longer screws & bobbin type holder (supplied by Robert). Five minutes......I swear.

As for the wiring......it's pretty simple as long as you are comfortable with wiring.

You won't regret getting your wind restrictor from Robert.
 
#7 · (Edited)
With Robert's you are not investing in just material.

He is an artist and his etchings alone are worth his asking price.
But add in the LCD lighting harness, material, equipment cost and his professional patience and willingness to work with each of his cutomers to achieve the design that customer is 'thinking of' ... priceless. :thumbs:

If cost of material was the bottom line ... then the price of a great painting is crazy when you consider the cost of a few paint brushes, paint and a canvas. With Robert, you are purchasing a skill level ... and an artist time to create a personalized piece of art. In my opinion, well worth his asking price.

But even the other vendors with windscreens, must include a profit and trial and error R&D to produce a quality item. If anyone has the tools and determination they can build the mods and in fact a whole bike or car .. even an airplane.

I admire you sb4 for actually creating your own windscreen. It is obvious you applied some thought and skill into this project. And if you can sell your "How To Template" for a profit ... God bless.

What a great country! :yesnod: :patriot:
 
#9 · (Edited)
Its Amazing !!

IT IS AMAZING HOW SOME PEOPLE HAVE THE TALENT AND GIFT TO CREATE THOSE "PIECES OF ART"
ITS ALSO AMAZING HOW SOME PEOPLE CAN HAVE A VISION AND CREATE SOMETHING FOR THEMSELFS AND LIKE TO SHARE AND HAVE NO WHEM ON "MAKING A PROFIT"
WHAT IS MOST AMAZING IS HOW SOME OTHER PEOPLE CAN MAKE SO MUCH OUT OF ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
I TOO WILL SURELY AT SOMETIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE WILL ORDER ONE OF ROBERTS WIND RESTRICTORS, I'M SURE WITH A NEAT GRAPHIC, "WHAT YOU CALL ART" (CLIP ART), AND THE LED AND CONTROLER.
ALL I DID WAS TO MAKE A SIMPLE WIND RESTRICTOR THAT IS BASICLY THE SAME AS THE ONE SOLD WITH NO GRAPHIC FOR $129 AND DID IT FOR $7. SO, WHY BUST MY CHOPS? WHY CALL IT A CHEAP PIECE OF PLASTIC. I THOUGHT WE WERE HERE TO SHARE IDEAS TO BENEFIT ALL OF US. REMEMBER,ONE MANS TRASH IS ANOTHER MANS TREASURE..
NOW I KNOW I WANT ONE OF THE OTHER "ARTISTIC" WINDRESTRICTORS AND IT ONLY COST $7 TO FIND OUT. DO YOU KNOW OF A BETTER WAY TO FIND OUT WITHOUT INVESTING $129 PLUS. I HOPE ROBERT WILL COME UP WITH SOMETHING EVEN MORE STRIKING, ITS NOT ABOUT A COUPLE OF DOLLARS. MOST OF US WHO OWN THE SKY HAVE SPENT $26,000 PLUS FOR A TOY! ITS ABOUT SHARING AND ENJOYING LIFE!!!

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY DEFINES:
ART, (n)
1. HUMAN EFFORT TO IMITATE, SUPPLEMENT, ALTER OR COUNTERACT THE WORK OF NATURE.
2. THE CONSCIOUS PRODUCTION OR ARRANGEMENT OF SOUND, COLORS, FORMS, MOVEMENT, OR OTHER ELEMENTS IN A MANNER THAT EFFECTS THE SENCE OF BEAUTY; SPECIFACALLY, THE PRODUCTION OF THE BEAUTIFUL IN GRAPHIC OR PLASTIC MEDIUM.

I DONT THINK ROBERT CONSIDERS HIS BASIC WIND RESTRICTOR AS SOME CHEAP PIECE OF PLASTIC.
IF I AM WRONG I WILL FOREVER SHUT UP, IF THERE ARE SOME OF YOU THAT WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE SIMPLE STEPS TO CREATE YOUR OWN PIECE OF ART, REPLY, I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE AND ONLY PROFIT IN THE SOUL.
LOVE YOU ALL, LOVE MY SKY, LOVE LIFE!!!:)
 
#10 ·
For what its worth, sb4 (Dave ?), I am with you all the way. First, doing it yourself is, to me, the righteous way to go. Anyone can lay down a credit card and buy someone else's creativity. Putting your own thought and labor into something is unique, and personal. Second, I prefer the un-decorated wind deflector. Nothing against Robert, or his art, but it's not for me. And simple does not equal cheap.

PS: Please STOP SHOUTING in your posts.
 
#12 ·
SORRY! ITS NOT SHOUTING, ITS TYPING WITH ONLY ONE GOOD HAND.JUST TOO HARD TO DO UPPER AND LOWER CASE. MABY I SHOULD USE ONLY lower case.
thanks for your reply, did not want to upset anyone.:cheers:

steve
 
#13 ·
That is great that you made this your self and for only one hours work and a few dollars wow! I would love to see detailed photos of how it turned out. I wish it was that easy for me to make mine. The amount of work and money involved to figure this out and to get it to the quality it is now has cost me more than any one would ever dream. I used to look at some products and think wow these people are making a ton of money I could make that for a few dollars and they sale it for that much?! Well, now that I have learned how hard it is to really make something like this happen I will never look at things that way again. I used to not think of what it cost for the equipment they may have used that could have cost them 100s of thousands to purchase, or how much effort, time, hard work and money it took to figure it out and get the product to the quality it is then the cost of marketing and many other cost in overhead etc. I have a whole new perspective now that I have been through all that I have. At first when I thought of this product I admit I was like man this will be easy I will make good money off this one! Well, that was over 4 years ago with the first design of the Mercedes - Benz SLK WR and now the SKY and SOL which I have sold more in the past few months for these fine roadsters then I have in over 3 years for the other designs. Well, I look at the money I have invested now in this and try to figure out why with the money I owe from getting this off the ground I could buy a 2 SKY's. Some times I am discouraged and feel like giving up but I will never do that after coming this far. You may look at my product and think I make easy money off of it but it is not true. I admire your effort in making your own wind deflector but I can guaranty you cannot make one near the quality mine is out of your garage for $20. The scratch resistant plastic I use for one of these, cost well over the 20.00 you spent even when I buy thousands of dollars worth of it at a time, and you cannot buy it at Lowes. If you only knew how much is involved in satisfying every customer the way I try to do on a daily basis you would think twice and be happy to pay the reasonable price I charge. I do not think there is anything wrong with sharing your "How To" design but I just do not think it will be worth the amount of time and work involved to produce one of these your self. I think it would be wiser to purchase one at a reasonable price rather then try and save a few dollars. Trust me it took a ton of mistakes and many thousands of dollars to learn this valuable lesson in life not to always go the cheaper way. Look at the GM wind screen I could have some like this produced for less than I am paying for my current design and they charge 275-350+ for theres.
 
#14 ·
sb4: SORRY! ITS NOT SHOUTING, ITS TYPING WITH ONLY ONE GOOD HAND.JUST TOO HARD TO DO UPPER AND LOWER CASE. MABY I SHOULD USE ONLY lower case.
thanks for your reply, did not want to upset anyone.

steve
Steve, ee cummings did quite well with only lower case ! keep on typing.

Robert, Certainly I am not trying to belittle your product, or accuse you of overcharging for it. You have a class product, and I have not seen any indication to the contrary. Everyone who has purchased or seen one has raved about it, and you should be proud of the accomplishment.

That said, there are those of us that prefer to "roll our own", and for us, the adventure of making something is almost as important as the finished product. My big project right now is a custom car cover, and I may well attempt a wind deflector next. Neither product will likely be of a quality level that I could feel good about selling for a price that would equal the time I wll invest. As you have learned, that requires an order of magnitude more investment, in time and money, than I am willing to spend. I am willing to accept a slightly less "finished" look, and the shorter lifespan of a home grown product. Notice I said "slightly". If I cannot achieve the level of quality that I want, I will scrap what I do and go to a professional. (That would be you.)

I wish you all possible success with your business venture.
 
#15 ·
I must admit I understand both sides of this post, I have experienced the enjoyment that comes from having produced something from nothing for oneself and I have also experienced the enjoyment that comes from owning a small piece of perfection. I am not at this point 100% sure which route I will be taking I have considered a few wind restrictor designs in my head, but I have also seen examples of Roberts work.

Right now I am having difficulty deciding which route to take, Robert if you are reading this have you ever considered a multi-layer wind restrictor, in my head I see one that is composed of three layers each with a different design(or different elements of the same design) and different color led shining into each layer for a multi-color effect..........:eek:
 
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#16 ·
It is sweet looking, its just that I keep thinking in my head that a thin sheet of polycarbonate should act just like a fiberoptic cable so if you had three layers each layer could trap a different color light and give slight rainbow effect :eek: to the overall design.
 
#17 ·
I am very happy with my wind restrictor that I got from Robert. As is everyone that looks at it. I am waiting to see Robert's new lights that change colors through the image. :thumbs:
:rant: If you have made your own that is fine but it is in my opinion that you got the idea here or someone else to do it. So once again someone else has put forth the effort to ensure it works then you go out and make your own. Let's not try to infer that you have created something better or equal too his product for less. Not to mentions Robert's comes with your choice of laser engraved images and LED lights if you want them. Further more he continues to work on other product to MOD our SKYs with that I am sure someone else will emulate in the future. That is the nature of the beast in business. Robert goes out of his way to ensure you get a quality product just the way YOU want it. The only effort you put into it is making up your mind what you want. Sure it is easier to throw down the credit card and pay for it rather than create one yourself and find someone with a laser engraver to put your image in it for you (again paying someone else to do the work unless you happen to have a laser engraver lying around) then track down the LED light MOD and install it. Some of us have very little free time as it is and when I get it I prefer to be out driving or spending time with friends. Not tracking down materials and trying to create my own MOD when one already exists that I can purchase. We some times have to go to others to get services that they provide. Not just out of laziness but necessity, not every one is a police officer, fire person, or doctor but you shouldn’t infer that someone is lazy for “Laying down the plastic and buying someone else’s creativity.” Let’s see you hammer out some custom wheels then, or sew yourself some two tone leather seats by hand. That would be the “RIGHTEOUS WAY TO GO” right? Rather than paying for someone else’s creativity up front.
It is in my opinion that some on this forum seek out conflict with others. Those that don’t may benefit in taking some time to consider the other person’s opinion they are belittling before hitting “Submit Reply”. Last thing I will end with is that if you are berating someone’s opinion or statement that owns a SKY and you yourself do not have one yet you could give them the benefit of the doubt as they are speaking from first hand experience and not your at best second hand information. When you get your own SKY then come back to the thread and re-energize the topic as they are all still available.
 
#18 ·
Custom Wind Restrictor

Robert's custom designed wind restrictors are a way of personalizing my Sky way above and beyond the limited choices I have in choosing options or an idividual license plate. I have sent Robert some ideas that he is working with to design a wind restrictor that makes a statement about me and my Sky. I applaud anyone who has the motivation, time, tools and skills to make whatever themselves to their satisfaction. I have the time (being retired :D ) but do not the motivation, tools or the skills :rolleyes:. It always comes down to several things - personal taste, desires and disposable $$. We all seem to have good taste in choosing the Sky or the Sky Red Line. Let each personalize their's the way they wish.
 
#19 ·
Midniteblues you may be 100% correct, but then again you may not. I am not going to argue the point with you one way or the other.

I will say that I have always been the type of person who truly enjoys working on problems and if I worked on this idea for 500 hours and came away with nothing for all my labor I would still enjoy the challange.

As for the type of wind restrictor everyone may or may not like vs the idea I have, that is meaningless since I would never market the idea anyway.

:thumbs:

PS It would probably not be a good idea to always assume the other person doesn't have all the facts.......
 
#20 ·
OK, let me try to clarify my position on this make-or-buy issue. I am mainly responding to marklynn70 because his post quoted mine, and I think he misunderstood my meaning. If I am the one that is confused about what is going on, please straighten me out.

I made my first post in this thread because marlboromike told sb4 that he made the "wrong choice" when he made his own wind restrictor. I disagree with that statement, because I believe that if you have the time, means, and desire to make something of your own instead of buying it, that there is more satisfaction in doing so. It was not my intention to put anyone down for buying anything instead of making it, and I am sorry if that was the impression that I gave. I buy a great many things, either because I do not have the time, means, and desire to make them, because I cannot make something that is of high enough quality, or because the making of that something requires a talent that I do not possess. I tried to make that clear in my second post.

There are very few original ideas in the world, most things are based on borrowed ideas. There are currently three supporting vendors that sell a wind restrictor that is fundamentally a sheet of plastic that sticks out of the trunk opening. Robert's is certainly the most artistic of the three, but I do not think that he invented the concept. If I wanted an engraved wind restrictor I would buy it from him, but my personal preference is to have a plain one, and, since I think I can cut, drill, and polish a piece of plastic adequately, I will probably follow sb4's lead and make my own. This will not make my wind restrictor better than the one you bought from Robert, and having made it will not make me think that I am a better person than you. But I will get more satisfaction from making it than I would from buying it.

I do not think that I ever suggested that anyone who bought something instead of making it is lazy. I certainly do not believe it, so again, I am sorry if that is the impression that I gave. We all have priorities, and making things is not, and should not be, everyone's. If I did not enjoy making things, I wouldn't do it.

I did not join this forum, or post to this thread, to seek conflict. I did both to support those that have interests that are similar to mine. Unfortunately, sometimes conflict arises from discussion, and I hope that this explanation has relieved some of it.
 
#21 ·
First let me start by saying I have re-read this thread a couple of times, there is not a single post on this thread that in any way disparages Roberts wind restrictors. So I believe laying into the other people who posted to this thread is totally un-called for. Robert did a very good job explaining what he had to do to start his business, and I don't believe anyone who has seen his work would have anything but praise for his products.

A few of us have posted concerning possible home grown wind restrictors, and a few of you have stated that you prefer to have one of Roberts on your car. That is 100% good and improves the forum, but going from that to making disparaging comments about the people who would choose to do this is wrong. I will say load and clear this is free country if you don't want a home grown wind restrictor on your car that is your opinion and I would gladly go to war and give my all to ensure both you and future generations have the right to voice your opinions, but please confine yourself to relevant opinions and leave personal comments out of it.

midnightblues after re-reading your last post, let me suggest you re-read the post you quoted, since you got every fact wrong per your response:
1) since I did not post the thickness of the laminated plastic, you do not have a clue if it would be to thick or not. In fact since the inital post on the home grown wind restrictor listed a thickness of 2 mil (0.08 inches) simple math will tell anyone that a person could laminate 4 sheets of 0.5mil material and still stay thin enough to work.
2) personal opinion (I will note for the record though that my initial thought was a 4 layer three color laminate each of the first three layers would be colored to make a red, white, and blue flag, ie.. the first layer would have the red elements of the flag, the second layer would have the white elements of the flag, the third layer would have the blue elements of the flag, and the fourth would be a sealing layer)
3) "fiberoptics is not cheap" first please re-read my post I did not mention using fiberoptics that is something you added when you mis-read my post. On a sheet of plastic the two flat planes act like a reflecting surface to confine the light that enters thru the edge to the interior of the sheet, unless the light is interrupted and reflected by an interior feature to a nearly perpendicular angle to the the faces. This is exactly how the etched wind restrictors work, paper weights, etc.. , so if you re-read my post you will see that I said it would act like a fiberoptic, not that I would add fiberoptic cable.
4) power, the power is basically not relevant since it would use no more than a standard brake light.
5) you go on to discuss how much cost would be, but that would only matter if in fact I planned to go into business, and for me personally spending a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars on something I would enjoy working on is not really an issue.

Oh and I better not forget your coup-de-grass as you call it the cost of the laser etch machine, you are right I don't know and actually don't care since there are a number of cheaper methods to attain the same affect (please remember people were etching both stone and glass since the middle ages without lasers), I would probably use a sand blaster since I have one in my shop.

Per your post "Now that you have a couple of facts" please by all means join in and discuss the relative merits and methods of producing a home grown wind restrictor :thumbs:
 
#22 ·
MidniteBlues: <text deleted>-- I read your post correctly, it is obvious, that your changing your tune as this thread evolves, <text deleted>--
Are we reading the same thread ? Rustyknight has seemed pretty consistent in his plan and his view, to me.

Rustyknight, I think it would be very interesting, if you can make it work. And, as you say, it will be fun to work on, in any case. Have fun !
 
#23 ·
Are we reading the same thread ? Rustyknight has seemed pretty consistent in his plan and his view, to me.

Rustyknight, I think it would be very interesting, if you can make it work. And, as you say, it will be fun to work on, in any case. Have fun !
Thanks for your support, I would like to try this if I could get some free time to work on it, maybe as we get deeper into the winter and it gets to cold to mess around outside. I have not fully formulated a plan for this, any suggestions would be welcome. As I said in my last post I think the first version should be three color just to keep things simple.

Maybe first effort of a flag or maybe just a simple rainbow..........:eek:
 
#25 ·
Rustyknight ... if each sheet has , let's say you are doing that flag, has the white etching detail area on one sheet and red etching details area on the second sheet and blue etching details on the third sheet ... with your red, white and blue lights attached to the correct sheet ... that might be something. Maybe because the colors of the flag do not over lap, there would not be any bleeding of color from the lights from sheet to sheet. If there is, the white might appear pink or ?

Good luck ... it sounds like a fun winter project when the driving conditions force you inside. If you have a large enough work area and some beer you might find a huge crowd of us bored waiting room members over to hang out, joke around and give you advice. We'll need your address and a spare key to watch football while we are waiting for our phones to ring with good news ... like ... "here is your order number" ... Rustyknight, I'll order the pizza!

:thumbs:
 
#26 ·
Rustyknight ... if each sheet has , let's say you are doing that flag, has the white etching detail area on one sheet and red etching details area on the second sheet and blue etching details on the third sheet ... with your red, white and blue lights attached to the correct sheet ... that might be something. Maybe because the colors of the flag do not over lap, there would not be any bleeding of color from the lights from sheet to sheet. If there is, the white might appear pink or ?

Good luck ... it sounds like a fun winter project when the driving conditions force you inside. If you have a large enough work area and some beer you might find a huge crowd of us bored waiting room members over to hang out, joke around and give you advice. We'll need your address and a spare key to watch football while we are waiting for our phones to ring with good news ... like ... "here is your order number" ... Rustyknight, I'll order the pizza!

:thumbs:
My guess is that rather than crowd around my workbench in the basement you'll be polite and watch the big screen tv in the living room (just so I have plenty of room to work):lol: :lol:

And of course you'll have to drink the beer, since everyone knows a full fridge uses more electricity, and you would want to save me from paying those large electric bills.....:lol: :lol:
 
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