CalSci Customer Service

[moondog]

I bought a CalSci Windshield for my 05 FJR. It's works great and does exactly what it supposed to do: cut the buffering in the cockpit. And the wider width keeps my hands warm. I think this guy makes these in his basement one at a time.

Mine came wraped in an old red tablecloth. A bottle of 'special' cleaner comes with the shield. Unfortunatley somebody forgot to screw down the cap and it all leaked out on the included towel. I sent this guy and email asking for another and he has not answered yet. Before I bought the shield I asked him if there is a waranty on it. All he said was "we take care of our customers" I'm still waiting for him to "take care" of me. And you won't find any printed material with the shield, if your expecting something that says "Thank you for buying a CalSci Product...etc. " forget it. But for $185.00 I think I'm entitiled to another bottle of cleaning fluid.

 

[JamesK]

I originally bought a CalSci for my Gen II, the damn thing never fit correctly, it would touch the LHS mirror post so much that it would scratch the paint off if/when I lowered the screen all the way down. Also, the W bracket was always a nightmare to fit back on. It was also a lot less resistant to scratching than other screens I've used. All my questions/concerns to the company were eventually answered with arrogant disbelief of my complaints. This screen never really worked very well either.

When I eventually got fed up with this POS quality screen and bought a Cee Bailey screen all these problems of proper clearances and fit instantly disappeared and the fit and finish of EVERY other after market screen I've used or seen makes the CalSci really look like homemade crap.

 

[Sagebrush]

My XL fits perfect, came wrapped in a purple towel. I didn't use the cleaning fluid much, I perfer a product like Plexus or the Pro Honda Cleaner. I like the thickness, width and clarity of the screen.

 

[Bungie]

Mine came in the purple dealio too, as well, I prefer Plexus to the concoction that he supplies. What got me about the CalSci were the edges were completely unfinished. I had to mask off the shield, then take a file, then sandpaper then polish to the edges. It's completely unacceptable in my opinion to supply something that shows rough 'saw' marks all the way around and that is sharp enough to take your head clean off in an accident.

Otherwise, I love the function of the shield.

 

[Patriot]

I love my CalSci Medium for my Gen I '04

Fits perfectly and for the deep south, is a great all season shield.

Winter it's all the way up when temps are cold (for here...coldest was 30...hands still get cold until VStrom hand guards)

Rain, up about halfway until I'm just peeking over the top

Summer, all the way down

Wifey Pillion at "high" speeds, mostly up so she can hang on

 

[flyingz06]

Mine came in the purple dealio too, as well, I prefer Plexus to the concoction that he supplies. What got me about the CalSci were the edges were completely unfinished. I had to mask off the shield, then take a file, then sandpaper then polish to the edges. It's completely unacceptable in my opinion to supply something that shows rough 'saw' marks all the way around and that is sharp enough to take your head clean off in an accident.
Otherwise, I love the function of the shield.

CeeBailey rocks. Comes wrapped professionally.

 

[Bungie]

CeeBailey rocks. Comes wrapped professionally.

Little story about a restaurant up here. They have cuisine from 31 different countries. No dish costs more than $15. Every table has it own waiter. The decor is fantastic. They have free valet parking, in fact, they'll send a free limo to pick you up if you don't have a car. They have the most extensive wine list in Canada.

But they went out of business because food sucked.

Whats my point? I don't give a flyin' **** about how something comes wrapped. So long as it arrives intact. I care about how it functions and the quality of it vs how much it costs.

Nuff said?

 

[manwhoride]

CeeBailey rocks. Comes wrapped professionally.

Little story about a restaurant up here. They have cuisine from 31 different countries. No dish costs more than $15. Every table has it own waiter. The decor is fantastic. They have free valet parking, in fact, they'll send a free limo to pick you up if you don't have a car. They have the most extensive wine list in Canada.

But they went out of business because food sucked.

Whats my point? I don't give a flyin' **** about how something comes wrapped. So long as it arrives intact. I care about how it functions and the quality of it vs how much it costs.

Nuff said?

I just bought a large Calsci and really like it. What made the difference for me was that in fact it kept my hands warmer and covered my entire torso. I tried a V-Stream but it moved around in the windshield housing too much for me and didn't cover me as well. But the deciding moment to even try Calsci was after calling Mark. He offered to let me do a "test drive" with his product, and if I was not completely satisfied to return it to him, he pays for shipping! Nothing to loose, I gave the windshield a try and am I ever glad I did. I really like it.

As far as the cleaner goes, you got a great windshield, this guy went the extra mile even considering such a nice gesture. I don't think for me a spilled bottle of plastic cleaner should cause you to get so indigent about customer service. Let something happen to the shield and I'll bet he takes care of something you purchased. and he is warranting.

 

[jim oneill]

CeeBailey rocks. Comes wrapped professionally.

Little story about a restaurant up here. They have cuisine from 31 different countries. No dish costs more than $15. Every table has it own waiter. The decor is fantastic. They have free valet parking, in fact, they'll send a free limo to pick you up if you don't have a car. They have the most extensive wine list in Canada.

But they went out of business because food sucked.

Whats my point? I don't give a flyin' **** about how something comes wrapped. So long as it arrives intact. I care about how it functions and the quality of it vs how much it costs.

Nuff said?

I just bought a large Calsci and really like it. What made the difference for me was that in fact it kept my hands warmer and covered my entire torso. I tried a V-Stream but it moved around in the windshield housing too much for me and didn't cover me as well. But the deciding moment to even try Calsci was after calling Mark. He offered to let me do a "test drive" with his product, and if I was not completely satisfied to return it to him, he pays for shipping! Nothing to loose, I gave the windshield a try and am I ever glad I did. I really like it.

As far as the cleaner goes, you got a great windshield, this guy went the extra mile even considering such a nice gesture. I don't think for me a spilled bottle of plastic cleaner should cause you to get so indigent about customer service. Let something happen to the shield and I'll bet he takes care of something you purchased. and he is warranting.

Cal Sci is best shield I,ve ever had! and i,ve had them ALL my customer service experience was excellent as well

 

[RaYzerman19]

Mine came in the purple dealio too, as well, I prefer Plexus to the concoction that he supplies. What got me about the CalSci were the edges were completely unfinished. I had to mask off the shield, then take a file, then sandpaper then polish to the edges. It's completely unacceptable in my opinion to supply something that shows rough 'saw' marks all the way around and that is sharp enough to take your head clean off in an accident.
Otherwise, I love the function of the shield.

I agree..... I spent quite a bit of time cleaning up all the sharp edges and "saw" marks. Mine also had a dull haze all over it, which bugged me to no end, and it took two tries with Novus2 to make it go away. However, it does function better than stock. Mine came with red material and the bottle of cleaner is simply lens cleaner (dish soap and isopropyl alcohol). Make your own or go to the dollar store.

 

[Sagebrush]

Mine came in the purple dealio too, as well, I prefer Plexus to the concoction that he supplies. What got me about the CalSci were the edges were completely unfinished. I had to mask off the shield, then take a file, then sandpaper then polish to the edges. It's completely unacceptable in my opinion to supply something that shows rough 'saw' marks all the way around and that is sharp enough to take your head clean off in an accident.
Otherwise, I love the function of the shield.

I agree..... I spent quite a bit of time cleaning up all the sharp edges and "saw" marks. Mine also had a dull haze all over it, which bugged me to no end, and it took two tries with Novus2 to make it go away. However, it does function better than stock. Mine came with red material and the bottle of cleaner is simply lens cleaner (dish soap and isopropyl alcohol). Make your own or go to the dollar store.

Sounds like you guys recieved shields that were not finished properly. I've only tried one XL on my 07 and it was finished along all edges with a smooth bull nose. The vent is cut out clean with no burs etc.

Mine took one and half weeks to recieve and I shipped it by next day air too trying to get it before a trip. So, I figure they are made to order, they said two weeks at first and were able to get it out a bit quicker. My Cee Baily also took the same amount of time, about two weeks. Cal-Sci followed up my order with a couple phone calls, one to confirm the order and the size and a second call letting me know it was shipped. I bought mine two years ago.

 

[johndaub]

Mine also had a dull haze all over it,

I was initially disappointed in my CeeBailey since it had a horrible haze on it. However, it came right off with dishwashing soap and water (probably plasticizer from the plastic wrapping?). Nobody is perfect but I would draw the line at having to file and sand the edges of a shield for these prices.

 

[Crash Cash]

Whats my point? I don't give a flyin' **** about how something comes wrapped. So long as it arrives intact. I care about how it functions and the quality of it vs how much it costs.

Because if someone gives enough of a **** about their product to do little things like wrap it safely for shipping, then it probably means they didn't skimp on the rest of it, and that they care a little. I've bought enough stuff to notice that yes, there's a correlation.

And with *our* UPS guys, if you don't wrap it to survive nuclear war, it might not arrive intact. I got a Dell server once that was so bashed, there wasn't a square angle anywhere on the case. Incompetent fuckers.

 

[manwhoride]

I bought a CalSci Windshield for my 05 FJR. It's works great and does exactly what it supposed to do: cut the buffering in the cockpit. And the wider width keeps my hands warm. I think this guy makes these in his basement one at a time. Mine came wraped in an old red tablecloth. A bottle of 'special' cleaner comes with the shield. Unfortunatley somebody forgot to screw down the cap and it all leaked out on the included towel. I sent this guy and email asking for another and he has not answered yet. Before I bought the shield I asked him if there is a waranty on it. All he said was "we take care of our customers" I'm still waiting for him to "take care" of me. And you won't find any printed material with the shield, if your expecting something that says "Thank you for buying a CalSci Product...etc. " forget it. But for $185.00 I think I'm entitled to another bottle of cleaning fluid.

I usually don't get involved in others dissatisfaction with stuff. But, this time I think it is necessary. I emailed Mark

(the owner of Calsci) and wanted to know why the heart burn about the edges of the windscreen. Here is what I had to say, and his response:

Hi Mark, It seems as though you have an unhappy couple of customers on the FJR

> forum for not finishing the edge of your windscreen. I never noticed

> until they were complaining, then I looked at my stock shield. This is

> just a suggestion as I happen to think you have the best product out

> there. The ends of the windshield do show saw marks and it does look

> unfinished. And, in this poor business climate one can not afford to

> let loose ends go unchecked, if in fact this is a loose end, and did

> go unchecked. If this is the norm, again, in my opinion, you are doing

> your business a disservice. I only gave rave reviews about Calsci on

> the forum sharing how you authorized me to test ride the windshield

> before purchasing, and how affective it was for my intended purpose.

>

> Would you consider finishing the edges of my shield so it reflects the

> superior quality that Calsci produces leaving nothing esthetically

> undone?>

> Regards,

and his response:

Hi Brian,We will not polish top edges as I consider this a safety issue due to

reflected glare. I think the top and sides of our shield are finished

appropriately.

We don't finish the bottom or the edges inside the vents, as it's

extremely difficult to get into those places. Furthermore, once mounted

on the bike, they're not visually apparent.

Mark

So being the kinda guy that takes nothing for granted I took my OEM polished edged shield into the sunlight and whalla, just like setting behind a highly polished chrome bumper as the sun is hitting it just right. Very bright reflection of the sun and potentially dangerous situation should you not be able to reposition the angle relative to visual accessibility.... I am convinced that California Science Windshield is not trying to cut corners, they are simply looking out for my best interest, sticking to their guns about safety and taking heat as a result. I am impressed that they have not folded under the pressure and done like the competition. I believe this sets them apart, and above the competition. I still like the product and would absolutely do business with them anytime. My view, and opinion. I sincerely hope this clears up why they do what they do.....

 

[jameswilson]

Bought my CalSci about a year ago. Loved the fact that the owner invited me to try it and send it back for a smaller if I was unhappy (I ordered the largest he makes). The covers he sends are obviously made by him, so what, they work. Do other shields come with a storage cover? Edges of mine are not as polished as the OEM, but they look fine. Do you guys ride your bikes or do you just take them to shows? The edges are no duller than the rest of the bike when it has a layer of dirt. OK, so your bottle of soap spilled, two thoughts 1) do the other shields come with soap and a cleaning rag and 2) Don't you already have cleaner for the OEM windshield?

Litghten up, I suspect that CalSci would have happily refunded your money if you had said so when you recieved the shield.

 

[NightShine]

I also got the CalSci windshield after running with the V-Stream for a time. What sold me was their "return it if you don't like it" policy. I ordered the XL size, which turned out to be a bit taller than I really wanted, and (duh!) required me to remove the V-Strom hand guards . But I called up Mark and, as I only live about an hour away, he invited me over to his shop for a custom fitting at no charge.

His shop is one bay of a business warehouse - small office area and a large warehouse room. Mark is an interesting guy, and motorcycle fairings are just one of his several interests. If I remember his story correctly, making windshields started as just a hobby for him. He spent 3 months designing and building a large laser table to cut sheet stock under automated control, began experimenting with different windshield designs using his expertise from his past work at Boeing Aircraft, and began making a few for his friends.

The laser table is a pretty amazing piece of equipment. The flat sheet stock is cut by a stationary laser, whose beam path is carefully guided by pivoting mirrors, leaving the outline of several windshields in its wake. They are then popped out of the sheet and go into a forming oven for shaping, and after they cool, are packaged for shipment.

Mark exchanged my XL for the Large size and carefully trimmed the "wings" to fit around the hand guards, using a band saw and sander. Fits great and it is definitely an improvement over the V-Strom for me. All told, with several trial fittings to the bike, Mark spent over an hour with me, at no compensation. He just wants his customers to be satisfied.

And he also mentioned to me that he had made a conscious decision not to be in the cleaning fluid business, although he did supply a bottle and cloth with each windshield. He has constant requests asking to supply more cleaner, so he just put the recipe up on his website, allowing folks to brew their own if they want.

 

[Patriot]

I purchased my Gen I Cal Sci Medium about a year ago. I called Mark, as advised, to talk about it. He emphatically advised the Medium for my deep south, warm riding and he was right. Did give me the guaranteed option to exchange it for a Large if I desired to do so.

I asked him about the reported sharp, unfinished edges others had brought up and criticized. He said he didn't think it was a problem for some time, but the reports were increasing and he was concerned about his reputation and believed his design and engineered shields were the best in the world. He didn't want the manufacturing to spoil that in any way. He told me he was making some changes in manufacturing and adding an additional quality control step before sending out the shields for now on. He asked me to call him back with my opinion on the quality control of my shield. He pointed out some had reported very sharp edges that were uncomfortable for some to handle picking up and moving around the shield with bare hands. He wanted to address that specifically and in the past, everyone in his company only handled shields while wearing gloves. They would now have to comfortably run their hands lightly along the edges bare handed before shipping. He pointed out that polishing the edges was not an option because of reflective glare from the sun.

Well, I reported to him that my shield was fine on arrival. He said that's what current folks at the time were saying and he thinks his quality control on that issue is a success and future shields would be good to go quality wise.

He also invited folks to read about modifying their shields on his website and they could either "clean up" the edges of older shields or call him with specifics and possibly return it to him for a "clean up" and then it would be returned to the customer.

Well, bottom line, "ya pays ya money and ya take ya chances". I'm estatic about my Cal Sci Shield.

below is from: www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Fairing.html#Cleaning

Cleaning your Windshield

We make our own cleaning fluid. When you buy a windshield from us, we give you a small spray bottle of cleaning fluid and a micro-fiber cleaning towel. Here's our "secret" washing fluid recipe, the result of testing about 25 different formulas:

Makes 1 quart = 1 liter windshield washing fluid 1/2 cup = 100ml ammonia (double this if you have a lot of bugs)

2 cups = 400ml isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol

1.5 tsp = 8ml car wash detergent (don't substitute dish soap or laundry detergent)

2 cups = 500ml water

We recommend using only micro-fiber cleaning towels on your windshield.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Repairing your Windshield

Scratches in our windshields can be easily repaired with any good plastic polish. Plexus and Novus are two good brands. You can easily buy a 3 bottle kit of Novus #1, #2, and #3 on Ebay for about $10. We use #1 in house to clean and polish our windshields, and #3 to repair any small scratches that happen during the manufacturing. #2 is used to remove any tiny scratches left by the #3 process.

To repair a scratch, use a good cloth - a used diaper, or the microfiber cloth we supply is good. Rub across the scratch with #3 until the scratch is visually gone. Then rub against the #3 direction with #2 to clean up the area. Finally, use #1 to polish the windshield.

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Modifying your Windshield

You may paint your Calsci shield with pretty much anything. Paint from the rear of the shield, and preferentially use Acrylic Enamel paint. From the front of the shield it will look fantastic.

To drill a hole in your windshield, it's best to use a slower speed drill, like a battery powered drill. Also it's best to use acrylic bits, available from Craftics.com. You can do this with normal tools if you're very careful. Drill a small pilot hole in the center, 1/8" or 3/16" (3-4mm). With the full size bit, drill from the front of the shield just enough to make the full diameter hole on the front, but not all the way through. Now turn the shield over, support it on a piece of wood, and drill from the rear all the way through. Drilling from both sides like this minimizes the chances of chipping the shield as your bit completes the cut.

To cut away part of your shield, first cover most of the front of the shield with masking tape. You don't want to scratch your shield. Mark on the tape with a black felt tip pen where you want to cut.

Cut the shield with a band saw, saber saw, or dremel tool using a blade with 12 to 14 teeth per inch. Cut triangular pieces off the corners in preparation for rounding them. Or you can use the top piece you cut off to mark corner curves on your new top edge.

You can remove smaller sections of plastic using a sanding drum attachment on a dremel tool. Mark the shield first with a black felt tip pen and cut to your mark. You can draw directly on the plastic, then later wash off the ink with alcohol.

Sand new rounded corners and straighten your cut edge using a floor mounted belt sander with 80 to 120 grit sandpaper. If you don't have a floor mounted belt sander, you can get similar results by securing a hand held sander upside down in a vise and holding the windshield over that. Use a sharp piece of metal, like an open scissors, to scrape the sanded edge. This will give you the same edge as sanding with about 600 grit. Scrape with the scissors to break the sharp corners on the edge.

When making custom cuts, we use a band saw with a 12 tooth per inch non-ferrous metal blade; a floor mounted belt sander with 80 grit sandpaper; and a plastic scraping tool from Craftics, available on Ebay, Amazon, DelviesPlastics.com, ProfessionalPlastics.com or Craftics.com.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

My Cal-Sci looked and felt like it had been cut out by hand with a hacksaw and left that way. Optical clarity was poor, having multiple blemishes in the plastic. I did try it just for argument sake, and had it performed up to all the hype, I'd have probably sanded the edges myself, but I was underwhelmed with its performance and sent it back. The owner was less than pleasant over the phone, and it took a little arguing to get him to agree to refund the shipping cost as well as the purchase price. IMO, something that looked so shoddy should have never left his shop. Having now tried stock, Yami tall, Cal-Sci, and V-Stream, I have to say that my cheapo Laminar Lip on a stock screen performs at least as well as any of the others for a fraction of the price. I'm sticking with it.

 

[RaYzerman19]

I'm just going to add that IMHO, Calsci's responses are unacceptable. The edges are as sharp as a knife and are unsafe, especially if you have a little accident and catch your throat on it, or any other skin part while you are walking around or cleaning your bike. While cleaning it, microfibre cloths catch on the edges. I will buy a little bit of the "glare" story from a polished edge, but just do what Cee Bailey does, bullnose the edges and don't make them glossy (don't polish them, sand them), and don't let me cut myself with virtually no effort. I'm sorry, but they are simply in denial and of course, saving money by not having any finishing operations.

Having said that, the windshield is functional..... but, my business will go elsewhere next time.