Ten-Foot Paint

That's the term for a marginal paint job, where it looks fine from 10 feet away, but the flaws show up when you approach more closely.

Today, I modified a "universal fit (except for the Triumph Scrambler)" fly screen that I bought, quite a while ago, to actually be usable on the Scrambler. The smaller headlight that Triumph uses on this bike makes the "universal" fit not applicable.

So, I reversed the mounting tabs, bent them to fit, then drilled new mounting holes. Then, I heated the plastic screen, and re-contoured it to more closely fit around the headlight. This caused some bubbling on the surface of the screen, so I had to sand it, then paint it.

That turned into a nightmare of bubbly paint, multiple coats, etc. I am not satisfied with the paint job, and i have an idea of how to fix it. But, for now, it will remain a 10-foot job...

Along with the hand guards, the flyscreen should provide a bit more comfort on cold days, this winter. The hand guards will probably come off, in the springtime, and stay off for warmer weather. But, I might end up leaving the flyscreen on, year-round, since it really will make a comfort difference at highway speeds, on long trips.


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