The Fast Aire Story:
Fast Aire was formed in late 2001 by a small group of riding friends in Reno, NV....
It all started when John bought a FLHT sport windshield from a known eBay volume seller and it was a piece of crap ... delivered with rough edges and scratches. When John called the Seller and complained about the quality, the seller basically told him " what do you expect for $40.00 ? ". Well John was pissed but decided to hand finished the rough edges and bolted it on anyway.
Some of us were sitting around one day & BS'ing about buying parts on the Internet and eBay came up and John told his story about the windshield. Later on, I walked outside and took a look at the windshield then exclaimed "I can do better than that with a hacksaw! ... DO IT! I was told. After a good laugh, not much more was said about it that day.
Sometime later, we met to go riding. Before we took off, John says ... hey Jim, wheres that windshield ? I replied, "its on the bike". They walked over to take a look and to their surprise, there was this nice looking windshield with smooth edges and all, very nice. After a few minutes of them looking & feeling the edges and me telling them how i made it, I then asked, how would you guys like to go into the windshield business with me? I continued with how I had researched the idea and talked to a local company about making them with a laser and I had a general idea of the start up costs. The group kicked the idea around but generally agreed on the deal. On that day, Fast Aire was born.
During the material evaluation, I found out that hardness (rated at shear, tensile and psi ) is not always the best choice for a windshield. What a motorcycle windshield really needs is a combination of durability, flexibility and impact resistance. Also, a windshield should bend, absorb an impact but never break. It also has to have good UV protection (sunlight) built in to protect against yellowing or hazing. Many plastics have a higher shear strength but are more brittle or have little UV protection.
I spent the next several months reviewing material specifications, designing the shield so it looks great but controls air-flow too and talking to several plastic companies about manufacturing the windshields. The group tested / reviewed many different materials and designs before deciding on a design and I picked a Reno company to make them.
In April 2002, after having a few hundred made, I placed the first advertisement for the 8 inch Light Grey on eBay. Fast Aire's windshields were an immediate success and they sold out in just weeks. We made more of them and they sold out as well..........
What started out as a casual idea among friends, is now a full time business.
Only in America can this happen.
Update: July 2009
I have long kept this business very small and ran it more like a hobby than a full time source of income, but that will be changing. I have decided to grow the business to include more after market products for your Harley Davidson motorcycle.
This decision to grow the business was triggered by unethical business practices from a person I thought had more class than this. After doing business with him & his company for seven years, this person took my prototype design work that his company was doing for Fast Aire and manufactured my design for himself. He Stole It ! Basically, screwed me for no reason other than for money. I guess he was this way all along & I just didnt see it. I should have listened to his employees who tried to warn me... oh well.
Being the low life that he is, he doesnt even use the company name but instead started a new company using his sons name... like I couldnt figure that out. So if you see a windshield company in Nevada and its not Fast Aire... well, you do the math.
Update: Dec 2009
Fast Aire is now carrying the Freedom Wings brand of adjustable fairing wings. We had designed our own version but after a closer look, I decided that the Freedoom Wings, although less profitable, was an excellent design. Simply, I think they're the best on the market.
Update: Jan 2010
Fast Aire has designed our version of the Floorboard Extenders that will place the riders floorboards outward by 3/4". These are currently being manufactured and will be available in early Feb 2010.
Update July 2010
Fast Aire is please to announce the addition of Freedom Shields to our product line.
Freedom Shields makes one of the highest quality windshields available today. Go check them out on our Freedom Shields page.
Jim Blackmon
Pres
Fast Aire Motorcycle products
TreyCo Concepts LLC
