In the world of online shopping, there is nothing better than the assurance that the product you purchase is high in quality and comes from a reputable name. At Side By Side Stuff we’re proud to offer products from National Cycle, a motorcycle and powersports windshield manufacturing company that has been in the business for many years and holds quite the reputation.
National Cycle, Inc. was founded in 1937 by a young man named Gordon Willey in Chicago, Illinois under the name Nation’s Cycle Center. Gordon believed success in business required “Total Customer Satisfaction”. Gordon’s business philosophy was the beginning of a long and successful tradition that National Cycle still maintains today. In the early years (1941) the factory’s production was devoted to war material, but Victory and the Post-War Boom along with the fast growing popularity of motorcycles meant a good future for the company.
Gordon Willey (1903-1989)
Business came with years of success due to the motorcycle enthusiast craze over British, Indian and the big American V-twin motorcycle in the mid-50s and furthermore, the birth of the Japanese Bike Boom in the late 60s; but in 1974 when Gordon’s health became an issue, his son Barry, took over the family business as President with his brother, G.B., as Senior Engineer and Partner. From this moment on, Nation’s Cycle Center would carry on with the name National Cycle.
With dedication and determination, Barry vigorously worked on new windshield designs made from new materials; in 1975 he developed and introduced the very first motorcycle windshield made from General Electric’s new MR40T4 polycarbonate material which was later called FMR hardcoated Lexan. Barry choose Lexan polycarbonate because of its superior strength, Lexan polycarbonate is 20 times more impact resistant than acrylic (the standard material at that time).
Barry Willey, President of National Cycle, hard at work in 1974.
Today Lexan is one of the most common materials used for UTV windshields, among other similar polycarbonates, because of its quality in strength and reputation for longevity. National Cycle, known for their windshield quality, was given an Innovation Award by Honda in 2004 for their groundbreaking Quantum hardcoating. With arrival of the side by side industry, National Cycle was ready and geared up for the SxS market; producing complex shapes for some of the largest, one piece polycarbonate windshields ever made.
A world leader in windshield manufacturing, National Cycle distributes more than any other windshield company worldwide and is an OEM supplier for major companies like BMW, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, Polaris, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha who all share National Cycle’s philosophy of quality design and manufacturing. Furthermore, National Cycle holds more patients for the design and productions of windshields than any other company in the industry.
At Side By Side Stuff we offer full and half windshields for the Polaris Ranger and Polaris RZR, including windshields that feature National Cycle’s Wipe N’ Wash technology. Wipe N’ Wash Full Windshields utilize a motor powered wiper and wash combination system that conveniently improves visibility on the dirtiest rides with just a flip of a switch!
UTV parts and accessories from reputable brands are our thing, now that you know just how reputable National Cycle is the choice is easy; visit our National Cycle brand page today.
