For more than a few of us, windshields are considered expendable. If I had a dollar for every one I've broken over the years of riding I would be able to afford a new one more often. It's actually pretty interesting how this single piece of plastic plays such a vital roll in our snowmobiling experience. If you've ever ridden without a windshield, especially in the middle of the season, you know what I'm talking about. It protects you from cold wind, fluffy powder blasts, and even those big chunks of snow off the machine in front of you. Definitely an important piece of equipment.

When it comes to windshields Sportech leads the way. If you are new to the sport you may not know this, but back a few years Sportech single-handedly revolutionized the windshield. The Cobra windshield introduced us to flared designs that protected our hands and improved the looks of our machines dramatically. Today, almost every new machine comes with some form of a flared windshield, but that doesn't mean that the Sportech Cobra should be forgotten.

This year we took a good look at the Cobra windshield available for the Polaris Gen II. Sportech sent us a new "mid height" piece to try out on our '99 RMK. One of the biggest advantages to the Cobra windshield is that you are offered a wide range of heights. Typically from the OEM you get 1 or maybe 2 different heights available. Sportech does a terrific job of offering us different heights, colors (smoked or clear) and graphics. Not only are the functional but they are sharp looking.

Installation of the Cobra windshield on the Gen II Polaris is a 5 minute job. You remove the stock windshield darts and retaining rubbers, pull the stock windshield, and install the Cobra in the reverse order. We got one of the first mid-heights available and we found that the center dart hole was off a bit. We could force it to fit in place, but found that to make it fit properly we had to drill a new hole in the windshield. We're not going to complain about Sportech getting us one of these out quick to try out... the problem has been remedied on the current shields now available.

A couple of things to watch for: The stock windshield rubbers can deteriorate after being on your machine for a while. When we changed our windshield we broke a couple of these rubbers and had to get some new ones. They are cheap, only a few cents from the dealer, so it might be a good idea to pick up a few before you make the windshield swap. Also, if you have a windshield/hood bag that uses Velcro on the windshield to hold itself in place you're going to need another piece for the new windshield (this is the case with the SnoRider bag).

The Cobra windshield is a nice product. Hand protection is very good with the flares and depending on which height you choose you get varying degrees of wind protection. It is priced at near what a stock windshield will cost (for a Polaris) at $79.95. It is much better looking than the stock windshield with the race flag graphic. That, along with the available heights, make it an option that you should look at if you break your stock windshield or if you are looking to customize your machine.

Contact info:
Sportech Inc.
15703 Jarvis St. NW
Elk River, MN 55330
(612)712-3965
www.sportechinc.com