windshield rivets

[driverm3bk]

I am replacing the windshield on my R100S and I can't get the center pin on the plastic rivets to seat all the way down. They go about half way and stick. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Brad Kuhn

[King]

Rub on some Armorall or a silicone-based product and tap them in with a little "gentle persuasion." It's just a friction fit designed to expand the plastic rivet rather than pull the windscreen into compression. I've had to do this with new rivets and when reinstalling old rivets. A small punch or nail set will work just fine as long as you don't go crazy.

[jamesdunn]

Rub on some Armorall or a silicone-based product and tap them in with a little "gentle persuasion." It's just a friction fit designed to expand the plastic rivet rather than pull the windscreen into compression. I've had to do this with new rivets and when reinstalling old rivets. A small punch or nail set will work just fine as long as you don't go crazy.

+one. I use a small hammer.

[King]

+one. I use a small hammer.

Well said. Rubber or plastic mallet. It's not rocket science... it's airhead science.

[driverm3bk]

Thanks all. I will try a lubricant. Already tried a tack hammer.

I assume to remove them you punch them through then pull the body out.

[jamesdunn]

Thanks all. I will try a lubricant. Already tried a tack hammer.

I assume to remove them you punch them through then pull the body out.
To remove the rivets you push them out from the "inside" of the fairing. I use a nail set. A pair of needle nose pliers or similar may be required to finish pulling the plastic rivets out.

[AnnapolisAirhead]

I assume to remove them you punch them through then pull the body out.

This is sounding like an episode of the Soprannos...or is it just me? :stick

[King]

Seems to me that one thing hasn't changed since my first BMW in 1975. The way body panels come apart/go together is so d--- clever it's almost impossible to figure out the first time you do it. Then you feel foolish because it's simple if you know the trick. Must be a German thing.:german

[James.A]

Any reason not to put the rivets in the freezer overnight? I'd like to think that when frozen, the center posts would be stiffer.

[535is]

Any reason not to put the rivets in the freezer overnight? I'd like to think that when frozen, the center posts would be stiffer.
... as well as more brittle. Nylon can break when cold. It isn't that hard to get them started.

[lkchris]

You COULD just cut off the excess ... .

[driverm3bk]

I used Vaseline and the little studs went right in! KY Jelly probably would have worked even better!