The company known today as National Cycle, Inc. started in Chicago, Illinois in 1937 as Nation's Cycle Center. The company was founded by a young man, Mr. Gordon Willey (1903-1989), who believed that success in business required "Total Customer Satisfaction". This business philosophy was the beginning of a long and successful tradition. It's a tradition company maintain today as company continue building the finest motorcycle windshields and accessories riders can buy.
National Cycle, Inc. is the world leader in motorcycle windshield manufacturing, with more distribution than any other windshield company in the world.
Company are the OEM supplier to BMW, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, Polaris, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha – companies who share Company philosophy of quality design and manufacturing.
National Cycle has developed more innovations and holds more patents for the design and production of windshields than any other company in the industry. Company listen to Company customers and work hard to maintain Company leadership position. Company are proud that Company continue to design, engineer and manufacture Company fine products at National Cycle, Inc. U.S.A. Company QUALITY POLICY
Company are committed to meeting company internal and external customers' requirements and having a culture of continuous improvement with quality being the responsibility of every employee.
In 1929 the New York Stock Exchange crashed and hard times came to everyone. But in 1931, Lady Luck (his biplane) took Gordon Willey to new heights. On a wing and a prayer, he went on to found Nation's Cycle Center in Maywood, Illinois in 1937 and a new era in motorcycle accessories was born.
Gordon, a tool and die expert, had but one goal: to build for American motorcyclists the best accessories for the machines they rode and loved.
The early years were quite a struggle, and after Dec. 7, 1941 the factory's output was devoted to war materiel, but Victory and the Post-War Boom meant good times ahead for Nation's Cycle Center.
In 1945, hundreds of thousands of men came home from Europe and the Pacific and settled down to a quiet, peaceful life.
Except it was a little too quiet and a bit too peaceful. Veterans craved the excitements and thrills and dangers that used to be a part of their daily lives. For tens of thousands of these young and anxious men, the answer to that craving came in the form of a motorcycle.
A new nation of riders meant a world of opportunity for Nation's Cycle Center. A small range of accessories soon became a wide range of accessories, and business boomed.
By the mid-50s, America was really starting to rock and roll and the big American v-twin motorcycle became the undisputed King of the Highway.
And who better to dress the King than The Nation's Cycle Center? Their products catalog featured a wide range of dresser accessories as seen here on their brand new (at the time) Harley-Davidson® Duo-Glide.
Genuine Nation-Bilt products featured in this photo include Windshield and Mounts, Rear View Mirrors, Color Handlebar Grips, Fender Tips, Fender Rails, Front and Rear Chrome Bumpers, Wheel Discs, Gas Caps, Seat Rails, Spot Lights, Highway Bars, Saddlebag Guards, Tailgunner Lights, and Luggage Carrier.
Just twenty years after the Second World War, Japan again invaded America... but this time they were welcomed with open arms and wide-open wallets. So began an era of cheap but technologically advanced Japanese motorcycles. Suddenly everyone was on a motorcycle – even the nicest people.
Since its inception, Nation's Cycle Center was a manufacturer of accessories for Harleys, Indians and British bikes. With the birth of the Japanese Bike Boom, Gordon Willey saw a great opportunity to expand his market.
That market expanded beyond everyone's expectations, and many of Nation's Cycle Center's greatest innovations were on the near horizon.
Gordon's enthusiasm knew no bounds, but his health certainly did. In 1974, his son Barry rode home and took over the family business as President with his brother, G.B., as Senior Engineer and Partner. Nation's Cycle Center would now be known as National Cycle.
With vigor and dedication, Barry went to work on new windshield designs made from new materials. Barry’s pioneering spirit introduced the worldwide motorcycle industry to the No-Hole Ballsocket, one-piece scooter windshields, quick release windshields and backrests, and other designs utilizing his numerous mechanical patents.
Most importantly, in 1975 he developed and introduced the very first motorcycle windshield made from General Electric’s new MR40T4 polycarbonate material (later called FMR hardcoated Lexan®). This new windshield was called the Heavy Duty™ and was available for all brands of bikes.
Barry chose Lexan polycarbonate for its superior strength – 20X more impact resistant than acrylic, the standard material at that time for motorcycle windshields. An avid motorcycle enthusiast himself, Barry immediately realized the benefits of polycarbonate for motorcycle riders. The rest, as they say, is history.
Following the Japanese Bike Boom, the industry was hit by overstocked warehouses, a tariff on <750cc imported motorcycles, and a general Bike Bust.
National Cycle was in no mood to get busted, however, and continued to design and develop innovative products for motorcyclists worldwide. The polycarbonate Heavy Duty™ Windshield was expanded into a range of styles and sizes, while the world's first polycarbonate replacement screen, introduced for the BMW R100RT a year earlier, continued to sell extremely well.
The Japanese manufacturers were beginning to expand and refine their development of metric cruisers. Barry was quick to realize the importance of this growing market segment, and developed accessories and windshield applications designed exclusively for these bikes. The metric cruisers helped sell the accessories and, conversely, the range of quality accessories helped sell the bikes.
What many considered to be a passing fad or a shrinking market became a tidal wave of success for National Cycle. More importantly, National Cycle's investment in this market was a significant factor in its continued growth and development.
This period saw unprecedented growth of new products, new designs, and even greater market leadership.
Starting off with gradient-tinted windshields (Airhawk, Agressor, Street Shield), National Cycle followed up with the enormously popular Flyscreen® and the Cruiseliner™ quick-release saddlebags. Accessories designed for Honda cruisers became the Paladin® line, and in 2001, National Cycle launched ZTechnik® with a wide range of accessories designed exclusively for BMW® motorcycles.
The real frosting on this decade's cake was the 2003 introduction of their quick-release SwitchBlade® Windshields and Mount Kits that let riders remove or install their windshield in less than 5 seconds, without tools. These super-tough, premium quality polycarbonate windshields also introduced another first: Quantum® hardcoating. Developed by National Cycle, Quantum is the toughest and most scratch resistant, state-of-the-art hardcoating in the world. There is simply nothing better.
The company could not rest on its laurels, however, because the cream of the crop was just getting ready to be poured.
Some people just can't stop messing with things. Barry is one of those people. He may or may not have been the first person to ask why motorcycle windshields were shaped the way they were, but he was the first person to actually change that shape – and it turned the motorcycle world upside down.
Barry simply inverted the traditional windshield paradigm, putting the widest section at the top, and added a distinctive "V" profile to channel turbulent air. It sounds basic, but it was so uniquely designed and developed that National Cycle was able to get a mechanical patent on the concept. The VStream® was born.
Riders weren't sure at first what they were looking at, but they immediately felt how well the VStream worked. Word got around, and suddenly they couldn't be made fast enough.
Currently there are 205 VStream Windscreens for over 113 different model bikes.
Big ideas sometimes translate into products that are, well... BIG. Take a look at National Cycle's large polycarbonate canopies for urban transport vehicles. The company now produces some of the largest one-piece polycarbonate canopies in the world.
Fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly transport goes beyond just scooters and motorcycles to include small commercial and delivery vehicles that can function in crowded urban centers.
National Cycle's polycarbonate canopies feature the company's exclusive Quantum® hardcoating for the ultimate in scratch resistance — especially important since most urban transport vehicles feature windshield wipers. Quantum hardcoating made its first appearance in 2000 on the fully enclosed, windshield wiper-equipped Benelli Adiva scooter. Vehicle testing included over one million windshield wiper cycles with water, sand and dirt... without a scratch on the Adiva's Quantum hardcoated polycarbonate canopy.
National Cycle is proud to be the world leader in windshield design and manufacturing for this exciting market.