A ninjette with 100% carbon fiber body?

A buddy of mine hit some gravel on a corner and slid his cracking all the fairings on the right hand side. Then, to add insult to injury, the bike hit the curb, and flipped over onto the left side and broke all those fairings too :P
So his bike is totaled! Cosmetically speaking... the slide was low speed, so its probably okay mechanically speaking (but thats not what this thread is about)...

I was thinking of lending him my fairings as molds so that he could fabricate some new ones. The grand total to have all 7 fairings replaced was just over $900. Since we are college students, I would think that he could make fiberglass parts for much cheaper... He suggested carbon fiber...

Do you think it would look good??


And to VeX, how much do you think that much carbon fiber, resin and bondo would cost?

I'd think making them out of carbon fiber would most likely be over $900? Do either of you have any fiberglassing experience?

I'd think making them out of carbon fiber would most likely be over $900? Do either of you have any fiberglassing experience?

Yeah I have a fair amount... But no carbon :P I know its a hell of a lot harder tho...

Unless you guys have the ability to do it yourself, I'd say no.

May not matter to him, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got a lot of flak for having a carbon fiber bodied 250.
Some people eh. :p
Personally I don't think carbon fiber would compliment the ninja 250 body very well.

Fiberglass would be a better option I'd think.
Although I don't know how well the fiber glass would hold up if the bike were to be dropped.

He'd be better off buying a replacement set of fairings off of eBay or the classifieds somewhere. Or just make it into a naked streetfighter.

He'd be better off buying a replacement set of fairings off of eBay or the classifieds somewhere. Or just make it into a naked streetfighter.

Its a ZZR though :( We can't get replacement fairings

Unless you guys have the ability to do it yourself, I'd say no.

May not matter to him, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got a lot of flak for having a carbon fiber bodied 250.
Some people eh. :p
Personally I don't think carbon fiber would compliment the ninja 250 body very well.

Fiberglass would be a better option I'd think.
Although I don't know how well the fiber glass would hold up if the bike were to be dropped.

Well thats kinda what I thought... but the fiberglass is heavy thats all... I was thinking with the carbon fiber it would actually look pretty good, esentially it would just be an all black bike. I've tried to find some photos of other bikes that are carbon fiber, but I haven't been able to see a bike done 100% with cf :P

Oh, and if the fiberglass is done using epoxy resin, then it would hold up better than the ABS plastic fairings..

Here's a bike done up fully in carbon fiber for your viewing pleasure,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v137/mistabob/ec5c218630a5.jpg

He'd be better off buying a replacement set of fairings off of eBay or the classifieds somewhere. Or just make it into a naked streetfighter.
ZZR 250's look horrible without their fairings. :p
Ever seen one without em? There's way too much empty space between the front wheel and the engine.
Looks hella dorky.

ZZR 250's look horrible without their fairings. :p <--AGREED
Ever seen one without em? There's way too much empty space between the front wheel and the engine.
Looks hella dorky.

I think the carbon fiber actually looks kinda good haha... mind you that picture is really weird (there are some pretty bad spots of glare where it appears 100% black)

Well that's carbon fiber for ya, when there's a bunch of funky curves like that. :D

I would streetfighter it myself.

Just come up with something creative for a little chin fairing if you need.

I have a roll of CF/Kevlar mesh that I use for making smaller panels. I was thinking about making fairings with it, but damn the mold would be a bitch to make. I'd prefer to do a glove mold, but the $$ for the silicone would creep up there plus to do it right you'd need a good heat source and all for the vacuum bagging. :eek: It'd be neat though :p . CF gas tanks for like ZX-10r's are out there and they're like $1,800!

It's not that the materials are expensive, but CF is labor intensive like no other! You literally spend days worth of work making the reverse of the molds PERFECT as any imperfections will show up in the mold and then the CF. Hell whenever I do my dash with an aftermarket gauge assembly I won't even use the CF for that.

I have a roll of CF/Kevlar mesh that I use for making smaller panels. I was thinking about making fairings with it, but damn the mold would be a bitch to make. I'd prefer to do a glove mold, but the $$ for the silicone would creep up there plus to do it right you'd need a good heat source and all for the vacuum bagging. :eek: It'd be neat though :p . CF gas tanks for like ZX-10r's are out there and they're like $1,800!

It's not that the materials are expensive, but CF is labor intensive like no other! You literally spend days worth of work making the reverse of the molds PERFECT as any imperfections will show up in the mold and then the CF. Hell whenever I do my dash with an aftermarket gauge assembly I won't even use the CF for that.

Why not just make a mold out of fiberglass off the existing body part, then put a few layers of gel coat, and then cf over that? wouldn't that give you a perfect replica?

On a side note... would 100% fiberglass panels be heavier than ABS panels? How much more weight would you add do you think?