Ebay fairings.....

[Verus Cidere]

Hey guys! I've been planning to get fiberglass replacement fairings for some time now, repainting them the same color, and then airbrushing them, and the rest of my bike. I was planning to get them from airtech (http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/...2501988-06.htm) for about $330 not including shipping and with no holes cut whatsoever. I found these one ebay recently, and from what I can tell from feedback, they're pretty good fairings. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT ; http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT) What do you guys think? Do they look feasable or do they look like crap to you? They would lessen the price by at least $100 not even knowing the shipping cost from airtech.

Also, they come primed, I have the paint, the airbrush artist and the airbrush paint, and the clear coat, but I don't have a paint booth or someone to actually paint the fairings. My friend who's doing the airbrushing for me says he's good with that, but not with even coats covering the entire part. What would be a good price to get the two fairings painted and the whole bike cleared? Thanks in advance!

Edit -- Whoops! Sorry Alex, I just realized I accidentally put this in tech! Can you move it to farkles for me? Thanks!

[kkim]

if you're going to repaint the whole bike anyway, why bother with new plastics? are yours so bad that they can't be patched and then painted? that would save you as lot of money.

[Verus Cidere]

Uhm....... I'm not really repainting the whole bike. I was planning to repaint the fairings I got so they matched with the rest of the bike. I'm then airbrushing some things across the bike, like flames and a couple of symbols, then clear coating the whole bike so I don't lose the airbrushing. My major problem with my plastics is that there are now pieces missing. My windscreen is barely staying on right now as one of the upper portions of the tab on the left side holding it on is literally gone! The windscreen itself is sticking off in the wrong direction, and when I get up to any speed above 25mph, it starts bouncing up and down like it's going to break off at any point. The bar in the fairing between the headlight and the windscreen where the windscreen bolts on has a large crack right through the middle of it and a few missing pieces. In that area, the left and right sides of my fairing are no longer connected at all, and are only held together there by the windscreen, which may not be there much longer. those are the main reasons I'm replacing the upper. The lower has some major cracks, a couple of pieces missing, and it no longer fits together with the frame, or the upper correctly. Also, one of the bolts connecting the upper with the lower is seized up on the left side, so I actually have to bend the fairings around the bike and slip them off together to get them off. Hence my desire to replace both, so that I can actually use them both correctly. You think they would be fixable? (Oh, and no I don't have pictures of the damages, but I'll try and get some later tonight.)

[kkim]

My personal feelings are for a street bike the original ABS plastic used for the fairings is a very good material.

Fiberglass usually is more brittle and subject to stress fractures around any mounting points. Also, aftermarket stuff usually doesn't fit perfectly and requires you to drill the mounting holes which adds another factor for the parts not fitting perfectly.

if you're thinking of mixing and matching aftermarket with the original stuff, you need to be absolutely sure the AM parts you buy is exact duplicates of the pieces you're replacing.

To keep the original, you would need to learn to repair ABS plastics or find used pieces from a parted out bike. Your call...


sorry, I have no feedback on the Ebay fairings in your original post.

[Verus Cidere]

.......Hmmmmmm........ I'm just not sure!

Is it difficult to repair plastic like that?

[kkim]

depends on the damage... post up some pics so people can give you some input.

[komohana]

Originally Posted by Verus Cidere

Hey guys! I've been planning to get fiberglass replacement fairings for some time now, repainting them the same color, and then airbrushing them, and the rest of my bike. I was planning to get them from airtech (http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/...2501988-06.htm) for about $330 not including shipping and with no holes cut whatsoever. I found these one ebay recently, and from what I can tell from feedback, they're pretty good fairings. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT ; http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT) What do you guys think?

howzit michael

if i were making the choice it would depend on the reason. if you're wanting to customize looks and you're talking just different colors, i'd repaint what i already have and save some money. if you have to purchase replacements the airtech's are 'competetion' fairings whereas the ebay offering appears to be an OEM replacement to the stock fairing. the airtech's don't have the head light portion pre-cut and if i'm not mistaken it looks like both of them would need some cutting/drilling. if money's the issue (and when isn't it?), then ebay wins hands-down. however, i'd look at how different the airtech's are to the stock fairings (appearance/shape) and see if the cost would be worth the upgraded looks. personally if i had the cash i'd get the upper fairing and super sport race tail.

you're on your own as far as the painting goes

[Alex]

I think this is fine in tech...

[Verus Cidere]

Thanks Alex!

@ Komohana: What I'm really looking for right now is stock replacement. If I could pull off repairing them I'd do it in a heartbeat to save as much money as possible, but I don't know if it'll work. (I'll try to get some pics of it tonight). My biggest worry is the windscreen area, and I really don't think I can repair that..... We'll see once I get the pics if you guys think it can be repaired.

[Verus Cidere]

Here are the pics of my fairings guys. I would've posted them earlier, but apparently the wireless internet at my house really sucks!

These first two pictures show the scrunched together look of the front of the fairing. I'm not sure how this happened, but I do know that it's supposed to sit even with the headlight!
Picture 001.jpg Picture 002.jpg

This picture shows the damage both to the windscreen and the fairing in the bottom right corner. This most probably happened when I took my slight spill a few months ago.
Picture 003.jpg

These pictures show the space between the windscreen and where the missing tab is supposed to be.
Picture 005.jpg Picture 006.jpg

These pictures show the damage to the lower fairing from a few angles, including one past the engine that shows the area where a piece is missing.
Picture 007.jpg Picture 008.jpg Picture 009.jpg Picture 013.jpg Picture 014.jpg

This picture shows the mismatch between the upper and lower fairings.
Picture 011.jpg

All four of these pictures are of damage on the right side of the bike, and the last two are different angles of the same crack.
Picture 015.jpg Picture 016.jpg Picture 017.jpg Picture 018.jpg

The next three show damage around the windscreen mounting holes.
Picture 019.jpg Picture 020.jpg Picture 021.jpg

These last two (for this post) show the missing pieces and cracks in the central bar connecting the two sides of the fairing. This is one of the bigger reasons I want new fairings.
Picture 022.jpg Picture 023.jpg

There are more pics, I just can't fit them on this post. The next one will have the rest.

[Verus Cidere]

Ok, here's the rest!

These show the tab that's.... well..... gone! This is the other major reason I want new fairings.
Picture 025.jpg Picture 026.jpg Picture 028.jpg

This picture shows the pieces of the tab that managed to stick to the windscreen mounting nut. I just leave this bolt and nut attached to the windscreen when I remove it!
Picture 030.jpg

These last pictures show the damage around the mounting holes on the windscreen itself.
Picture 032.jpg Picture 033.jpg Picture 034.jpg

Well folks. What do you think? Fixable without new fairings? I'm definitely getting a DB eventually, but I figure I should do the repairs or buy the new fairings first. Again, thanks in advance for the replies!

[komohana]

michael, thanx for posting up the pix.
i know next to nothing about abs repair, and although there are some parts of the damage you've displayed here that ARE repairable, i think with the extent of damage to the upper fairing, you'd be better off replacing that. looks like you may be able to salvage the rest from what i could gather.

this post will self-destruct in 5 seconds. good luck

[Verus Cidere]

Ok, so the lower fairing is probably repairable, but the upper isn't? That makes life difficult! I can't separate the two! The bolt through the rear left tab that connects the two fairings is seized up and won't budge! It's almost fully stripped already, and I have no idea what else to do with it. Hence my thought that if I replace one, I should replace another. Any ideas on how to get the bolt out?

[kkim]

a pic of the bolt in question?

you can drill out the screwhead if its location allows it. that will let you take the fairing off. once off, you can use a pair of pliers after you shoot the screw with some liquid wrench or other penetrant and take the threaded part of the screw out that way.

[JaeL]

Yep you already know this but the upper cowl is trashed. You can easly repair the lower scratches and and epoxy the cracks. What about finding another used slightly damage but fixable upper cowl off ebay and fixing it yourself. I working on the diy on fairing repair.

[Verus Cidere]

Pic of the bolt in question:

bolt 001.jpg

I've thought about drilling it too, but won't that destroy, or at least damage the fairing I'm trying to save?

[kkim]

drill directly in the center of the bolt (easier said than done) and select a drill bit just a little bigger than the shank (not head) of the bolt. You should be able to drill the head off w/o damaging the fairing if you are careful and go slow.

do a little at a time (drill, stop, drill, stop, etc.). Don't know how much heat from drilling it will take to melt the fairing plastic.

[JaeL]

Originally Posted by kkim

drill directly in the center of the bolt (easier said than done) and use a drill bit just a little bigger than the shank (not head) of the bolt. You should be able to drill the head off w/o damaging the fairing if you are careful and go slow.

do a little at a time (drill, stop, drill, stop, etc.). Don't know how much heat from drilling it will take to melt the fairing plastic.

+1

[Verus Cidere]

Thanks Kim! I'll see what I can figure out with that. I'll probably wait until I can find another bolt on ebay to replace this one first though.

[kkim]

I would suggest an allen head bolt from a hardware store to replace it with and just use a washer with the allen bolt to help spread the load as that wide headed bolt does.

[Verus Cidere]

Ok. I'll go with that plan. Thanks again for the info!

[kkim]

Originally Posted by Verus Cidere

Ok. I'll go with that plan. Thanks again for the info!

take the bolt from the other side fairing with you to make sure you get the closest length. also, doublecheck the threading of the allen you buy to make sure it's identical to the bolt it's replacing.

[Verus Cidere]

I'll definitely take the other bolt. Most places have a thread match thing that you can screw your bolt into to find the right threading don't they?

[kkim]

yes, most do, but the best way is to find a nut that will thread onto the bolt you remove from the bike and thread the new allen bolt onto that same nut as a check before you buy. I assume you're going to change the other side to allens too, so get a couple new bolts.

[Verus Cidere]

I'll do that.........tomorrow. I've got work in approximately 45 minutes, so going to the hardware store isn't the best idea right now! Maybe I'll even be able to drill the bolt tomorrow too!