Fugly batwing fairing... A work in progress

Last weekend I picked up my eBay "bargain" batwing fairing. Certainly a heavy duty well made piece of kit.

The heaviest part of it is an inner fairing which has a pair of stainless brackets fixed to it. You mount all that to the bike, then fix the separate front piece to that.

Spent all day buggering around with it, using scrap thin metal to make temporary brackets (as a template really) which will fix to the bike, then marry up with the fairing's brackets. Also moved the front indicators down to create clearance. Easy job.... Same stalks just relocated.

Here's the inner just temp fixed in place. Sits further forward than planned, making the headlamp a bit too recessed, but I wanted plenty of clearance between the bars and the glossy side of the inner for cables, brake hose etc, and the tablet satnav I will eventually mount.





Also used gentle heat gun to remove horrid sticker



Then white spirit, t cut, you name it, to get rid of the glue. There's still a ghost of it, but you can't see it here...



I think this project is going to take bloody ages to get right, but I feel like I'm off to a solid start.

Bloody hell Mal - looks like you've got your work cut out there.  Shout if you want any help - I'm dead good at pointing and saying things like 'you need to cut that. bend those, tighten this' etc!
Not tomorrow mind - playing out up Squires way.

Coming along nicely   you do realise you've just devalued that fairing by half removing that sticker 

Cheers boys

My mate Steve got a similar 'e-bay# bargain screen (I think he paid 99p), that he bolted onto one of his bikes - just for the fun of it - then I think he reverted back to standard as it robbed him of a bit of top end speed - though the comfort had improved.

Its good to tinker ! .... enjoy your project Mal, I'm sure the end result will interesting to see.

99p?Dont rub it in!!!

bigmal wrote:

99p?Dont rub it in!!!

It didn't have a Harley sticker on it 

simbo wrote:

bigmal wrote:

99p?Dont rub it in!!!

It didn't have a Harley sticker on it 

Even if it did - a quid for one of those is still cheap!

From memory it was an early example of a 'Vetter' fairing - & NO - it dis not have a H-D sticker on it ...

 or he wouldn't have bid that much on it ! ...

Good start Mal .... I'm happy to help with any advice if you think you need any but it seems you'very got it pretty much sussed.
Looking forward to seeing it completed mate

Cheers mick, I'll give you a shout if I get stuck.... I'm also thinking of taking off the little led indicators and going for daylight running lights, tiny spotlights, or whatever.

bigmal wrote:

Cheers mick, I'll give you a shout if I get stuck.... I'm also thinking of taking off the little led indicators and going for daylight running lights, tiny spotlights, or whatever.

Are we going to get regular picture updates Mal?

Of course.
There's not much more to see yet.......

bigmal wrote:

Of course.
There's not much more to see yet.......

But you've had all day Mal - c'mon man.  It needs to be fitted, tested tweaked and signed of before France!

That's why I'm tinkering with it now, rather than 3 days before I'm going to France (like I normally do)!!

Looks like I missed the finest riding day this year with you boys today as well!

bigmal wrote:

That's why I'm tinkering with it now, rather than 3 days before I'm going to France (like I normally do)!!

Looks like I missed the finest riding day this year with you boys today as well!

Yeah Mal, needs lots of testing before France ..... Look what happened to mine !

bigmal wrote:

That's why I'm tinkering with it now, rather than 3 days before I'm going to France (like I normally do)!!

Looks like I missed the finest riding day this year with you boys today as well!

Keep tinkering  - don't want any bits flapping around while in France. Today was a good day and a shame you missed it - needs a few degrees more heat thought to make it perfect.

What happened to yours Mick?

johnboss wrote:

bigmal wrote:

That's why I'm tinkering with it now, rather than 3 days before I'm going to France (like I normally do)!!

Looks like I missed the finest riding day this year with you boys today as well

What happened to yours Mick?

I got my fairing back from the painters the weekend before we set off for France last year. Fitted it, all was good but obviously I'd done little mileage with it fitted. The home made bottom brackets ( both sides ) holding it on via the bottom yoke sheared about an hour before we got to Honfleur. I rode the rest of the journey with it flapping around until we got to Honfleur, at which point me & Bigmal visited a local ( fortunately ) hardware superstore where I bought some more brackets and bodged it up. It held out for the rest of the trip and the brackets I bought are still the ones I use today but it was a bit touch & go at first and I spent the journey the following day worrying about whether it would fall off !

johnboss wrote:

What happened to yours Mick?

It wore away due to the constant cleaning at 7:30 am every morning really   

simbo wrote:

johnboss wrote:

What happened to yours Mick?

It wore away due to the constant cleaning at 7:30 am every morning really   

 

Ahh - obvious really

Made some mounts for the fairing. I copied the idea some forum members have used for mounting lowers, by using jubilee clips. These are a chunkier version, in stainless, with a pinch bolt going right through. They're Mikalor hose clamps.


Made a couple of dummy brackets out of aluminium composite... Easy to cut, and rigid enough for a trial fit...


The bolt of the mikalor clamp goes through the bracket too...


Being brushed aluminium it actually looks way better than the real ones will!! But it's only a sandwich of very thin ally and plastic, so I don't trust it to handle the vibration, wear & tear. So I'll make some from steel.

Here are the packers to align the stainless brackets that are part of the fairing...



And here's a trial fit.... Coming together nicely. Headlamp is maybe a bit too recessed, but if I moved everything inwards, I'd be worried about clearance for all the hoses, cables, etc, and I need a bit of wriggle room for the satnav. So Overall pretty chuffed.

Looking good Mal 

Nice job Mal! coming along nicely    will you be spraying it Blue?

Certainly plan to.... Depending how long it takes me to sort the rest of it out. Got some 3mm steel sheet cheap from a place near work. Just tried cutting it with a angle grinder. Holy crap what a difficult job. Hmmmm. Maybe steel isn't the answer! Did cause much hilarity by burning a hole in my trousers from the Sparks!

Looking great mal, the alu sandwich WILL work fine, aluminium is stronger and lighter than steel hence why its used on aircraft! and the plastic sandwich will help to absorb vibrations, use the better looking version if your having doubts try doubling it up in thickness and bonding them together.

hawktheslayer wrote:

the alu sandwich WILL work fine.

You reckon? The aluminium part is prob only .5mm thick. The head of the pinch bolt is only a little bigger than the threaded part, so I was worried about it nibbling away at the hole in the ally, and even pulling through. But I guess a washer each side to spread the load would solve that anyway. I'll give that a go then

.... Unless in the meantime I happen to find a piece of aluminium road sign lying at the side of the road... That's probably 3mm thick and even stronger....

I reckon the aluminium should be fine Mal ..... asone as you don't put any bends in it - that's where mine sheared, on the right angle bend

Looking good Mal & yes alloy will be surprisingly strong enough for the job while you look for some thicker stuff. a lot of lightweight endure bikes are using alloy plate for strength & lightness so they can't be all wrong eh?

bigmal wrote:

hawktheslayer wrote:

the alu sandwich WILL work fine.

.... Unless in the meantime I happen to find a piece of aluminium road sign lying at the side of the road... That's probably 3mm thick and even stronger....

  Funnily enough     how much do you need?  

Oh you superstar ... A couple of pieces approx 20cm X 10cm. Shall I press "buy it now"???

bigmal wrote:

Oh you superstar ... A couple of pieces approx 20cm X 10cm. Shall I press "buy it now"???

I'll cut some in the morning and drop them off sometime tomoz     text me your post code and house number 

I can bob round to yours if you prefer.... I'll pm you my address tho as well. Cheers!

bigmal wrote:

I can bob round to yours if you prefer.... I'll pm you my address tho as well. Cheers!

I'll drop it off Mal, any excuse! 

Brill, cheers. Just checked size (assuming you've not cut it already!!) . Two at 100mm X 210mm would be better, but happy either way. See you tomoz. Forecast is dull but dry I think

simbo wrote:

bigmal wrote:

hawktheslayer wrote:

the alu sandwich WILL work fine.

.... Unless in the meantime I happen to find a piece of aluminium road sign lying at the side of the road... That's probably 3mm thick and even stronger....

  Funnily enough     how much do you need?  

 PMSL .........,           

simbo wrote:

bigmal wrote:

hawktheslayer wrote:

the alu sandwich WILL work fine.

.... Unless in the meantime I happen to find a piece of aluminium road sign lying at the side of the road... That's probably 3mm thick and even stronger....

  Funnily enough     how much do you need?  

You got some Pikey blood in you Sim?

Or maybe Womble blood.... Things just stick to his fingers

You should change your title on your avatar Simbo to ....... Mechanical Womble !

Twojobmick wrote:

You should change your title on your avatar Simbo to ....... Mechanical Womble !

No - I think 'Tart' still fit the bill.

Psst let me know when you run out Sim I am sure I can lay my hands on some "damaged" signage that would only go in the bin

Quick update... Today I fitted the aluminium mounting brackets I'd made, and got the inner fairing bolted on. Think the brackets look spot on....


Then the hard part was bolting the outer to the inner. A bunch of nuts and bolts sandwich together the inner, the outer and the screen, and it was a real twat lining it all up, especially as the screen is thin flat Perspex, which kept spring back. It's only the Act of sandwiching it makes it follow the curve. (I've seen replacement Memphis Shades screens online, and they ship flat, so it's legit.).

Even harder was lining up 6 concealed bolts which pass through the lower edge of the outer into captive nuts fixed to the inner. Only got a couple on.... They will defo need altering, as the alignment is out of plonk, and some are right on the edge of the panel which seems a weak point.

Test ride

Even with a couple of bolts not in, it all felt absolutely rock steady. No weird rattles or vibration, and brackets seem really sturdy.

The whole thing sits a bit low for a tall feller like myself, but aesthetically I didn't want a huge gap Between the fairing and the headlamp. It also sits well forward, but otherwise space for satnav, etc would have been tight.

So because of the position, I'm still getting some wind and turbulence, but nothing like the amount riding it with no screen. Hands get pretty good protection too, even though quite far away from fairing. Rode in summer gloves for inaugural road test although cold and rainy, and fingers were OK!

Next steps
It's not a perfect match for me and the bike, but it's pretty good. So I still think it's now worth investing the time and money in making it look prettier and adding the extra features I want...
*Little storage bins to replace speaker pods - plan making those from grp
*Satnav mount,
*12v socket relocated from handlebars
*Block off one lamp on each side and fit bright white LED.

Not much too see yet, but here's another couple of pics...

Coming along nicely Mal! should look spot on when you've finished     Note to self,  Must make sure I'm up on the Sunday morning in France with video in hand ready for you & Mick simultaneously buffing the Batwings 

  Mal !

Simbo - reckon I'm the only one with OCD, so I maybe be the lone buffer in the a.m.   

Hear that mick just offered to "buff" Mals batwing! Its official im not the only gay in the village

He'd better not buff too hard.... Especially if I'm painting it myself, the paint might wear off!

WTF!

I think we have just found the script for the English "Broke back mountain"

hawktheslayer wrote:

WTF!

I think we have just found the script for the English "Broke back mountain"

"Broke back Batwing" I can see a new "Bromance" coming on   

Any progress Mal?