Frankenbike

Fast Eddie said:
That looks cool, and very different too.

IF you take your time and get the details right you’ll have a fabulous looking bike. And an actual effective faring too!

I know it’s only a mock up, but I think the fairing has to be mounted a few inches higher than you have it.
Click to expand...
With the brackets I have, it’s solid as a rock. Why do you think it needs to be higher? I’m not saying you’re wrong, just the opposite, I’m sure you’re right, I’m curious why you think so?
 
In my OPINION, number one consideration is that you have full range of motion with handlebars and controls, from lock-to-lock. Second is alignment with other bodywork.
 
You have good reason to be psyched... There's enough there to see the vision of where your project is going... It looks awesome...

I've done the "fairing mount/handle bar swing/steering stops" dance myself. You definitely need to sit on the bike with the fairing mocked up in place and work out the details of: Do I like this riding position? Do my hands hit the fairing with the bars where I want them? do I need to modify the steering stops? (I did) , Do I want to go up or down with the fairing position ? .... etc. All common sense stuff, but good to work out the relative positions of things, so you expose the possible problems they develop.

For example: My frame is an early one and the steering stops are different than later frames. After mocking up the fairing, I needed to change it's position for the bars I planned to use, so I cut the bracket up from being a "unicorn" style, into a forked pair of arms, so I could see the ammeter centered on my headlight also. While I was doing this, I realized that I could weld a pair of steel bars onto the plate of the fairing bracket to hang down in front of the existing steering stops, that would both, center the steering head bracket, and shorten the swing of the bars so my hands didn't hit the fairing...

You may or may not care about these kind of details. I was pretty paranoid that I was going to spend a small fortune and reach a dead end and be back were I started with a much lighter wallet... so the mock up was to check for functionality. After I knew it would work, I kept after it. I admit that there are issues in my own bike that are compromises, but it came out good enough for me.

As I said, I see where you are going. I think it's a good direction
 
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Well, for my eye, the fairing hand protector portions are too low, they’re supposed to deflect the air around your hands and they look too low for that?

But the more immediate reason is that it looks like you have inadequate clearence between the front mudguard and the fairing to me?

Both points could be due to camera angle etc, but I’d at least double check the clearance issue...
 
And BTW, you may need to shorten your clip ons. If you look at PW clip ons from the day, they were as short as they could be without him grabbing the stanchions !
 
grandpaul said:
In my OPINION, number one consideration is that you have full range of motion with handlebars and controls, from lock-to-lock. Second is alignment with other bodywork.
Click to expand...
Norcoastal said:
With the brackets I have, it’s solid as a rock. Why do you think it needs to be higher? I’m not saying you’re wrong, just the opposite, I’m sure you’re right, I’m curious why you think so?
Click to expand...

I have “pretty” good motion. My hands hit slightly at full lock.
 
o0norton0o said:
You have good reason to be psyched... There's enough there to see the vision of where your project is going... It looks awesome...

I've done the "fairing mount/handle bar swing/steering stops" dance myself. You definitely need to sit on the bike with the fairing mocked up in place and work out the details of: Do I like this riding position? Do my hands hit the fairing with the bars where I want them? do I need to modify the steering stops? (I did) , Do I want to go up or down with the fairing position ? .... etc. All common sense stuff, but good to work out the relative positions of things, so you expose the possible problems they develop.

For example: My frame is an early one and the steering stops are different than later frames. After mocking up the fairing, I needed to change it's position for the bars I planned to use, so I cut the bracket up from being a "unicorn" style, into a forked pair of arms, so I could see the ammeter centered on my headlight also. While I was doing this, I realized that I could weld a pair of steel bars onto the plate of the fairing bracket to hang down in front of the existing steering stops, that would both, center the steering head bracket, and shorten the swing of the bars so my hands didn't hit the fairing...

You may or may not care about these kind of details. I was pretty paranoid that I was going to spend a small fortune and reach a dead end and be back were I started with a much lighter wallet... so the mock up was to check for functionality. After I knew it would work, I kept after it. I admit that there are issues in my own bike that are compromises, but it came out good enough for me.

As I said, I see where you are going. I think it's a good direction
Click to expand...

Thanks , I’ll spend some more time making adjustments. I spent some time already, but I can see what everyone is saying. I’m sure that there is a sweet spot that checks all of the boxes, just not there yet.
 
Fast Eddie said:
Well, for my eye, the fairing hand protector portions are too low, they’re supposed to deflect the air around your hands and they look too low for that?

But the more immediate reason is that it looks like you have inadequate clearence between the front mudguard and the fairing to me?

Both points could be due to camera angle etc, but I’d at least double check the clearance issue...
Click to expand...

The mud guard may be too close. I wasn’t considering the fork motion. This fairing seems to fit so well. I couldn’t be happier, just need some adjustments and I’ll be good to go.
 
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Fast Eddie said:
And BTW, you may need to shorten your clip ons. If you look at PW clip ons from the day, they were as short as they could be without him grabbing the stanchions !
Click to expand...

I don’t think I can. With the throttle and master cylinder, the right clip on has no room left at all. I may be able to squeeze an inch on the clutch side, but then they would be uneven.
 
When you look at the GK ad and compare the two, mine definitely needs to go up a few inches. Fine tuning is part of the fun!

Frankenbike


Frankenbike
 
Norcoastal said:
I have “pretty” good motion. My hands hit slightly at full lock.
Click to expand...
Yep, it is often the case that you can set up clip-ons with good range of motion, then got out on a ride, and in a turn you try to hit the throttle and your wrist won't clear the tank.
 
grandpaul said:
Yep, it is often the case that you can set up clip-ons with good range of motion, then got out on a ride, and in a turn you try to hit the throttle and your wrist won't clear the tank.
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Yeah, that would suck...I’ll spend some time tonight dialing it in some. I’ll be sure to post updates.
 
I think it’s supposed to go back too, looking at the gap to the down tubes, I’m thinking the fairing wudda been tight to the frame.

But unless you can shorten the clip ons, that might not be possible / easy.
 
This is what I had in mind with this kind of fairing (pics below). Note how the bars are inside the fairing. However, these are pics of factory JPN and JPN rep, so I’m not sure quite how applicable this is to yours...

EFFA8670-B20E-47A3-AA48-7AE2F5940382.jpeg
F0E93E00-8845-4A8B-9387-460199FF08C6.jpeg
27169EC5-554B-49E4-ACDF-6AD94A4B7EBC.jpeg
 
And here’s a good side on shot, again it’s a JPN rep, but look how the faring follows the down tubes, and how relatively high it sits.

Also, note the black side covers, definitely supports your idea there...

91017651-1EC2-47F8-AB8E-55FBA5F83972.jpeg
 
Hmmmm.
Looking a bit cramped. The JPN fairing does indeed look wider. You may have to sort out alternative switching to allow narrower clip ons.

It IS a racing fairing after all, minimalist, sleek, streamlined.
 
NPeteN said:
Hmmmm.
Looking a bit cramped. The JPN fairing does indeed look wider. You may have to sort out alternative switching to allow narrower clip ons.

It IS a racing fairing after all, minimalist, sleek, streamlined.
Click to expand...
Love that!
 
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