StratTuner
Site Supporter
I remember riding down from Reno, NV to California's Golden Gate Bridge. It was, morning, 28F, and my knees were freezing. The constant 50 MPH wind stream plus what ever chill factor was at work was not fun. I thought, I need to get fairings.
I remember Beemerphile's approach. (can't find the link just now). It was classy and executed with precision on crash bars....which I don't have... hmmm...
Well...I started with my favorite construct..the 1" PVC "T" with a 1/2" slip. I cut the 1" round part in half and put it against the frame down by the cylinders. There is one of these frame bars on each side, so I had a secure, symmetrical, footing to start with. Two zip ties (one one each side of the half pipe) give you a fairly solid support.
To that I added a lenght of 1/2" pvc pipe and went up and out... to a 90 deg. elbow. OK...time to go back and anchor the top to....to what? With another long pipe I just rotated the structure in to see what it would touch, and it came to rest near one of the bolts that hold the wind screen on. Perfect. That will do. I capped the pipe, drilled a hole through it, and zip tied it around the bolt where the lexan gaps at the support flat bar that make my home made wind shield.
Now I had a triangle shape that I new I could fill in with plastic cut from a walmart office waste paper basket. ($4). I cut one big triangle to cover the big opening. Then, I had to make a long rectangular piece to go up from the triangle to where the capped top fixed to the windshield. That took time as I had to contour the piece to fit against the frunk sides. I decided to leave a 1/4" gap so that the black plastic wouldn't have the chance to scratch the surfaces.
Here is the result. Home Made! Ugly? (maybe) Ridiculous... possibly....but wow! It's effective, and it didn't cost much.
Version three might have two 45 deg. elbows per side instead of a single 90 deg. elbow... cut the black plastic around that... and it will not stick out as much and maybe look a little better too.
The fairing is high enough that I can still use the highway pegs attached to the frame. That was another important consideration in my case.
It's not for everyone, but it didn't cost much.
Aero considerations: While it's a larger forward-facing surface, it's also a smoother one. Drag (I hope) will actually be less since the air stream has to move over two large smooth surfaces and not over the jagged, unordered, surfaces that are the sides of a motorcycle.
I remember Beemerphile's approach. (can't find the link just now). It was classy and executed with precision on crash bars....which I don't have... hmmm...
Well...I started with my favorite construct..the 1" PVC "T" with a 1/2" slip. I cut the 1" round part in half and put it against the frame down by the cylinders. There is one of these frame bars on each side, so I had a secure, symmetrical, footing to start with. Two zip ties (one one each side of the half pipe) give you a fairly solid support.
To that I added a lenght of 1/2" pvc pipe and went up and out... to a 90 deg. elbow. OK...time to go back and anchor the top to....to what? With another long pipe I just rotated the structure in to see what it would touch, and it came to rest near one of the bolts that hold the wind screen on. Perfect. That will do. I capped the pipe, drilled a hole through it, and zip tied it around the bolt where the lexan gaps at the support flat bar that make my home made wind shield.
Now I had a triangle shape that I new I could fill in with plastic cut from a walmart office waste paper basket. ($4). I cut one big triangle to cover the big opening. Then, I had to make a long rectangular piece to go up from the triangle to where the capped top fixed to the windshield. That took time as I had to contour the piece to fit against the frunk sides. I decided to leave a 1/4" gap so that the black plastic wouldn't have the chance to scratch the surfaces.
Here is the result. Home Made! Ugly? (maybe) Ridiculous... possibly....but wow! It's effective, and it didn't cost much.
Version three might have two 45 deg. elbows per side instead of a single 90 deg. elbow... cut the black plastic around that... and it will not stick out as much and maybe look a little better too.
The fairing is high enough that I can still use the highway pegs attached to the frame. That was another important consideration in my case.
It's not for everyone, but it didn't cost much.
Aero considerations: While it's a larger forward-facing surface, it's also a smoother one. Drag (I hope) will actually be less since the air stream has to move over two large smooth surfaces and not over the jagged, unordered, surfaces that are the sides of a motorcycle.
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