Fairing or No fairing?

I´ve ever loved the fairing from " Johnny the boy",..( and of course the bikestyle AND the exhaust-system).
(( In the past 45 years i`ve often build up some bikes in that style with these half-fairings,..and nowadays i like the little bikini-fairings like the " EMGO-Viper", as on my Z1000 also pretty much))

I put a taller windscreen on the FZ6R to make extended highway rides more comfortable. It pushes air up and over the top of the helmet, which is nice. 

The current 440 project is getting a small flyscreen-type fairing to clean up the looks around the gauges. It will most likely be opaque since there won't really be a usable angle to look through it, but that's okay: I'm not planning to do any long road trips on that bike.  

I put a old Vetter Quicksilver faring on my KZ650 I dressed up for touring rides. It has a 1982 Spectre 750 engine in it converted to chain drive.

 

The fairing was well used when I bought it for $40 but it has since gotten a bunch of upgrades. It did not come with a mounting bracket or turn signals, so I bought a NOS mounting bracket and adapted some repop MK2 turn signals. The headlamp has also been swapped for a LED unit.

 

I made some locking hard covers for the storage bins and wired in a 12V power plug for cell phone charging. The covers are 1/4" ABS plastic sheet and the locks are meant for cabinets.

 

I also mounted dual Fiamm horns and some LED bulb driving lamps under the faring using the stock mounting bracket and some brackets I fabricated. The lamps have custom welded housings that were originally transmission mount shells for a 1969 Dodge Dart.

 

 

I like the wind protection that this fairing gives if its raining or on cooler Fall rides. I usually ride this bike with a open face helmet to get the full effect of being behind a wind screen. The Quicksilver seems to be the correct size for a middleweight bike like the 650.

The DFI project bike I have planned is going to use a Emgo Viper 1/4 faring. I bought the faring used for $60 but it was missing the mounting hardware kit and some of the wind screen mounting bolts.

 

I plan to make custom mount brackets and already have better wind screen mount hardware.


 

25 years ago I had a fairing from a BMW R90S on my Z1B; ...in the end it looked nearly similar to how the Viper fairing looks on my Z1000 today.

 

The only originally non'faired bikes that I've fitted one to were a Bikini twin cibied nosecone to my 350LC and my 1st Zeph11, a copy of the reviously mentioned. That was only because 3 of us did Caen, North France, to Madrid in a day then Madrid to Faro the next. It got removed after the run, great rally, 750 miles a day, 1998. I've also taken the engine/crash bars off the 4 bikes I've bought here in France, they must have a fetish for them, or fall off a lot....

Rickman fairings are my absolute favorite (I've got both a 1/2 and a full fairing).

The best thing about them is that Rickman made a fairing bracket set that mounted up to the stock Z1/KZ frame.  They pop up on ebay every so often and are worth snapping up.  I have two sets myself.

In general I like the older bikes without a fairing. If it comes with a factory fairing thats ok. But I do have one with a Shoie and it does make a difference with wind protection.

 
 

 

Move0ver wrote:

Rickman fairings are my absolute favorite (I've got both a 1/2 and a full fairing).

The best thing about them is that Rickman made a fairing bracket set that mounted up to the stock Z1/KZ frame.  They pop up on ebay every so often and are worth snapping up.  I have two sets myself.

The Rickman fairings are great.
No storage compartments in them, but they sure cut through the wind.
I had one on my 650 for many years, until it got taken off for a repaint, and I decided to not reuse it and put on higher handle bars.