The Sport Fairing Project (end of the saga)

[louthepou]

A long time ago, a young Vision owner asked Extent:
"Oh master of expanded and solidified mater, how could you create such a masterpiece, an awe-inspiring work of art?"

Extent paused for a minute. Then he simply replied:
"You know, the fairing was always in there. All I did was chip away a few pieces of foam."

Keep up the good work,

Louis

[QBS]

Though it may be hard to find, you may want to consider using an '83 fairing mount.  Also, you might want to consider making the lower section a little wider for better leg/wind protection.  Using bar end mirrors might open up some additional styling options.

What you are doing is great, and a welcome addition to the already high level of creativity found here on the Form.

Cheers.

[Superfly]

Lookin' great!! (glad to see that my garage is not the only one that looks that way!!)

[Extent]

I don't know about the mirrors.  The foam is strong enough to hold the screws holding them in, but not sturdy enough to let me adjust them on the mold.  I've got some '83 risers coming, so the bars will sit a little lower, I still think I'll probably move the mirrors up to the top to get them closer to stock height.

I'm going to try forming my own screen out of Lexan.  If I get a decent one I might send it in to Humbler and have his contact make me a real one  ;D

I'ld love to make it mount to a stock bracket, that would take a lot of work out of my hands.  But unfortunatly unless I could find one for practically free I can't explore that right now.  I'm down to working with materials that I already have, so I don't have to buy anything more.

The sides used to be quite a bit wider, but I ended up having to shave a bit more than I wanted off to get it symetrical.  I probably won't widen it any for this version, once I get a test one glassed and on the road I'll see what tweaks need to be done and work from there.

[kiawrench]

 that is starting to look good.
     as for mounting, i am sure that will come  in a dream or ,maybe after some real pencil tiem, but i would say just look at a few different bikes, see how those fairings mount up and then make your own.
     i gave a bit of thought to making lowers for my Vetter, but have added that to my list of "maybe later" projects. i just dont have the time to work on it yet.
good luck, keep us posted

[admin]

very cool, a Brilliant idea.
that foam is a blast to work with,  good for making halloween props too ;)
I'm glad to know that I'm a member of the cluttered garage club. ;)
heh, now I definately feel much better about my garage being a little less than tidy. I ended up moving my drums back inside because of the humidity here in redsox land.
I also liked the "your brain on a vision" quote.
keep up the good work!


-Ron

[Extent]

Thought I'ld throw out an update.  If the pictures look hideous..... it's because they are ;)  I'm learning as I go along but things are kind of coming together.  I need to do a little more build up on the front, and I still have to create the lower quarter.  It's dificult to get the matt to stick upsidown, so things are going to get kind of creative.  Once I've got all the parts framed out and I can take them off as complete pieces and have them retain their shape then I'll grind down some of the highest points and stretch a fresh layer of cloth over it to create a smoother base to do the final layup that will be the outsie surface.

I've got a fairing stay rigged up for it, since I really needed it before I could get back to the glasswork.  I don't have any good pictures of it alone, but it just reaches around the forks an screws in to the two mount points on the neck.  I think I'm going to see about bracing it from lower on the frame thru the radiator mount bolts or something, but it holds the bodywork and the headlight up right now, so I'm not going to over complicate it.

[louthepou]

Man, not only do you deserve a medal for being able to make the thing look like something, you deserve a second one because it looks like an actual modern fairing!

Keep up the good work, summer is just around the corner!

(Somewhere, I'm sure. Not in Ottawa)

Louis

[Superfly]

Looks great.  I am in the process of fabricating a fairing also.  The fiberglass is great to work with, but I found that the dust from the sanding is a pain.  It itches... but it is well worth it.

[Josh M]

That's looking awesome!!  I assume that you wrapped the foam in aluminum foil before the fiberglass?  

[Extent]

Yup, tho Ive peeled quite a bit of it off already.  The foil in those is over the actual headlight.  I did about 2 layers of glass matt over most of the thing before I cut it into parts and pulled it off the foam, but it just wasn't going to work without the mount.  I needed something so I could have the parts mount in exactly the same place every time, really the only way to get it even and symetrical and stuff, so I did a quick bracket and got everything centered up and firm.  Now that I've got the skeleton/shell thing I cut out the worst bits and am trying to get it to meet with the headlight correctly.  It was just a little flatter on the front than the shape I had originally.

I think what I'll have to do is "finish" just the head of it (which I'll be able to do off the bike after a couple more little adjustments) then I'll have to make the sides meet up to the bottom of it for a smooth fit, then I'll be able to finish the buld up on the lower quarter and the under engine portion.

For dealing with the dust what I've been doing is just wearing a sweatshirt with the sleeves tucked into my workshop gloves and the hood pulled over my hair, then I put a hat on over the hood to hold it in place.  Add safty glasses and a resperator and you're set!  I haven't done any sanding, just a lot of cutting with the dremel, but once that dust gets in the air it can really mess up you're eyes, heh..

[Superfly]

I laid down aluminum foil, and then a layer of duct tape (I am from the south ;D) over the foil, and it peeled off very nicely.  Where I did not use the duct tape, the foil stuck to the fiberglass.

[Extent]

I've been making slow headway and I'm hoping to be completely done with the top 1/4 fairing in about a week.  I've the most work left on the lower half of the top 1/4, and a bit left to do to shape the scoops right and make them symetrical.  Here it is primered and waiting for the next round of bondo and sanding.


And here it is with the headlight in place again.  I was holding it in place with my hand so as you can see it slipped out a little bit, it dosen't actually fit that bad when it's in right...


I also started a little work on the front fender, which I had completely forgotten about when I was doing my original plans, but is such a nice small and reletively simple piece I wanted to start it now and use it as a test for making the final negetive mold.  Plus when I get it done I can put it on the bike right away  ;D


This I shaped together by taping cardboard to the stock fender.  Once the second layer of glass is cured I can get to fleshing it out the rest of the way.  I also heard in a couple of places that fiberglass rear huggers and undertails didn't fare too well against the riggors of road use, that they chipped way too easily.  So This one I'll use to see how bad it is really.  For the final piece it might be best for the second and final layers of the lay up to be aramid for the impact protection I'm thinking.

[Rick G]

Duct tape is big up north too, ever heard of Red Green?

[h2olawyer]

If the women don't find you handsome, at least let them find you handy!

The fairing project is looking great!  Anxious to see the final product.  Thanks for keeping us informed & giving general instructions.

H2O

[Lucky]

Awesome work! I doubt I could ever do something like that!!.

That said, my son said it "looks like Shrek's nostrals.." lol

--Lucky

[Superfly]

Extent,  have you worked out the mounting for the fairing yet?

[Extent]

not a final part, but I've got one that holds it in the right place for building it, and when I finish the 1/4 I'm going to do one that holds just that in place so I can road test it.  I don't think I'll get around to a final version of the mount untill I've got all the pieces done.

[Lead_Deficiency]

Looks cool, the 83 faring is mounted to the bike using what almost could pass for electrical conduit that is crushed on the ends (sort of like into a "u" shape) to fit around the bike frame.

[Wayne]

Extent-Unable to open pic of your project from forum on my pc system. If you have time, please send me pic via e-mail to wayned8@iwon.com-Tks Wayne