never liked the look of 2007 n older gsa stylings, yes there all ugly, but its ugly compared to other ugly gsa's I have been lurking around for some time, trying to source used parts in order to perform the transformation. Finally pulled the trigger There will be a few modifications to perform in order to update the "look" *I am still waiting for the rest of my parts, will add them with pics of what it will take for those who are interested. Beak fitted loosely, bolt holes dont match, they are close, but little concern for me. the beak slid in place quite easily The first thing you need...err you prob dont need to, but there is a cross member that wraps up and over the oil cooler. otherwise you would have to modify the new upper mud guard to accomodate the bar. *the bar does not look to hold any structural load, was my main concern, and I would not recommend to do so unless you really want the look. I will post more progress pictures if anyone is interested.....otherwise this thread can drop into the abyss with the rest of the oil threads and will save me wasted time.
I have a straight GS and know of the difference from the pre 08 and then after '10, but wasn't aware of the GSA differences. All the hex head GSAa look pretty much the same to me or am I way off? What years were different?
From 2005-2007 they used the bland flat n long upper mudguard(wierd but I actually dont mind the 1150/1100 look) I dont know the exact differences between the fairings from 2008-2010 but they have a more boxey stubby nose with vents on the sides, I have gone to 2010 as my used upper mudguard is such. I dont even know if you can update the GS to newer w/o spending lots off money. I am doing this cause its cheaper than buying a new gsa.....lipstick on the pig... Yes I know its very superficial
YEEEEHAW got the rest of the parts! Front hibbity dipities loosely set, beak extender and oil cooler scoop(need sum nuts/bolts) side lateral kinda dry fit, couple things will need to be done(in front of the air scoop on the bottom, the fairing touches and pushes it out Thus this will need to be modified as the beak touches le tank and pushes outward. As you can see here...there are also raised portions where the bolt passes through that are too tall and need to be trimmed to get trim plate closer. I am just gonna nibble here n there till the weekend, where sum serious bidness will commence. And yes I love the windscreen, I will have to dream up a way to bridge the gap down to the fairing as the sides are too low. Perhaps sacrifice my old fairings
fernaggling abound Spacer for the tank fairing to upper mudguard My funcky bracket made out of .6mm feeler gauge and concave/vex spacers. It may look tall but fits well underneath the Lateral fairing. Bend front brackets and relocate fog fuse box. lateral fairing front bolts use stock screws and nylon captured nuts Rider view, lateral fairings look and feel good I have brakets in place for the front beak bolts, but due to its design I can only install them after the beak is removed. The one last thing to fab up is the desierto fins. I am still unsure how I want to do this to not look like dog shit. My old lateral fairings have same texture, and will likely use them, but execution will need some thorough planning. So, for all the naysayers who said It cant be done with stock fuel tank can **** it
Nice work! I knew the bottom of the Desierto wouldn't match the new 'side fairings' which is a pity but i didn't think there'd be so much difference! If you could 'extend' the Desierto fairing 'wings' with cut sections of your old 'badge fairings' held on the inside of the Desierto and bolted using the two stainless bolts like on the newer Desierto i think it'd look ok and you'd have to know what you were looking at to see the difference. You could use black allen bolts to join the existing Desierto wings with the extensions. The black plastic has a very similar texture so should match up ok and I look forward to seeing the end result. Good luck and don't rush in with the hacksaw! FP.
Heres the next update due to popular demand Desierto windscreen modification to extend down to lower 2010 lateral fairing. Tricky part was getting the plastics to follow the contour of the fairing and screen, belt sander and patience helped...They were carved from one of my old fairings So here is the side view...no use going too close, actually it doesnt look too bad. When the anchors were set in place the windscreen extended out and up. I will be filling the small gaps with plastic filler. Other than that I am ready for teardown and paint
Good effort and you could always paint the bottom stainless bolt black for the stealth look. I'm sure a man on a galloping horse would never know the difference! FP.