XR650R Fairing design and construction

[Wesley J]

Hey Guys,

Well, after a year of riding my XR650R, I've been longing for a bike that was better on the highway the the Big Red Pig. Well, I rode a couple and decided I'd much rather keep my BRP and modify it to suit my needs. I love to modify stuff. Come to think of it, I wonder why its not my middle name?

Anyway, I've seen a few other fairings on here for the BRP and thought they were quite nice. Really adds to the bike and make it more of an all arounder. But, I've not gotten any feedback on questions I've asked about details so I decided, fuck it, I'll build my own. Mine will be better anyway. Fiberglass isn't my thing to be honest.

So, I've started to copy some other designs and will do what I consider improvements to the design. Also, I'll try to post some good documentation as well as dimensional drawings so you can build your own if you have a half assed decently stocked shop.

So, I managed to find some time to go and pick up some materials late last week. Between having a new baby and commuting back and forth between home and the hospital, I found enough time to build the bracket to attach the fairing to the frame.

Here are some photos:

Materials: Not too sure what I'll need but here is a sampling



Milling: Stuck it in my little mill and squared up the ends and milled the spots for mounting





As you can see above, I have a Scott damper (or dampener...) and am using it for the top mounting location. Drilled through for a M7 1.25 bolt that is tapped into the bracket. Dug the bolts out of my spare bin but will replace with stainless soon.

For the lower bolt I knocked out the lower bearing race so that I could drill and tap through there (M7 1.25 again). This way I could use a standard tap and measure exactly how far I needed to countersink the bolt into the mount so I didnt disturb the bearing race.





The frame around the lower bearing race steps out at the front and has a flat area. My guess is that its for a steering lock device like Honda puts on their other bikes. So, it must be meant to be drilled. I'm an Engineer so if it fails I'll blame it on material QC issues, not my poor design....

Here it is bolted in after being hit with a scuff pad to make it look like some idiot didnt just build it....







I'll get a measured drawing up some time soon. Any more details will come after the questions get asked...

Next, find the headlight location. An HID equipped 990 Adventure light will be used.

Edited for fibreglass comment. Seems I've offended a lot of people who love fibreglass.

Wesley J

[kg4lho]

Nice! Headlight from a 990, does that mean the fairing also? If not, which/what fairing? Thanks, the other Wesley J

[Hockeygod]

Wes,

This looks cool. Way beyond my scope but I will watch hoping the process of osmosis will work via the internet. Me dumb like hockey puck!

Completely unrelated and somewhat random, but I noticed the sticker on your headtube says 2001 model, yet your tagline says you own a 2002 XR. Do you have another bike lurking somewhere?

[header]

subscribed.

[Wesley J]

Originally Posted by Hockeygod

Wes,

This looks cool. Way beyond my scope but I will watch hoping the process of osmosis will work via the internet. Me dumb like hockey puck!

Completely unrelated and somewhat random, but I noticed the sticker on your headtube says 2001 model, yet your tagline says you own a 2002 XR. Do you have another bike lurking somewhere?

Ya, I've been telling people for quite a while that its an '02. Goes to show just how f-ing dumb I really am. My TLR is an '01 too and I keep telling people '02.... I must have a thing for '02???

[Wesley J]

Originally Posted by kg4lho

Nice! Headlight from a 990, does that mean the fairing also? If not, which/what fairing? Thanks, the other Wesley J

Nope, I'll be hand forming a fairing from aluminum. Although I do have an English wheel, I'll likely just form it in an angular fashion on the brake. Maybe a bit of shrinker/stretcher work... Considering how often I crash the damn thing, I'd hate to spend too much time on it...

[Garthe]

Your doing double the work, check this tread out. I just recieved a fairing from Ken and it looks GREAT.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=231442

Save yourself a lot of time and money and buy your fairing kit from Ken.

Regards, Jim

[Garthe]

Originally Posted by Wesley J

Nope, I'll be hand forming a fairing from aluminum. Although I do have an English wheel, I'll likely just form it in an angular fashion on the brake. Maybe a bit of shrinker/stretcher work... Considering how often I crash the damn thing, I'd hate to spend too much time on it...

An aluminum fairing, thats crazy, that thing will 'CHOP' your head right off...

Good luck...

[Wesley J]

Originally Posted by Garthe

Your doing double the work, check this tread out. I just recieved a fairing from Ken and it looks GREAT.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=231442

Save yourself a lot of time and money and buy your fairing kit from Ken.

Regards, Jim

For the low low price of $1500? Sounds like I need to go to the bank of Jim.

His fairing is what sent me down this road.

[Wesley J]

Originally Posted by Garthe

An aluminum fairing, thats crazy, that thing will 'CHOP' your head right off...

Good luck...

I guess only aluminum going left to right will hurt you. The front to back orientation makes it soft. Interesting.

Makes a pile of sense....

[lstzephyr]

I'm right there with you. I really like the look of Kenarroo's fairing but I just can't afford it. However stick me in a room with a sheet of metal, a cutting device, and a hammer and I could probably make something like that.

I love english wheels for making curves and such but I don't know how you would make a sharp angle. Any thoughts on using a wooden mold/form? That was how I was going to do it, shouldn't take too long to build the form. Plus if you bend the fairing, just slap it back on the form and bash it back into shape.

Edit: I see you are planning on using a brake. Nevermind. I guess you are then planning to curve the edges to the tank using the shrinker/stretcher? (I'm a very curious beer-drinking metal-forming geek.)

Looks awesome so far, I'm very interested to see what you come up with.

[Wesley J]

Originally Posted by Wesley J

I'll likely just form it in an angular fashion on the brake.

It'll be pretty angular, no need for curves.

I'd love to have this bike but I could buy a few bikes for the price.....

[Wesley J]

Originally Posted by lstzephyr

Edit: I see you are planning on using a brake. Nevermind. I guess you are then planning to curve the edges to the tank using the shrinker/stretcher? (I'm a very curious beer-drinking metal-forming geek.)

I see we're both typing at the same time...

I'm unsure if I'll bother with the connectors to the tank. If I decide to go that way then I'll need to fire up the English wheel.

More to come soon!

Wesley J

[lstzephyr]

Yeah I tend to retype my posts 9 times. Especially if there is any beer in me. I'm very interested in this because I happen to have the aforementioned "half assed decently stocked shop" and some time. There is even a sheet of aluminum out there...

Looks like you got a plan. Carry on.

[Wesley J]

I downloaded the katoom side view of the 990 adventure from the website. Printed and scaled it base on wheel diam. I'll see how headlight placement compares to this:





Wesley J