DR650 rally fairing

[dylandr]

Howzat all.

Been toying around with the idea of putting a rally type fairing on the front of my 08 DR650. The idea was started when I saw a build done by DisTech on a DR650. He built an instrument tray for the front and immediately I decided I wanted the same. Glued to the rally bikes, other ideas started popping up and I decided to do the build which ended up like this:[IMG][/IMG]

I used this Dakar screen for a while and after a few too many falls, the fittings started wearing and I started getting a few decent rattles.
Then I thought: seeing as though I'm gonna do this over, I might as well do it properly! I started looking at rally bikes and their instrument towers and settled on a kickass looking fairing design.
It was off to design mode and I came up with this:[IMG][/IMG]
The thought was to fit it to the brackets already holding the front headlight and have the whole assembly move with the front end. Then Lukas noted that It most likely affect the handling I thought a bit further and I'm now in the process of building the front end onto the frame. Thanks Lukas
I have just finished Building a mold for the fairing and will post a pic or few soon. Be patient. Any Ideas are welcome.

Cheers Dyl

[Kawidad]

[basketcase]

Bring it on.

[McJamie]

More pictures from other angles please. Nice work.

[dylandr]

Hi all.

Been busy trying to get the lazer cutter guys to move their asses and get my tower finished.
In the meantime I've been building up the front screen mold. Itchy business with glass fiber. I still need to fab up a bracket to fot over the steering stem that has a bracket on it (with gussets) that matches the current headlight bracket. In the meantime, I'll keep building the front screen.
The bikes also due for a service and some new rear rubber, so that I'll do soon too.[IMG][/IMG]
Still trying to decide how I'm going to attach the fairing to the tank... Ideas?
[IMG][/IMG]
I'll take more pics and post them later today, In the meantime, let me know what you guys/girls think.

[dylandr]

Okay, when I get home I'm gonna paint the mold with some release agent and start the actual lamination of the fairing. The laser cutters phoned to sat they don't have any 2.5mm alluminium in stock, so they ate using 3mm instead. A bit heavier but stronger I guess. Will post some more pics soon on how it is coming along. Still got quite a bit of fabrication to do!
My fiance is in Australia for a while so I have plenty time in the man cave!

Cheers
Dyl

[dylandr]

Okay, so yesterday I started the lamination of the final fairing over the mold.
I covered the plug with tinfoil and because I have done a bit of gunsmith work, I found some release agent from the ACRAGLAS that is used to bed rifle barrels and decided to see if it would work as a release agent for glass fiber... still have to see if the theory will work. After waiting for the release agent to dry I put on the first layer of matting onto the plug and let it set.
Today I'm gonna put on a layer of fiber tape so that the end result is a lot cleaner and less finishing work will need to be done to get a flat surface. Then I'm going to test the release agent theory and add another layer to the inside.
That will give me some time to measure up the frame mount bracket I need to secure the instrument tower to.
Here's some pics of yesterdays work...
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

Will go on today and post again tomorrow.

Cheers
Dyl

[WARRIORPRINCEJJ]

I'm ready to give you my shipping information, whenever you're ready...

[DisTech]

Nice work! I've been pretty happy with my rallyesque front end but after seeing Ron Seida's and now yours, I'm rethinking it. Can't wait to see how yours turns out.

[dylandr]

Howzat all.

Last night I finished the outside layer of the fairing. Today I'll do the final inside lamination of the fairing. Looks like the ACRAGLAS release agent is going to work after all.
One thing is starting to worry me... At full lock the linear (straight from the front) gap between the frame and the shocks there isn't much of a gap and I am wanting to use 4mm mild steel to build the bracket that fastens to the frame gusset. Its gonna have to be bent! also, because the nav tower was built to attach to the original light brackets, I'm gonna gave to drill more holes to be able fasten it to fit the the frame mount bracket. Arse about face I guess but I Will figure it out and post some picks when I get to that point. Here's one from yesterday...[IMG][/IMG]

Cheers
Dyl

[dylandr]

Howzat all

Last night I cut the loose edges of fiberglass off and then cracked this sucker out of its mold! :[IMG][/IMG]
Couldn't have asked for a better outcome.
Then I got into design mode again and designed the bracket thats going to fit the nav tower to the frame. will post a pic as soon as photobucket allows me to upload one. Otherwise, all is bloody great!
Chime in and let me know what you all think.

Cheers
Dyl

[Ron Seida]

Thats pretty cool, nice job! I always wanted to play around with fiber glass, this is giving me some incentive. Looking forward to the outcome. So, are you connecting it to the frame, or to the forks?

[dylandr]

Originally Posted by Ron Seida

Thats pretty cool, nice job! I always wanted to play around with fiber glass, this is giving me some incentive. Looking forward to the outcome. So, are you connecting it to the frame, or to the forks?

Hi Ron

The initial idea was to attach the whole thing to the forks, but I decided not to as there would be a compramise on the handling if say I got a side wind.
Now if I get a tail wind I can gybe using my fairing as a sail!

Must say... your build is awesome. At first glance, it don't look anything like a DR. Hats off to you!

Cheers
Dyl

[TTRider]

ad Dylandr:

This is just perfect !

I have some questions.

1. How many layers of GFK did you apply ?
2. Did you use 2K Epoxy ?
2. a.) if so did you use a 5min or 1h or 24h Hardener ?
3. Or did you use Polyester with a hardener ?
3. a.) if so did you use a liquid Hardener and was it a 5min 1h or 24 h hardener.

I really like the way you fabricated your fairing. All my experiments with producing a rallye fairing went terribly wrong.

I used Polyester with liquid hardener (5min Hardener) and maybe 4 to five layers of Gfk. First it was too heavy and second some areas never got hard and some areas were sticky. I assume i did something wrong with the mix ratio of Polyester to Hardener. And of course the five min hardener was always too fast hard and so i killed a lot of brushs (a graveyard of brushs).

I wont picture my work because its something to be ashame of.......

Greetings and keep up the good work

TTrider

[FloridaSteve]

Great work. I love this sort of DIY. Just a thought but it seems that with the mostly straight line geometry that you could form at leas part of this in sheet aluminum.