| Fitting:
I bought the Rickman Tempest Fairing from a
Breakers yard for £30. There were no brackets at all and the wind screen was broken.
The fairing itself was also split in two
areas near to the lower fixing mount holes.
Brian Squibb supplied me
with both an undamaged windscreen and the upper fixing head stock bracket.(cost =
postage)(Brian is my Hero !)
First job was to repair the fairing. I did
this with bridging filler (normal car filler with fiber glass mixed in) and smooth top
coat filler. The Fairing was then sent off for a respray.
The painter colour matched the fairing to
the VX and did a blooming good job. (Cost =£50)
I then bought some 25mm x 5mm flat bar stock
and made up the bottom bracket. This was done by simply cutting a length of bar stock to
stretch from one side of the lower fairing to the other. And a second length of bar stock
so it was went for the width of the radiator and 30mm either side. I then bolted the two
lengths together and drilled 2 holes in the fairing and fixed the whole lot together with
bolts. (I have since changed the bolts in the photograph to 7mm diameter stainless steel
button bolts.) (Cost = £1 for the bar stock and £6 for the bolts/washers/lock
nuts.)
Indicators came from a local motorcycle
shop. (Cost £10)
Mirrors came from M&P,Cleckheaton. They
provide superb visibility, but overhang the end of the handle bars by about 30mm either
side. (Cost £30 for the pair).
The fairing is mounted using rubber tap
washers (cost 10p each).
-------------------
I did a 150 mile motorway run on the bike
and found that the fairing and bike are stable right up to my 'bottle out' speed of 105
miles per hour.
When I hit a line of standing motorway
traffic ( due to roadwork's) I found it very easy to nip in and out of the cages with
ease. I did have to be aware of the 5cm (2") or so that the mirrors add to the
width of the bike though.
Wind buffeting all but disappears after 75
miles per hour. A big Big BIG improvement on the naked VX.
Vibration is present but not enough to make
the mirrors unusable at speed.
What I
will certainly need to do is take out the stock springs and replace them with Progressives
as soon as possible.
I did not like the way the VX behaved
on a fast, tight bend.
I got a most definite 'twitch' when the bike
was at about 45°.
One thing I did like more than anything -
The sound of the engine at 5000 revs when travelling along the motorway with my head
dipped down below the screen :-)
(Little things please little minds)
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