Batwing Fairing

[pago cruiser]

Hey Brian - Any progress yet?

[bscrive]

Hi Mitch,

I am still waiting for the fairing to be delivered.  I won't have it until next weekend.  I have stuff shipped to an address in the US and then I go pick it up when it's in.  Saves on shipping costs big time.

[PAVALKER]

Hi Mitch,

I am still waiting for the fairing to be delivered.  I won't have it until next weekend.  I have stuff shipped to an address in the US and then I go pick it up when it's in.  Saves on shipping costs big time.

Wow...  Must be that significant of a cost savings then. 

[pago cruiser]

Drat.
I was hoping you had gotten it mocked up.
I found a 2015 HD Batwing outer shell with the front vent from ebay at a really good price - but the knucklehead took a week "trying to find a box" - so it was just shipped - will prolly get here sometime this week.   Heck this thing is less than 600 miles from me - I could have driven there and picked it up...

I was really hoping to try the Batwing before I buggered up the 2014 Radiator cowl to see if my Legacy Valk (project) fairing might fit.

...or to see how you made out...

[bscrive]

Wow...  Must be that significant of a cost savings then. 

It really is a huge savings.  Some retailers won't even ship to Canada because the shipping is just too prohibitive, or the paperwork is too much of a bother.  It was free shipping for the batwing to Ogdensburg, NY and it would have been @ $50 to ship to me in Canada.  I only live 40 mins from the border, so it is not a big deal.  I wait until I have a few things to pick up and then I make a trip over there on a Saturday morning.  Been doing that for over 15 years.

[pago cruiser]

Well, heck.
I started this just to see if it would fit, so figured I'd see where it went. Actually, worked out fairly well.

This was mentally hard to start...


A couple hours and a cold Guinness later...had the cowl sectionized.


Still have to do some abs welding, but duct tape holds things together until I get there:


View from the top.  You can see the shortening of the cowl compared to the right side.  In another pic, I tape in about what will be a filler piece attached to the diminished cowl . 



Yeah, the bike is grubby; has not been washed since getting caught in that snowstorm a few weeks ago...

As it sits, the fairing clears the cowl in a left lock by about 1/8". Need to trim just a bit more.  But did not have to move any mechanical stuff, just trimming the plastic panel. 



Have to do the other side, but should be able to get it tested next weekend - although may have to  switch to that 100 mph duct tape until I can get that ABS welded....

[Verismo]

Shape of that from profile looks badass.

Jason

[bscrive]

Mitch,

You are a braver man than I.  I don't know if I could cut up the pods like that.

[Bill Havins]

Great job, Mitch!  Guinness appears to be the appropriate lubricant for that kind of cutting. 

Did you have to modify the radiator hose/inlet?

[pago cruiser]

Thanks guys.

The cut down Legacy Valk fairing on my Legacy Valks works so well, just had to see if it would work.
Did not have to mod any radiator hoses - but the cowl clearance therefrom is 0.



Want to move the cowl about 1/8" more down and about 1/8" forward for a bit more clearance twixt the fairing bracketry and the radiator hose.  Everything about this is measured in very close tolerances.  Had a devil of a time getting the fairing to be dead centered, it was 1/4" askew, left to right.  Spent hours taking measurements trying to see where the problem was - which turned out to be because the lower fairing bracket was 1/4" off, left-to-right, when measured from the fork tubes.  Turns out the lower fairing mount was bent, ever so slightly; prolly by the PO who (I'm guessing) dumped the bike and sold the ...remains... on ebay.  Caveat emptor, baby!

Yet it was only off by less than 1/8", and really hard to discern.  But once I pulled a spare allocated to my never-ending Magnum Valk project and layed it next to the questionable piece, it was immediately obvious.  Only took 2 hours to figure out the problem and an additional 2 hours to find my spare... and my long suffering wife wonders why everything takes so long...

Was really glad that the rear plastic panel affixed to the cowl did not have to be modified.  My new cowl top surface extend over the top of it, almost like before.  That area has a great deal to do with heat management, deflecting radiator heat around your legs. Did have to remove the cowl interior trim panel - just was not room for it.  It mostly served to cover (and to some degree, protect) from view the radiator hose (with its own protective hose cover) and the radiator. But as the Legacy Valk radiator and hardware has no such protection, don't think this will be a problem. I hope. 

I made sure to check the price of the cowl/pods on Cheap Cycle Parts before I started cutting - about $130. Although there is a guy on ebay right now selling one slightly scratched - for $80, plus $50 shipping!!    

Brian - when you get that Batwing, the profile pic may be useful to see how much of an angle the fairing lower edge needs to be cut back.  While it mostly works on my...experiment, the mounting hardware is now exposed.  Am going to try and come up with something ike a rubber cover/trim piece. 

Want to get it functional, with most issues solved, then take it for a test.  While the windscreen lip to outstretched arm dimension is within 1" of that on my Legacy Valk, the body of the fairing is further forward by about 3", relative to the tank.  Want to ensure it functions really similar aerodynamically as the Legacy Valk, before going to the painstaking process of building up the ABS cowl.  Buffetting can be a bugger to resolve.  Hope to be able to play with this a bit more today.

[Bill Havins]

Mitch,

Excellent work!

As you work to kill buffeting, pay attention to the bottom of the fairing.  As I have said several times before, air hitting the front of the engine seems to get pushed up and around the ignition key area of the tank.  It seems to want to sit there and "boil," tossing your key fob about.

As soon as I can I'm going to build a "chin" for my fairing that attaches to the lower triple clamp (where the bottom of the fairing attaches).  The chin will parallel the curve of the fender, and will hang down far enough to divert air away from the flat front of the engine.  I think that will stop the "key fob turbulence" and reduce buffeting an appreciable amount.

But other than that you don't have much more to do, right? 

Bill

[pago cruiser]

Naw, nothing else to do...

Got the fairing frame mounted solid, as well as the cowl; which meant i had to do a few more adjustments.  Nothing is ever simple...

Initial Clearance:


Have to rebuild the corners to get some more clearance.

Full Lock:


Best of all, my Clearwater Leds also look like they will fit.  If anybody is interested in incredible lighting, these will not dissapoint.


Will be playing with the MIG welder this weekend; hopefully get enough clearance and get the other side done and take for a test ride with my 100mph duct tape.  Talked with my ABS welder guy, and he seems ok with re-building the cowl.  "No problem...".   

[pago cruiser]

Had to cut off the bottom part of the fairing mount in order to clear the lowered and shrunk cowls.  And at the same time, came finally came up with a good purpose for a set of apes:


After tacked up, took to my good welder:


This supported the bottom of the fairing frame, but ended up also eliminating the fairing attachment point.  In a perfect world I would have fabbed and welded a stay onto the apes - but this is still a temp fix, until I can test it going down I10 at 85mph... Found a set of Anvil pipe clamps had the right angles.



Pretty much have the left side pinned down ready for road testing: and the LED driving lights clear the cowl as well.  Still have to do the right side - hopefully next weekend; but as the gent above indicated, will be a little trickier with the radiator cap. Thanks for the heads up!





Overall I'm happy with how it is coming along, but a little slower than I wanted... It's amazing how long everything takes.  I just hope the road test goes ok.

I was also thinking about how to make a thread dedicated to the Interstate Fairing; all this data is under the year old Batwing thread; tried copying some text over to a new thread, but none of the pics were transferred; I'm open to any ideas...?

[Bill Havins]

Mitch,

I posted what appears below to the other thread:

There may be one issue though since you choose the left side I think its the right side that has the radiator cap on it at the top of the radiator. If clearance is an issue on the left side you may really have a problem on the right side. [emphasis added]

....and there's the rub.  I wrestled with these issues for weeks before building my "scooter-looking" fairing the way I did.

The size and position of the radiators is a real issue.  Then, when you combine that with the rake of the steering head you end up with pieces that want to hit the tops of the radiator cowls when the handlebars are turned lock-to-lock.  That is if the pieces turn with the handlebars.

The other option is a frame mount.  Nope.  That's not an option because you will likely not find anyone who will be willing to weld/drill the aluminum frame of the Valkyrie.  And then there is the issue of turning the handlebars and interference with a frame-mounted fairing.

All of the effort Mitch and Brian are putting in is well worth it (IMHO).  I was on my Valkyrie in 35 MPH winds the other day, and I had to make a 360° route in those winds before the day was over.  I was very comfortable the whole time.  Well, not really.  At one point I had to back into a parking place and I had the wind at my back - now that was a workout for my legs...Dawg!  But otherwise I was fine.

I can help with building a mold for modified radiator cowls.  Now that I have my routine down it should be rather uncomplicatted.

Rock on!  And good luck!

Bill

[pago cruiser]

Hey Bill - I hope Judy can find a way to maybe give it a bit longer; its an almost irreversible decision.   I've discovered things just sometimes take longer than you - or sometimes the Dr - thinks.  Heck, I'm going on 16 months with a new hip - and while the first several months saw great progress, it has only just recently gotten to the point where it hurts less than before I went in for the surgery  .  I had gone to the same surgeon a friend at work used - and within 12 months he was playing tennis.  I have a hard time walking - with a limp - more than a football field.  Then again he's about 20 years younger... I tell ya... youth is wasted on the young

Would you have any pics of the right side radiator under the cowl?  I leave for work at 0530, and don't usually get home until almost time for bed  so I can;t even look at it until the weekend. I looked at Cheap Cycle parts, but I cannot see the relati9on between the cowl and the radiator.

[Bill Havins]

Hi, Mitch.

Judy said to tell you thanks for the input.  She said it was helpful.

Photos:





Hope these help.

Bill

[Bill Havins]

Mitch,

There is a relief for the radiator cap "pressed" into the back cover of the right side cowl (see area circled with red in the photo below).  It is obvious when you look at the back side of the cowl.  That should help you judge the clearance you need without pulling everything apart.

Cheers!

[pago cruiser]

Just took a look at it after getting home from another long day. 
I thought about just extending the cap thru the cowl; it's completly exposed on ther Legacy Valk - and I remember someone also makes a little chrome cover. 

But... it looks like it would extend exactly where the fairing hits at full lock; could not have been planned any better...

Looked at the F6B Radiator mount on Cheap Cycle Parts; I remember that I could not even find it when I rented one a few months ago.  Looks like something akin to this might work:



May have to do some brazing to lower the 90 degree fitting maybe half an inch - but at the aft end of the radiator there is a void between radiator and tank where the filler could go - I was going to make a panel to cover this area.  At least, there is on the left side - hopefully that void is duplicated on the radiator cap (right) side. 

Thanks again for the info guys. Gives me something new to hunt on Ebay...

[pago cruiser]

No F6B Radiators on ebay or the F6B site, so headed over to Cheap Cycle Parts again late last night.  Seems the 2006 through 2016 GL1800 Radiators are also the same part number. Found one at a good price on Ebay, and should be here next week.
Hopefully get the right side cowlectomy done this coming weekend, and be ready for the radiator alteration/swap the next weekend. 

Will give me some time to find an aluminum radiator guy to lower the 90 degree fitting - bottom left in this pic - and straighten out the buggered tube end as well.  Talked to a guy at work, and he suggested JB weld... Not so sure it would work well on a fitting that is a stress point. Happen to have a GL1800 left side radiator as part of another project, and looking at it, all the tubes look like they are pressed in. I think this may be "furnace brazed", where the radiator tubes are assembled (pressed) into the tanks, the core is pressed into the tanks, and all with small solid braze material.  Stick it in the furnace, and everything melts together.  Pretty cool manufacturing process - but hard to duplicate in my garage... Maybe some aluminum solder?



Have a roughly 2500 mile trip coming up in a couple months, and would like to have this wrapped by then so I can take this bike... including Radiator mods, Cowl fab, and paint for fairing and cowls; seems I'm running out of time already...

[Kidd]

Where's the trip taking you ?

[Robert]

You know technically you dont need a radiator cap in the top of the radiator and you dont need a hose the size of a radiator hose to go to a remote cap. If you design a coolant tank that can hold pressure with a cap on it that could be your radiator cap and you could check the coolant level from there. By putting a bung with a 1/2 or 3/8 90 degree fitting for a banjo bolt on the top of the radiator and put a hose between that fitting and the new coolant tank you could eliminate the cap from the top of the radiator entirely. Filling would be a bit of a pain and you would have to make sure the system was bleed well but it could work. You would still fill the radiator from the banjo bolt or from the coolant tank but it would be lower than the radiator and probably mounted pretty close to where the existing one is so you would have to pressure fill the system.

Looking at the existing stand for the cap it looks like the cap mounting actually separates from the stand coming out of the radiator. If this is the case it would go a long way to making a conversion a bit easier and allow a low profile.

[Bill Havins]

Uh, Robert?  Can you see to the bottom of that rabbit hole?  ???

[pago cruiser]

Kidd - Taos, via the 191 I hope.  I think the 191 (used to be 666, but AZ got tire of replacing signs stolen by cults and Satanists, I guess) from The Mines of Morinci to Alpine is the best motorcycle road in the world!

Robert - Now that's an idea (or a rabbit hole... ) I had not thought of.  Never had - or seen - system where the radiator was pressure filled. But the idea does sound viable.  The biggest drawback I can think of is that adding coolant away from home (with the custom filler pressure filler vessel) might be hard.

Appreciate the idea - although I will try the relocation similar to Mother Honda's implementation as Plan A first...

[Avanti]

You know technically you dont need a radiator cap in the top of the radiator and you dont need a hose the size of a radiator hose to go to a remote cap. If you design a coolant tank that can hold pressure with a cap on it that could be your radiator cap and you could check the coolant level from there. By putting a bung with a 1/2 or 3/8 90 degree fitting for a banjo bolt on the top of the radiator and put a hose between that fitting and the new coolant tank you could eliminate the cap from the top of the radiator entirely. Filling would be a bit of a pain and you would have to make sure the system was bleed well but it could work. You would still fill the radiator from the banjo bolt or from the coolant tank but it would be lower than the radiator and probably mounted pretty close to where the existing one is so you would have to pressure fill the system.

Looking at the existing stand for the cap it looks like the cap mounting actually separates from the stand coming out of the radiator. If this is the case it would go a long way to making a conversion a bit easier and allow a low profile.

I have built a few of these type of systems before. To fill them you need to first pull a vacuum, than the coolant is pulled in and completely fills the cooling system leaving no air trapped.

[Robert]

The Valk radiator on the pass side has a bleed screw at the top the same basic thing can be done on the drivers side except make it a banjo fitting and that way you can fill and bleed out of it. A small funnel and a wrench will be all that is needed to fill the radiator on the road. Once the radiator is filled the normal heat/cool cycle will purge all the air out of the system into the overflow/coolant tank.

If you empty all the coolant out of the bikes, normally you have to leave the passenger bleeder open to fill the system anyway. Once coolant comes out of the pass side you close the bleed screw and fill the system up to the bottom of the radiator cap.

In the system I suggested it basically works the same way as the old system so when the bike heats up the pressure from the radiator pushes past the radiator cap and through the overflow tube into the tank. When the bike cools down it sucks the fluid back in.

The only difference is you are making the coolant tank a integral part of the system with the radiator cap on it rather than the radiator. You would need to make sure that there is enough of a give and take on heating and cooling to make sure the radiator stays filled but it should be ok. The banjo bolt could be unscrewed and not only filled from that but once filled could be bled from that. You could even put a small cap in the fairing painted the same color as the fairing to remove to fill and bleed from. It would not have to be big just enough to put a socket onto the banjo fitting to loosen it. It actually may be easier than the stock system because you dont have to go to the coolant tank to remove the cap. Just fill from the banjo bolt and there will usually be enough coolant in the overflow tank to keep the system full. Once the bike heats up open the banjo bolt under pressure and bleed the system.

To bleed and not take off the banjo bolt you could tilt the bike to the opposite side of the kickstand or level the bike. Open the left side bleeder a crack and fill the coolant tank and put pressure in it till all the water from the tank goes into the engine. Keep repeating the process till no air comes out of the system. This should be good enough to get you where your going.


For Bill: Jaguar XJS v12 roughly 93 also MG, has the same system in it.  

[pago cruiser]

Well, after spending more than a couple weekends trying to make the Legacy Valk fairing work, I'm going back to the Bat Wing.  Here's the short reason:



It is just too wide at the base, and requires mounting more forward, and still needs additional trimming.  If you follow a vertical line from the intersection of tire and forks, the Legacy Valk fairing is fully 2" forward of that line; while the 2015 HD Batwing is 3" behind it. 

The cowlectomy part still helps this come together, but that does not alter the main issue - it looks like a$$... and because of the extended distance between fairing and rider, prolly would have sucked aerodynamically as well. Really wanted this to work, dang it.  On the other hand, I now have a really good supply of small pieces of fairing that I trimmed down, in case I ever want to mix it with some MEK and pave my sidewalk with an abs covering... 

So.  made some good progress today:



This fits with a good 1/2" clearance at full lock. I'm taking the GL1800 radiator in to a shop tomorrow to move the fill cap from top to side - there is just room for it maybe 5" inboard from it's current position.  This is what the F6B uses:


Did discover I created a new problem though:


I specifically picked a late model Bat Wing from HD so that I could get a factory headlight solution as well as the vent; I ride a minimum of about 100 miles/day, and Tucson will see 100F+ as the rule, rather than the exception for the next several months.  The vent helps with airflow at speed, as well helping equalize the pressure differential between the windward and leeward sides.

Problem, the vent opening (being recessed into the fairing) smacks right into the gauge cluster.  I relocated the gauge aft as much as possible with some spacers, but it can only move about 1/4".  Not enough.  I'd like to move the fairing back another 1.5"-2", as nothing else (except the vent) is in the way  

Other than hunting ebay for another fairing without the vent  ...  looks like this will work.   
Now as long as the radiator guy can solder on a new fitting without buggering up the adjacent fittings...





 

[Bill Havins]

Mitch,

How did the radiator turn out?

I just about have my tube bender ready to go.  The only die I have machined so far allows me to bend 3/4" tubing with a 2.5" center-line-radius.  So, if you need a little tubing bent I'll be glad to do it and send it to you.

The many intricacies of TIG welding are a joy(?).  But. I'm creeping up on it.  Welding the tube bender was really good practice.

Cheers!

Bill

[pago cruiser]

Hey Bill!  Long time no talk to.
3/4" tubing with a 2.5" center line radius sounds like it oughtta work.  Be sure to post pics.

Funny you should mention the radiator.  My good welder thought he could TIG it - and he did.  But he is a machinist/welder/really good fab guy, not really a radiator repair shop.  So I picked it up today, with the top nipple cut off (where the filler is on the Valk) and re-welded on the inner aside.  Looks great.

But I then took it over to the Radiator Shop that balked at doing it "We can try, but no gaurantees..".  I passed.   But they did pressure test it for free, which was nice of them.  And........... there is a pinhole leak at the tank seam next to the newly welded on straight nipple.  MExactly my concern with getting it as hot as a TIG needs - it looks to have melted the adjacent furnace brazed seam.  Then took it back to the welder, and he has it now.

Maybe tomorrow.  I hope by this weekend.
Sigh.

How is Judy's rehab going?

[Bill Havins]

Pinholes are the bane of a motorcyclist's existence (think air leaks in tires/mags, oil leaks in engine castings...and radiators).  I often wish Honda had put a single radiator on our scooters; that would be fine for highway travel.  But it just wouldn't work for "cruising" in town (or 4th of July parades).  But it would make design issues easier to resolve.  Heavy sigh.

I have been in this TIG baptism of fire (literally) for several weeks now and you are right about the localized heat that is involved.  I am wrestling with a porosity issue on one of my welds that (get this) may have been caused by having the back door of the garage open.  This may have led to a draft that blew the Argon gas away when I started the weld, leading to boiling of the metal.  I just don't believe it, but it was suggested that I try grinding off the weld and see if shielding the joint from drafts will allow me to get a good weld.

On the other hand, it may be that nearby welds (done earlier) may have "ruined" the steel, causing it to be "unweldable."  It's alchemy!  Or voodoo.  Or one of the other Black Arts.

I think I'm going to get a chin strap that will help to ensure that my mouth is in the right position every time I fire up the TIG torch (get it?...hold your mouth in the right position...) and I'm trying to trap a dead cat to bury under the oak tree in the back yard but the local dead cats seem to be too smart to get caught in the trap.  It's Voodoo.  Voodoo!

And, then again, I could just try turning down the amperage....I'll find out later this morning.

Judy's doing well.  At this point she is left with "the limp" that you are familiar with.  We are considering trying to do the Grand Canyon trip on the scooter in a few weeks.  But, we need to do a weekend trip before we seriously consider it and, lately, I have had to work when she is off.  When I rode to work two days ago the ride was perfect!  It was 54°, no wind, and no traffic.  I had my face shield up and was going 65MPH on an access road.  Man!  I really wanted to be riding through New Mexico and Arizona.  What a glorious ride!  We'll see if we can pull it off.

Cheers!

Bill

EDIT:  Ha!  It wasn't either of those things!  It was "blind guy welding!"  About midafternoon yesterday I had used my grinder (with a flap disk) to flatten a built-up weld.  Embers and "slough" from the flap disk had embedded in the corner I later tried to weld.  The "trash" caused the porosity.  I hadn't even seen it.

I just spent two hours going over the entire frame with a wire wheel.  I found "sandy-feeling" areas on the tubing.  As I looked closely I could tell what it was.  The embers and "slough" had caught in many of the corners of the frame.

Lesson learned. 

[pago cruiser]

Got the "new" fairing (actually a 2013, as opposed to the 2015 with the vent) mostly mounted,  trimmed, and mounted the headlight.





Had a new wrinkle; when mounted on a Streetglide, I guess the faring must be mounted a bit more vertical.  When I mounted the headlight (the one from the 2014 fit, although it is not supposed to) it was aimed up at about a 15 degree angle.  Had to add a temp spacer to get it aimed at the road - and I'll need to make up a wedge adapter for final assembly.

Going for a test ride tomorrow, although I still have the stock radiator/cap; still waiting on welding a couple pin holes.  Looking forward to getting the radiator swapped and dropping it off at the painters to do the ABS body work on the cowls and then paint.  This has been a little longer than anticipated project.   

Oddly enough, it was not real expensive - even with Plan A and Plan B Batwings, headlight, windshield, and 45mm fork clamps, still have less than half the cost of the Factory Saddlebags...and about 8 weekends of time... Still prolly cheaper than going to the bar...

[pago cruiser]

Dang.  Turns out the HD Batwing is a pretty lightweight skin - intended to mount to supports provided by the inner fairing structure.  Seems it needed a little more than my Plan A. 

Plan B is almost done:


From the outside:


Took a hard day last weekend bending up each piece of steel to the contours of the inner skin, then finding some ST1100 allen-head fairing fasteners that are almost identical to thos used on the Valk - but they have a shorter "shoulder". 

Still have to find some decent 45mm fork tube clamps.  Found some on ebay, but they are reall light duty - with about a 3mm thread diameteter as the clamping screws. This fairing will see a pretty good wind load at 85 mph... and sometimes more.  The 1" x 0.125" mild steel frame and the clamps have to be fairly robust to wothstand the force imparted by the wind. A fairing coming loose at speed would not end well. 

How much force?  At 100 mph, at sea level, the wind force is about 25 psf.  A 1 square foot flat plate (Cd about 2.0) would see about 50 lbs (25 x 2).  It gets tricky real fast though, as no one I know has calced a HD Batwing Fairing Cd (Coefficient of drag).  A Prius (arguably the best of produciton cars) is about 0.25.  A racing bike (with racing fairing, and the rider scrunched up behind) is about 1.6.  Bikes just suck at this. The second link below has some cool modeling using CFD (computational fluid dynamics) showing why.  We use a basic version of this software at work on some projects, modeling natural draft air conditioning and air distribution. 

So if I assume the Batwing with shorty windshield is about 5 sq ft, and has a Cd of maybe 1.8 (halfway between a piece of plywood and a racing bike fairing), then the load at 100 mph is 5 x 25 x 1.8 = 225 lbs!

Here some good sites if anyone is interested:
https://sciencing.com/calculate-wind-loads-wind-speeds-6104140.html
https://canadamotoguide.com/2016/05/04/motorcycle-aerodynamics/

[bscrive]

Hi Mitch,

That is why I was looking at the Memphis Shaded batwing.  It is made to mount as is.  There are ABS brackets on the inside to mount the fairing.  The fairing is made pretty tough and is pretty cheap.  The cheap batwing I bought is a Chinese version of the Memphis Shades.  The only difference is that the ABS brackets are not already attached to the fairing.  I ended up riveting the brackets in as well, so that I don't loose the cheepy fairing for my test ride. 

[Bill Havins]

Mitch and Bryan,

you have bumped into some of the issues I considered while I was designing my fairing.  ABS is an attractive material for fairings - light and easy to thermoform.  But, it is too flexible in all directions, even when you mold in ribbing elements.  It's just really "floppy."  So, to use ABS as a fairing, your mold has to include many surfaces that meet at 90° angles, and you absolutely can't have any perimeter edges that are "incised" (i.e., don't extend all the way from one edge to the opposite edge).  If you violate these "rules," you have to support the ABS with a rigid superstructure.  If you use a superstructure you have to decide how to attach the ABS so it doesn't "tear" over time as it flexes (and it will flex).

With fiberglass you can build up the glass to create a molded-in superstructure.  That's what I did with the flox (the white stuff) in the image below.



And the design (shape) of the frame can "build in" a superstructure.  In the image below there is a structural "line" that runs from the outside edge of the fork boxing, up through the internal edge of the turn signal relief, to the recess for the windshield.  This "line" on both sides, combined with the boxing at the bottom and the "cone" of the headlight nacelle forms a rigid structure that, I bet, would support more than 350 pounds.  The flox superstructure, and the right angle edges around the perimeters of the "wings" creates a very rigid structure that is more than adequate to manage highway speeds.  Seems to me you have to create a superstructure that will support the ABS similarly.



With its mounting hardware (essentially 4 bolts and a piece of aluminum plate) my fairing/windshield weighs just over 15 pounds.  The Honda Touring Windshield (with hardware) comes pretty close to that.  Seems like a good number to shoot for.

Just some things to consider.  But what the heck do I know.

Bill

[pago cruiser]

Good info guys.

Brian - woul dhave been nice to start with a more...robust... fairing, but I really wanted the factory built-in headlight.

Bill - Like how you molded in those stiffeners. 
While I spent most of my time fabbing and welding that frame, there is actually another full width member at the windshield edge (tied to the handlebars), and 1 on each side of the headlight - tied to 45mm fork tube clamps.  That Harley headlight must weigh 5 lbs by itself!

The only part (well, parts)  I have any concerns on is the far ends - that provide hand protection.  While I extended the frame (1" x 1/8" mild steel) out to these points, I can still flex them by hand maybe 1/8".  Think I can solve this by tacking on a 1/2" perpendicular piece back to the "T".  Or... if you look hard at the right side of the fairing in the pic, I started to mark a line to cut the "ears" off.  Did this with the Legacy Valk fairing (on the grey and the yellow Valks in the photos) and I love it.   With them cut off, I get just enough air coming around to let the evaporation vest I wear do its job.  With the "ears" on, it's more like a sauna...      

[Bill Havins]

Mitch,

Is the headlight a J.W. Speaker unit? Speaker makes (did make?) many of the HD headlights.  That's what I have in mine; it is a chunk.

Bill

[pago cruiser]

Bill,

Not yet.  It a stock 2014 HD headlight.  I may switch to the JW LED eventually; but some companies  have apparently managed to make a replacement LED bulb that uses the stock HD housing and reflectors.  I'm a bit...unconvinced, based upon what I thought I knew of the science.; but many reviewers have indicated that the LED bulbs in the HD housing actually work better than the dedicated LED Headlights.



In other news... got the radiator back after the third time; hopefully this will be pressure tight.  Tigged, then Muggy weld(ed), then more Muggy.  Time we got it done today, the radiator shop where I have it pressure tested 20 miles across town) was closed... so now it's install and hope it holds...



Assuming... this works AND and I get Batwing mounts squared away this weekend, I can get the bike over to the ABS /painter guy to get the cowls finished, everything primed, and painted.   

[bscrive]

Mitch,

I did the LED headlight conversion on my wife's Spyder.  I found that if you get a 3, or 4 sided LED then there wasn't any issues because the light coming from the LED is similar to the halogen.  The two sided LED does not disperse the light correctly because of the edges where the light is not emitted.  In this case I found that the light wasn't nearly as good as the halogen.  Also, make sure that the LED has a dedicated hi & low beam or you won't have a high beam.  The high beam will be the same as the low beam.

Have fun.

[pago cruiser]

Finally got the radiator fixed for good this week. The straight nipple would not work once I started putting things together.   Sigh.  Got the filler squared away today as well.

GL1800 modified on the left, stock Valk on the right.



Filler turned out well; still need a 45 degree fitting to allow the stock overflow tube to work:



Tucks in nicely - clears everything easily.  Will almost dissapear when the bracket is powdercoated.  If I could figure some way to plug the cross-connect line on the filer (not used here) I could move it back another 1/2".  For now will just settler for putting a rubber cap on it.



With that just about wrapped I was finally able to lower the right side cowl to match the left. 

Have had to cancel my date with the ABS welder a couple times due to the radiator debacle.. will be trying again tomorrow.

[bscrive]

That looks really good Mitch.  The filler cap hides away nicely.   :cool dude: 

I am really interested to see the finished product.

[pago cruiser]

Progress; the hard way...
Got everything squared away yesterday to take it to the ABS Body Man (who lives an hour away) this am.  Almost did not make it at 0500 this am.  Drilled and taped the un-needed nipple for the other radiator that is on the backside of the filler neck.  JB welded a machine screw and nut about 8:30 pm last night; then left it open until the am so the JB could set up. The directions said 12-24 hours to harden... but this is the AZ desert.

So got up at 0430, suited up, headed outside and at 0500 started pouring coolant in the now hardened JB welded filler neck repair; poured in about a cup....then the radiator overflowed.  waited.  tapped on it.  tapped on it harder.  cursed a bit.  popped my palm onto it to shock the fluid.  again.  managed to add maybe a shot's worth of coolant, then stopped again.  tapped some more.  cursed some more.  came inside the house and fired up the computer, searched for GL1800 coolant change filling problem, and a few variations.  nothing.  the wife is losing patience, as she has to get me to work after we drop off the bike.  cursed some more.  Looked at the bike, wondering how much an Uber would cost from the ABS Weld guy to my work, so I could let wifey get to work...   Was thinking "it sure does lean over a lot in my driveway (which is on the side of a hill) "... DING.     Put the bike on the center stand, and proceeded to pour in the gallon without issue.    I never cease to be amazed by how things can conspire to thwart you...

Rode it the 60 miles to his house, and he got to work with his ABS welder.





Looks pretty fugly now, but the shape is coming together.  You can't tell from the pics, but the donor ABS pieces are from a wrecked Legacy Valk Fairing I bought a couple years ago for a project off ebay; the project went a different direction, but it's kinda cool that the Legacy Valk fairing pieces are now within the 2014.