Valkyrie-Glide?

[39 Chev]

Well, I finally got the fairing installed.  It's a Harley Road Glide fairing, which is a fixed fairing (doesn't move with the forks).  I've been working on it for a while, but I didn't want to post anything until I figured out how to make it work.

I think I'm going to really screw up some (I said some, not all!!!) Harley riders.  They'll start to wave to me thinking I'm riding a Road Glide and then, when they get close, they'll quickly pull their hand down when they see the cylinders hanging out the sides!    I don't know how it is where you're from, but around here most of the Harley guys don't wave to riders riding Non-Harley's.

Let me know what you think!

[Black Dog]

OK...  I give it 

Great job...  Musta been a big project.

Black Dog

[39 Chev]

Yah, I never do things the easy way. 

It would have been easier to just buy an Interstate, but I have to be different. 

[Jess from VA]

Very nice job!!!  Looks great and dual headlights is a big plus.

I believe the RG fairing is a very aerodynamic design.

I am curious, the shield does not look like HD OE.... is it an aftermarket?

Did you have to move the gauges at all?

Please give us a report on how it works for you.

BTW (though you've probably already spent enough) note that Kuryakyn sells a number of things that are direct bolt-on to that RG fairing.  Like driving lights.

http://www.kuryakyn.com/index.cfm/go/Home.ProductDetail/catID/8/scID/86/IMID/2

[39 Chev]

I'ts a Cee-Baily Contour windshield, gages in the stock location, but moved the indicator lights to a little aluminum panel between them.  Thanks for the kind comments.

I looked at some the chrome add-ons for the fairing, but I kind of like the "clean" all-black look, (and you're right, I'm pretty tapped out right now!).

[Jess from VA]

Yeah the Kury chrome fairing trim is an abomination; I like the all black look too.

Get ready...... even thou almost no cop bikes use the RG, you will have people (cages) slowing down in front of you thinking you are a cop on their tail.  Happens to me on black IS's all the time.

[Sodbuster]

I don't know how it is where you're from, but around here most of the Harley guys don't wave to riders riding Non-Harley's.

I've noticed that as well .... when riding out West, it seems to change.

BTW, nice job on the fairing  

[6jugzz]

that's kool right dar.......I don't care who you are!!!

[X Ring]

Excellent job!   

[Jeff K]

I don't know how it is where you're from, but around here most of the Harley guys don't wave to riders riding Non-Harley's.

I've noticed that as well .... when riding out West, it seems to change.

BTW, nice job on the fairing  

Wisconsin seemed to be like that too.

[Big IV]

Excellent looking.

[fudgie]

Very nice!   Road Glides are my fav. Slap a black 4" HD shield on there and your all blacked out. You gonna do a right up and post pix of the process?

[sandy]

You're not the first to do this. A few years ago, someone else posted pics of their RG fairing on a Valk. That fairing is the only thing HD makes that I like. You did a great job. About HD's waving. Out here in AZ, most folks wave. A few years ago, the HD guys would ignore you on a Honda. Don't know what changed but it's better now.

[sugerbear]

very nice job, i like the fixed fairing idea.

we've rode to the east coast, almost to the west coast, just about everywhere in between.

everyone waves back, beemer riders,  even harley riders, until, we get back into Missouri then the harley riders don't wave.
  go figure. ???

[BF]

I dub thee Tour-Glide.   

Looks Great.  How's the wind protection with it?

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Very nice job on the install 

[T.P.]

NICE JOB BRAD ! I hope to see it sometime soon.  The Harley guys do the wave at us Interstate riders till they see the valve covers.  lol    T.P.

[Bob E.]

Very cool.  I've been thinking about this project as well.  I really hope you do a write-up and post more pics of the install process.  Nice house, too, by the way. 

[Tropic traveler]

NIIIICE!!!!!! 

[DFragn]

Very Very Nice.
I know how much thought and work went into it.

Your effort well spent. 

[Garland]

Beauty! I also would be interested in seeing some pics of the install and any brackets that needed to be fabricated. Outstanding project!

[39 Chev]

A big THANK YOU for all the kind words.  I really appreciate your comments!

As far as a write-up and more pics, I will try to post up some more pics as soon as I can.  We used some 1/4" steel plate to make the brackets because I wanted it to be mounted VERY solid (overkill, I know).  I will take some pics of them, but you would probably have to do the same as we did...trial fit and rebend, trial fit and rebend, etc. etc. etc. 

I used the stock Harley 2-piece mount and cut down the mounting ears to mate up with the brackets.  I used stock mounting points that were already on the Valkyrie, so I didn't have to drill any holes in the webbing at the neck.

I think close-up pics will help everyone see how it's mounted.  As I said, I'll get them up ASAP.

[f6john]

     I thought I remembered seeing some pics on the old board about a similar set up. I thought everyone might enjoy a blast from the past!   Your setup looks great by the way, maybe one day.....



http://www.ridevmc.com/Foitag_Valkyrie.html

[GreenLantern57]

Bought a road king fairing myself.  It will be my project this winter, rightnow, it is time to ride.

[deez]

Thats EXACTLY what I have been planning to do! even been looking at RG fairings on ebay. do you have detailed photos of the mounting and any mods you had to make?  ( i hate having to reinvent the wheel!)   Pleeeeese show us the fruits of all your hard work! I admire trail blazers!
Deez

[T-Bird]

I have one of those fairings in storage. I've often thought about mounting it on a valk, since I saw he one on Vikings website. The all black looks way better to me.  This may be a winter project for me also.   

[POPS 57]

Hey 39 Chev do you go to Back to the 50's with your car. We attend every year and have a great time. We have a 57 Chev. conv. matador red plates say POPS 57 on them. Also i don't know where in northern M.N. you live. But if your close to Staples M.N they have a great car show also. I even put my Valkyrie in it one year. Nows it Valk. related. Hey i just looked you up Pillager. I have a cabin on the Crow Wing River by Staples. I'm headed up there this afternoon maybe we will see you around.

[39 Chev]

Hey Pops,  Yup, Pillager.  I live about 1/2 mile from the Crow Wing River between Pillager and Motley.  We ride the Crow Wing on snowmobiles all the time (in the winter, of course   ).  We ride from the dam in Pillager to Wahoo Valley or Huntersville, but don't tell anybody.  We're kind of trying to keep it a secret   .

I don't normally do Back to the Fifties.  I used to, but it got to be too many people.  It is absolutely wall-to-wall "pedestrians".  That's what we call non-car people who bring their kids and don't know how to keep their kids from crawling on the cars or dripping ice cream all over them (yes, this did happen to me).  I haven't made it to the Staples show either.  I'm a Realtor, so, unless I take vacation and get out of town, I never seem to be free on Saturday.  I've had the car to the Hot Rod Nationals in Indianapolis, Mid-West Nationals in Kansas City, GoodGuys Nationals in Columbus, etc.  The biggest one I've gone to is the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, KY.  I'm not trying to brag, but I got a Pro's Pick in Louisville (Rod and Custom Magazine picks 12 outstanding cars out of the 13000 cars that are there).  It was awesome.  My Avatar is a pic from a Rod and Custom photo shoot right there in Louisville.

I'm heading up to the shop to take a couple of pics of the mounts for the guys that have asked...

[39 Chev]

As promised, some pics of the mounting brackets.



Right hand side, you can see where we bolted to existing holes in the webbing.  The top strap goes to the top of the Harley bracket and the bottom strap goes to the bottom of the bracket.  The very bottom bolt is the bolt that goes through the fairing on the rear corner.  You will see the outside of the same bolt in the next pic (black allen head).



Also the right hand side, lower on the down tubes.  You can see where we used the existing bolt down by the horn and the top of the crash bar,  we made a little L bracket for the horn.  You can also see where we "clearanced" the bottom edge of the fairing to give room for the radiator cap.  You can also kind of see where we bent the bracket around the radiator hose and then bent it back in to attach the rear corner of the fairing.  We only used one bolt on this side because of the clearance, but it seems to be fine.




Left side bracket, lower edge.  We used the stock holes in the fairing for the 2 lower left fairing bracket.



Looking down showing the brackets pointing forward to attach to the stock Harley bracket,  see next pic.




Looking down at the stock Harley bracket.  You can kind of see that we trimmed the top "ears" on this bracket, but the bottom ones were OK.  We had to tweak the ears out a little to mate up to the brackets on the bike.  Most of the wiring worked OK (I am pretty helpless with wiring, so the fabricator helping me did the wiring).  We used the running light hot to power the radio because I don't have running lights anymore, just turn signals.  The headlight plug was the same.  I hope the wiring is beefy enough to run both headlights.  I thought about installing a relay, but like I said, I'm really bad at wiring!

Hopefully, this helps some of you guys.

[fudgie]

Wow what a undertaking. How about you fab this and sell them as a kit? Of coarse since this is my idea, I'll only take 20% of the sales. 

[39 Chev]

REALLY?  ONLY 20%?  Sounds too good to be true!   

Me and my "fabricator" buddy have about 20 hours in the fab and install (not to mention the cost of the inner and outer fairing, painting the fairing, new factory mounts and headlight assembly, etc.).  You have to have alot of patience.  I even pulled it completely apart a 3rd time because it was tilted to the side just a little bit.  You couldn't see it when we tried to make sure it was straight before buttoning it all up, but when I rode it home I could tell it was off about 1/4 inch.  I knew it would drive me nuts, so I pulled it apart.  There's a little adjustment on the original bracket where it bolts up to the fairing.

Someone asked about the wind protection.  It seems similar to the Tourer windshield, maybe a little more side draft with the fairing, but I have a smaller windshield than the original HD windshield.  I noticed no buffeting, though.  I installed deflectors on the forks which really helped with the stock windshield, but I don't think I'll need them with this fairing.

Unfortunately, I haven't had much chance to try it out yet.  It's been raining every day since we got it done and now it's SNOWING!!! 

[Mean Cat]

  Great Job Brad! Looks like an excellent glove fit. Keep us posted on its behavior and future additions. Can't beat those UTOPIA backrests, I have the same set up on mine. As for the Harley riders, we are the Fearless Fear Factors in there minds when were around.

[b1rks]

Looks great. Good Job

[39 Chev]

Great Job Brad! Looks like an excellent glove fit. Keep us posted on its behavior and future additions. Can't beat those UTOPIA backrests, I have the same set up on mine. As for the Harley riders, we are the Fearless Fear Factors in there minds when were around.

Took my first pretty long ride on Saturday (250 miles or so).  Fairing worked excellent, but I think I'm going to put a little larger windshield on it.  I was riding into a pretty stiff wind coming at about a 45 degree angle to me for about 80 miles.  I was getting a lot of wind in my face coming around the side of the windshield.  The CeeBailey I have narrows up at the top and I'm going to order a Clearview that  stays wide all the way to the top of the shield.  I'll let you guys know how it works.

Everything else worked great.  It was nice to have a radio/CD to listen to.

Thanks again for the compliments, everyone!!!

[hubcapsc]

I even pulled it completely apart a 3rd time because it was tilted to the side just a little bit.  You couldn't see it when we tried to make sure it was straight before buttoning it all up, but when I rode it home I could tell it was off about 1/4 inch.  I knew it would drive me nuts, so I pulled it apart. 

The little tab inside the right light arm that the turnsignal screws onto on the lights I just installed
isn't pointed exactly straight ahead. I think it can be turned by loosening a nut up inside there that
goes on a hollow bolt that all the wires go through. That means taking the fairing off, the headlight
out, and undoing some of the wires.

So far it is not driving me nuts  ...



-Mike "your fairing looks awesome..."

[Jess from VA]

I'm going to order a Clearview that  stays wide all the way to the top of the shield.

That's a great idea, not only is it wider, the Clearview GT has recurve at the top of the shield. Don't forget Clearview is one of our listed vendors.

Here is a Clearview GT medium (cut down a couple inches by Clearview), on Grumpy's Valk.  Give or take a half inch, this is what I will use to replace my OE IS shields.