Batwing Fairing

[bscrive]

Hey guys,

Has anyone thought about putting a batwing fairing on the new valk? 

I have been throwing around the idea for a little while now, but spending a few hundred bucks to find out I don't like it, or that it won't work is what is holding me back.  There are some real cheap batwings out there, but you usually get what you pay for.

I would really like to see one on a valkyrie.  I searched the internet, but I don't think anyone has done it yet.

I have been working on an idea how to install it on the bike using the forks that should work.  With thick enough steel that shouldn't be a problem.

If you have seen any pics with one on the new valk, post it.

[Shrubbo]

Hehe you certainly have some different tastes mate but I guess we all do else we wouldn't be riding these things. I look forward with interest to what you end up with but alas I can't help you, I have never seen one.

[Jambriwal]

Yes I have thought about putting a Fairing on the Valkyrie. For one I miss the hand protection and the smother and quieter air flow they provide. One that would look the best from my perspective would be the one from a Yamaha Stratoliner, or possibly a Corbin. They both angle back much more than a typical Batwing. I think they could compliment the swept back look of the Valkyrie. You would have to make or modify the mounting system since no manufacturers make anything for our bikes. I have done this a couple of times with pretty good results ( shade tree mechanic ). Now to get my hands on one of those FIrings at a reasonable price.

[_Sheffjs_]

I am having a hard time visualizing this where it does not block the air flow to the sail panels and the  radiator.  Please elaborate.

Would it be higher?

 

[Robert]

The bike is called the F6B, I would think the fairing would hit the radiator pods since on turning there is no clearance between the pods and the forks. Like I said if you put a fairing on a Valk maybe its time to step up to the F6B since that is kind of what makes the Valk unique a Goldwing without the fairing. But you have done great in the mods you have done so maybe you can make it work.

[bscrive]

I doubt the batwing would fit as is.  I imagine that some fabrication would be in order.

Jerry, I think the batwing would have to fit on higher than normal, but I don't think it would look hideous.  How much clearance there would be from the tank and the pods would be anyone's guess until one was fitted. 

I think that a couple of clamps on each fork would be good with some custom brackets wrapping around the plastic fork protectors coming up beside the headlight is what would be needed to attach the batwing.

Robert,

The problem with the F6B is the size of the front fairing.  A batwing is smaller and a lot lighter.


I found a cheapo batwing on eBay for $100, but it is made in China.  I hate buying crap from China, but it might be ok for a trial test.  Before I do that, though, I have to find, or make some fork clamps and bracket to mount the batwing.

I don't know what it is about me.  I just can't seem to ride the bike as is.  I always want to try this and that modification....maybe it is a sickness.   

[Emir]

it sounds interestingç Hope you make that mod and we all can see how does it look and works 

[_Sheffjs_]

Well?  Is this the thought    yes quick cut job I know

[bscrive]

Yep Jerry, that is what I am thinking about.  

hmmmmm....I kinda like it.  With my ape hanger bars on my bike I think it would look pretty good and give me good wind protection.

I have been looking at the Memphis Shades batwing and they have one that is shorter (15") and 36" wide that flares out at the bottom of the headlight cut out.  I bought the fork clamps that they sell to see how I need to make the bracket.  Once I do that then I will pull the trigger and get one.  

A winter project to go along with painting my forks, powder coating the valve covers and putting on the auxiliary switched fuse box.  

Thanks Jerry.

[bscrive]

I bought a batwing fairing last night.  There are several auctions for them on eBay and I decided to get one where I can put in a stereo system in it instead of a basic batwing.  I got it for $140 with the shipping which is pretty cheap for a batwing.  I have seen them up to $1100 for the same thing I got.  Now, I just have to wait until it gets in.  

I also bought two sets of Memphis Shades fork clamps to mount the fairing brackets to.  I may also get a couple of clamps to attach the fairing to the bottom bar of my handlebars.  They come out far enough past the dash for me to use as braces.  I will have to make a bracket from the clamps to the fairing.  That should be fun.  I love figuring out crap like this.

The cutout for the front headlight is not big enough for my headlight and front end, so I will raise up the front of the fairing and block out the space.  Maybe, put in a small light above my headlight.

This will be an interesting project.

[_Sheffjs_]

Keep us posted.  I like this outside the box thinking. 

[Shrubbo]

Outstanding!! Looking forward to the pictures

[bscrive]

Well...I got the batwing fairing today and I put it on to see how it would look...aaaaaaaand it looks totally STUPID.   
It does not look like anything that I was expecting.  The fairing has to sit so high that none of the headlight cutout is used.  The front signal lights would have to be relocated as well.  It doesn't hit the side pods though because it has to sit up high.
Oh well....I will put it up for sale in the spring.  It should sell fast.  Good thing I did not pay a lot for it.   
I tried and I failed, but it is better than not trying at all and always wondering.   

[Shrubbo]

Good one you bscrive. Pity as I was interested to see where this was going to go. You seem pretty handy with your hands, have you tried fiberglass molding per chance? So many times I have considered it and then through that idea into the to-hard-go-home basket

[CajunRider]

Well that's a shame... I wanted to see it done. 

Oh well... if it don't look right, try something else.

Good-on-ya for giving it a go!!  Here's hoping you can recover your $$$ in the sale. 

[Kidd]

Was this an attempt at being a super hero ??

[bscrive]

Was this an attempt at being a super hero ??

Ah sh!t no, that comes next year when I try to put anti-gravity pods on it, so that I don't have to buy anymore tires.  The flux capacitor may come at the same time.    

[CajunRider]

Don't forget the frickin' sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!!!

[Robert]

Was this an attempt at being a super hero ??

Ah sh!t no, that comes next year when I try to put anti-gravity pods on it, so that I don't have to buy anymore tires.  The flux capacitor may come at the same time.    

 
As always inventive and creative.

[kcole683]

What happens when you take a saw to the bottom of the batwing? 
Maybe a  half batwing above the head light?
Memphis Shades or someone  should make a fairing for the 14-15 Valkyrie.

[Firefight100]

I have been researching this also.  I would love to see the pics of what you got and tried.  No matter how stupid, I won't laugh.

[BoldlyGo]

The bike is called the F6B, I would think the fairing would hit the radiator pods since on turning there is no clearance between the pods and the forks. Like I said if you put a fairing on a Valk maybe its time to step up to the F6B since that is kind of what makes the Valk unique a Goldwing without the fairing. But you have done great in the mods you have done so maybe you can make it work.

Agree. For me, I ran out of money changing bikes constantly being an idiot.  I have now researched this much more than previously.  I like the road clearance and weight of the Valkyrie versus the F6B.  I also tested a late model Goldwing and was not impressed!  Engine and transmission were very good, but the rest of the bike raddled like an old lady - makes me wonder about the fairing on the F6B.  Also, speakers were terrible on the Goldwing (maybe previous owner blew them up?).  Anyway, it does appear we are all trying to build an F6B.  That said, there some advantages with staying with the Valkyrie.

[Kidd]

Agree. For me, I ran out of money changing bikes constantly being an idiot.  I have now researched this much more than previously.  I like the road clearance and weight of the Valkyrie versus the F6B.  I

I know the feeling
I have a $1100  into rear shock and spring  and the results , it's not what I was wanting .
It did  take the edge off the jarring  ride , but , nothing more .

What I now have planned is  a seat adjustment .
Add  2  "off road" type light bars  to the engine guards with added turn signals .
The light bars  may be 6" to 10"  long and I hope I'll be able to  have them vertical  or lower them to horizontal with a simple adjustment  .
This means 2  added lights on both engine guards , I want people to see me better

[bscrive]

Kidd,
It's too bad that you couldn't get a good rear suspension done.  i was hoping to capitalize on your work.    I guess that i will just have to put up with the suspension.  Since I got the Russell seat it is not as bad as before and i can put up with it.  I will just stay on smooth roads. 

I was going to take pictures of the batwing on my bike, but I ended up selling the thing quite fast and made a hundred bucks profit on it.    With the money, I bought an Avon front tire (AV71 120/70ZR-19) and a tinted 33" Goldwing windshield, which I will modify to fit my bike using my existing windshield as a template.  If I ever see a batwing that looks like it will fit then I will try one again. 

kcole683,
I had thought of cutting the fairing, but the one I bought was set up for a radio and had I cut it down the structural integrity would have been shot.  Possibly, the type of batwing that only has the outer part may have worked, but they are not built very well and the area I need to cut out would include the bottom support mount.  With the batwing lower on the front end I probably would have had issues with turning.  Basically, you would need a batwing without the headlight cutout.  Right now I get the same effect with my windshield.  But, you never know when something new will come out on the market. 

[pago cruiser]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!
Found this thread and figured it would be better to keep it going than to start a new one.

Still contemplating doing something like this.



I think it looks pretty good - at least in the photoshop effort.
Don't know who did this, but I can find no other development down this road.

While Bill has done an incredible job on his hand-built fairing, I'm trying to go a slightly different route, using something off-the-shelf, with some mods to make it work, and end up with some more curvature back towards the rider.

The Batwing basically parallels the lines of the panel on top of the headlight, with the lower sides cut away to clear the radiator cowls. 

The Photoshop version also keeps the stock headlight, which is pretty narrow (when compared with a standard 7" diameter headlight bowl), in order to allow the fork mounted headlight to clear the cowls.  Wish the headlight actually worked better - but it would appear difficult to change it.

[bscrive]

That does look pretty cool on the Valk. 

The only batwing, that I know of, that looks similar is a Corbin for a M109R.  I have never seen one come up for sale for a decent price fro me to buy it and try it.

[pago cruiser]

Found a pic of the Corbin fairing:


They place a pretty high premium on those at about $1800!
Also looks a little ...extreme - almost cartoonish?

This is kind of what I was thinking - a used Memphis Shades, that almost looks like it could have been the model in the Photoshop exercise.   



About 1/10 the price of the Corbin; and since I would be whacking off goodly chunks of it anyhow to clear the Valk radiator cowls, would not feel so bad if it is all for naught.

Hm; thinking of cowls.  The forward almost 5" of the cowls are just hollow voids, concealing the radiator hoses (Thanks Bill!) .  Maybe handy for smuggling your dope stash  but mostly an aesthetic exercise.  Maybe time to also investigate  a (gasp!) cowlectomy, or some means to reduce the ...largeness... of the cowls to enable the Batwing to maybe fit a little better.

Maybe...  

Brian - did you take any pics of when you tried going down this road?

[bscrive]

Hi Mitch,

Sorry, I din't take any pictures as I never got it fully installed.  The one I had was made for a stereo to be installed as well and cutting it up would have destroyed the integrity of it.  I only placed t on the bike and saw immediately that it wouldn't work.  I was going to get a batwing similar to the one you have in your picture, but other projects got in the way and I never got to it.

Now....you have me interested in this again and my wife is going to be very annoyed when I tell her that I want to try this again. 

Did you buy the one in your photo already?

[pago cruiser]

Not yet.
There are several on ebay right now, with various hardware pieces, or without.
The darn mounts from Memphis are about $150 by themselves - so it would be real easy to double the price of this experiment without even trying.

As well, both the Legacy Valk and the ST1100 fairings have built in air vents; these fairings work really well, with no buffetting or goofy low pressure areas sucking you forward. Spending some time on ebay, the only Batwing styles I can find with vents are on late model HD's - and a lot of those are stoopid priced... But then if I found one with vents, would have to totaly fab the mounts; and least with the Memphis version, you have some mounts to start with.  It is ...almost... always easier to start with something and modify it, as opposed to creating from scratch... I just can't figure out if this ios pone of those time... or the exception.

[Bill Havins]

Mitch, Brian, et. al.,

As I was mocking up my fairing I was trying my best to incorporate the OEM headlight.  And I may still do it (now that I have it off the bike and have dissected it into its many pieces).  But, to tell you the truth, I really like the look of the J.W. Speaker headlight I used in my fairing.  And it works well - BUT I try my best not to ride after dark (too old).

I remember being impressed with the "border-to-border" coverage of the low beam on the OEM headlight; didn't do enough night riding to form an opinion of the high beam.

As far as mounts go, if you choose to go to a round headlight you free up four 8mm mounting holes in the triple clamps (two on the upper and two on the lower).  In that case you can blow off the "almost works" hardware from Memphis Shades and fabricate your own from eighth-inch steel strap.  Cheap and easy.

Now that I understand the ins-and-outs of the front ends of our bikes, and have some recent epoxy-resin fiberglass experience under my belt, I think it would be really easy to develop a mold of a successful batwing fairing design and pop out three or four (or more) in a week.  Might be a fun "meet-and-greet-and-grow-your-own fairing event, too.  With 5 molds you could pop out 10 functional fairings in a weekend.  BUT, and it's a big but, the mount for the OEM headlight has to change such that it will accommodate the fairing.

Do you want me to look further into this (the headlight for a batwing)?  My headlight is on a shelf in the garage - photos are pretty easy.

Bill

[bscrive]

Hi Bill,

I do believe that the mounts could be put on the forks.  The plastic covering at the top of the forks could be cut back and the switchblade mounts could be used.  They would need to be modified a bit, but that shouldn't be a problem.  If I had a batwing that would miss the side radiator pods then I could easily make mounts for it.  For me, I like the shape of the headlight and I would want to incorporate it into the batwing.

[bscrive]

Hey Mitch,

Check out this batwing from Mutazu.  It is already higher on the sides and would not need much modification to pass the radiator pods.  Also, it is $135.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Motorcycle-Front-Fairing-Batwing-Windshield-Fits-Yamaha-Suzuki-Harley/231398923215?epid=22003949608&hash=item35e0735bcf:g:OkMAAOSwstxVbyJk&vxp=mtr

[Bill Havins]

....batwing from Mutazu.  It is already higher on the sides and would not need much modification to pass the radiator pods....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Motorcycle-Front-Fairing-Batwing-Windshield-Fits-Yamaha-Suzuki-Harley/231398923215?epid=22003949608&hash=item35e0735bcf:g:OkMAAOSwstxVbyJk&vxp=mtr

If it helps you get a sense of scale, my fairing is 34" wide, too.



Bill

[pago cruiser]

Thanks for the replies and the info guys!  It appears I'm on a slightly different path after today...
I spent a good part of the day dismembering my headlight and cowls and trying out a few parts I had laying around for my other project...

The Legacy Valk fairing mount almost bolts up to the 2014 Valk tripe trees! Just needed some bracketry fabbed.


The Legacy Valk Fairing mounts to the supporting frame ok, and is fine great in a straight line, with the radiator cowls removed.


And after a little fairingectomy, it also fits fine with the cowls - as long as I don't have to turn.


Did this same mod on my Legacy Valks - really like how it turned out.
   

At full lock, just barely clears the radiator:


I think will a little more adjustment, should be able to modify the stock cowls to fit. Will have to lower it a couple inches, as well as move aft. But it should still cover the front radiator hoses as well. May also have to do some ABS welding for a filler piece, but have a friend with a TIG-like ABS welder.


Was not sure how this would work, but it is amazing how well it...almost does.  The bolt holes on the bottom of the top triple clamp are located perfectly, the angle of the windshield is the same (although the fairing body is rotated up just a bit), and even the spacing from helmet to edge of windshield is within an inch of the distance on the Legacy Valk.  Cool Beans! 

Have to work all fricken week - hopefully not another Saturday , so cannot do much more until next weekend. 
 

[bscrive]

Mitch, you have too many projects on the go.

[Bill Havins]

Mitch,

Take a close look at the wiring harness for the OEM headlight.  If you are going to use halogen lights in the legacy Valkyrie fairing you will need to add larger wiring to "juice those puppies."

As you know, the OEM headlight draws, perhaps, 2 amps of current at most.  Twin halogens will suck down 8 amps +/-.

I did not measure it, but I have a suspicion that the headlight wiring in the wire loom on our bikes is 18 gauge or less ( ).  If you are going with halogens (and in this day and age I wouldn't) you might want to consider adding a couple of relays and at least a 12 gauge run to the battery to power the headlights.  You can then use the existing headlight circuit to key the relays (and, thus, power the halogens).

I have a real dislike of halogen headlights.  They are pretty "needy" and, in the wrong circumstances, can be "high maintenance."  When things go well they are pretty good for a little less than half their rated lifespan; they quickly begin to lose power because of the "off gassing" that sticks to the inside of their glass shells. (Rant over)

Looks like you are making progress.

Good luck!

Bill

[bscrive]

Or, better yet, go and buy some 3 or 4 sided LED bulbs for sale on Ebay.  I bought some for my wife's Can Am Spyder. They work great, run cooler, and use a lot less power.  They even come with the ballasts, so it is plug and play.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/H4-Motorcycle-COB-LED-Headlight-Hi-Lo-Beam-Front-Light-Bulbs-Lamp-6K-Conversion/352110980428?fits=Model%3AValkyrie&hash=item51fb732d4c:g:U8sAAOSw-JJaYZ~f&vxp=mtr

[bscrive]

I bought another batwing fairing that has a different backing than the last one I bought.  This one doesn't have areas for speakers and radio, so it will be easier to modify to see if it fits.  If I can get it to fit then I will post pictures.  If not, then I am only out $150 and some time.    But, I am confident that I can make a basic batwing fit.

[_Sheffjs_]

I like it!   

 This shows Honda could have made a second model in 2014/15

[pago cruiser]

Brian - "Too many projects" - HA.  Funny, my wife says the same thing...

Bill - Yep, the thought occurred to me when I rewired my stern to incorporate the saddlebag turns and running lights.  Really.  Small.  Wiring. I had to use the lightest stuff I had, which was 16g; which was way bigger than the stock wiring. I'm guessing the stock stuff is 20g. 

For my other project, I purchased a 2004 gl1800 harness to rob parts off of- it must weigh all of 40 lbs!  The 2014 Valk harness by contrast is about 15. 

Brian - I spent a good bit of time looking at photos and dimensions - I'd agree with you that it's doable.  If my Legacy Valk fairing does not work out, the Batwing is going to be my plan B.  But from where I left it yesterday, I'd give myself 75% odds it will work...

Sheffjs - I really think Honda screwed the pooch by not creating a true Y2k+ Valk, based upon the GL1800 engine.  It's like they projected that the 2014 Valk would be like a Fat Bob clone, something you ride to the bars on Sunday with.  The 2002-2017 GL1800's I consider Road Sofas, whilst the F6B is more along the line of a Barca Lounger.  A little smaller and about 100 lbs lighter; but after putting 2000+ miles on it in a week, it was just too dam big and...unwieldy.  The 2014 Valk with a small fairing and Legacy Valk or Corbin bags really hits the sweet spot.  Awesome engine, functional touring amenities, and Honda reliability.  When I get the Legacy Valk fairing installed and painted (assuming I can mod the cowls to not look like a$$), I'm looking forward to going to our monthly Jap Bike gathering at a local brewery.  "Yep, it's 2018 Valk, this is the first one in Tucson...".   

Dang.  Just got home, did one post, and it's time for bed to start it all over tomorrow.  If I did not have this moto habit I could prolly have retired by now... Then again, I'd prolly be spending way too much time at the bars, polluting my liver...