Batwing Fairing

[Bill Havins]

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. [snip]

 

Ahhh... a dose of humility in the morning!  Even better than Starbucks.... 

[pago cruiser]

That was it!  I missed my coffee! 

My take: Life is a long lesson in humility; with constant refresher courses...

[pago cruiser]

Getting closer:





Ran out of time to paint before an upcoming trip, so now its come down to just "gittin er done". A road trip with primer - how retro...

Rode about 75 miles with the cowls and the fairing both almost done - great protection - just a bit of breeze between the fairing bottom and the cowls.  But as it was 100 F here today, it was welcome.  Using my hand as a pressure gauge, the flow hitting my knee area was about 1/4 of the flow from that 4" further to the outside. 

Got one side of the Clearwater LEDs on; worked out perfect to mount to the 1" x 0.125" steel frame I fabbed for the fairing, and clears the cowls by about 1/4" as well.  Still need to fit a taller shield.  Have a 2" and 4" taller coming, hopefully mid week; while that shorty is great for around town and short freeway trips, the blast hits right about my chin. 

Did discover another aw sh!t.  The 2014 Valk light switch switches the LED high beam on/off only; the LED low beam is direct wired.  Crimeny, this never ends... I think the easiest solution is to install and wire the Legacy Valk switch, which is a more conventional hi to low; it would also return the horn button the correct spot...

[Bill Havins]

Mitch,

Was the welder able to get the cowls pretty symmetrical?  Looks like a nice job.

Rock on!

Bill

[pago cruiser]

Yep.
Cowl symmetry is great; he did a superb job, and mesh reinforces on the inside. 
The headlight alignment ring is the new bugger.  What a pita.  This is because of the angle the Batwing makes with the bars. 

Picked up the adjustment ring yesterday.  8.5" OD, 6.5" ID, 1" thick at max, tapering to 0.25" at min.  This gets the headlight mostly vertical again.  I tested it with spacers at the mounting points to get the angle right.  Just the 6061 chunk was $50!



Now I have to mill some recesses to clear the HD headlight adjusters.  And then drill a bunch of lightening holes.



Took the Legacy Valk pilished aluminum handlebar switch housings to my local powder guy.  Been using him maybe 10 years and dozens of projects.  As I was there so often, he would combine my stuff with other orders when they come up - they do a lot of flat and gloss blacks. And charge me a very reasonable piece rate.   He left the company.  The new guy wanted their minimum ($150) for the (4) housing pieces, period.  I walked out the door.    Now I'll have to get some other powder stuff ready and do it all at the same time.  Roughly 12-20 pieces usually falls in the "minimum".