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Crashed '98 VFR-Naked or aftermarket fairings?


TetonVFR

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Hi Everyone-new here to VFRDiscussion.  I have a 1998 VFR800 that I crashed. Insurance totaled it out, but it still runs great and only crunched the left side fairings.  Luckily no mechanical problems that I am aware of. I'm in the process of getting her road-ready again, and am debating getting some cheap eBay fairings or going naked. Any suggestions one way or the other? The bike was red, but am thinking of going black if I do go the fairing route. Has anybody had any luck with the seller "motopros" on eBay? $360 for a full set of black fairings seems like a good deal, if they are quality parts.

 

If I do decide to go naked, I would like to keep the stock gauges. So, issues I am running into are how to hide the wiring under the gauges (and protect them from the elements), what headlight to use, and how to hide the coolant overflow bottle.  I'm fine with the side mount radiators.  I probably won't change the seat and rear of the bike.  Since the bike now has a salvaged title, I don't want to spend much money on it since I won't get it back if I ever decide to sell it. So, looking for a budget build back to "stock", or an economically and time-feasible way to just run it naked and look half way decent.

 

Thanks in advance for the help and advice!

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Personally I don't care for the "naked" look. With very few exceptions VFR's with no fairings look like

irrigation pumps put in a motorcycle frame, with some cooling bits hung on it. Not my look at all.

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36 minutes ago, FJ12Ryder said:

Personally I don't care for the "naked" look. With very few exceptions VFR's with no fairings look like

irrigation pumps put in a motorcycle frame, with some cooling bits hung on it. Not my look at all.

 

 +1 on that.   I'd get the fairings, but would look for the better (translation, more $$$) ebay fairings.  Viffercrab had a lengthy thread on that topic - he mentions the source he used.  The cheaper ones have horrible fit and the mounting tabs break easily.   The 'irrigation pump' look is what we seem to have so much of at dealers these days.  I'm pretty sure I've already purchased my last new bike - I can't even look at the new ones. 

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23 minutes ago, Cogswell said:

 

 +1 on that.   I'd get the fairings, but would look for the better (translation, more $$$) ebay fairings.  Viffercrab had a lengthy thread on that topic - he mentions the source he used.  The cheaper ones have horrible fit and the mounting tabs break easily.   The 'irrigation pump' look is what we seem to have so much of at dealers these days.  I'm pretty sure I've already purchased my last new bike - I can't even look at the new ones. 

I did a search for "Viffercrab" to find his post-but got nothing.  Any chance you have a link to his post? (or maybe mis-spelled his user handle?) If anybody else has some experience with a quality aftermarket fairing company I'm all ears!

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I had a low side crash on the right that damaged the top and right side cowl, plus broke the tail cowl (probably my foot did that). I bought replacement parts from Auctmarts via eBay, they are located in Guanzhou near Hong Kong. They offered to do a paint match for an additional $25 so I shipped them a piece of my rashed fairing, and the result was really very good for the price. The fit is not perfect but the only noticeable point for that is the top-side join on the right, which has a slightly uneven gap, but the parts have so far held up to 15,000km of use. You may need to drill out a few mount holes (e.g. for the well nuts) but these have worked OK for me. The parts are not OEM quality but I reckon they are good value. Paint match was 99% right, and finish was excellent with no obvious glitches.

 

IMG_3330.JPG

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4 minutes ago, Terry said:

I had a low side crash on the right that damaged the top and right side cowl, plus broke the tail cowl (probably my foot did that). I bought replacement parts from Auctmarts via eBay, they are located in Guanzhou near Hong Kong. They offered to do a paint match for an additional $25 so I shipped them a piece of my rashed fairing, and the result was really very good for the price. The fit is not perfect but the only noticeable point for that is the top-side join on the right, which has a slightly uneven gap, but the parts have so far held up to 15,000km of use. You may need to drill out a few mount holes (e.g. for the well nuts) but these have worked OK for me. The parts are not OEM quality but I reckon they are good value. Paint match was 99% right, and finish was excellent with no obvious glitches.

 

IMG_3330.JPG

That looks good enough for me! As I mentioned, I think I'm going to transform my red bike to black, so paint matching won't be an issue. I plan on buying a black tank cover from Topsellerie out of France to cover my now dented and dinged red tank. Anybody have one of their tank covers? Thanks for the mention on the eBay purchase-Honda wants an insane amount of money for OEM fairings!

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26 minutes ago, Cogswell said:

 

 +1 on that.   I'd get the fairings, but would look for the better (translation, more $$$) ebay fairings.  Viffercrab had a lengthy thread on that topic - he mentions the source he used.  The cheaper ones have horrible fit and the mounting tabs break easily.   The 'irrigation pump' look is what we seem to have so much of at dealers these days.  I'm pretty sure I've already purchased my last new bike - I can't even look at the new ones. 

+ 1 also. Among the VFR's many and storied attributes, being a standout naked is not one of them. 

 

When I bought my 16 AT, I realized I swallowed some personal convictions as to what I liked a bike to look like. Just to own that bike.

 

When I decided this year to slot another VFR in the garage as my 4th Gen is closing in on 6 digits on the OD, I looked at all the 17's on fire sale and still opted for a low mileage 3 rd Gen.

 

There will always be a market for oem looking bikes in good working order IMHO.

 

As noted, there are some very detailed threads here that will be very informative as to what to expect from Aftermarket fairings.

 

+1 for keeping the bike. They are worth the trouble. I had a third Gen in England in 2015 that was totaled for a tip over at the shipyard my boat was in. The insurance company was surprised when I bought it back from them for salvage, but what else was I going to buy?

 

Best of luck with which ever you decide.

 

 

 

 

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What fairings exactly do you need. I have enough rashed faring to cover several fifth gens if I had the plastic working skills and more ambition. If you are willing to refurbish pm me.

 

Terry 

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I had a potential "total loss" crash back in '13 (never bothered with the insurance claim) and was facing the same question. I was all for going 'fighter, but really was just talking myself into it. I found another guy on VFRD that was converting his to naked and sold me all the front end stuff I needed. I wanted to change the color anyway, so having it body-worked was all part of that. I took the opportunity to have the turn signals filled while it was getting work. I'm really so much happier with the full fairing look! Anyone not in the know would look at it and see a completely boring, fully stock motorcycle, but it is actually far from it. I would ride to work last year (at a job I don't have anymore🙂) and park next to a Harley and know mine was far more custom than his would ever be. 

 

IMG_1552.JPG

(Photo and exhaust hanger by SebSpeed!)

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42 minutes ago, MaxSwell said:

What fairings exactly do you need. I have enough rashed faring to cover several fifth gens if I had the plastic working skills and more ambition. If you are willing to refurbish pm me.

 

Terry 

Sent you a PM. I'm looking for left side, front cowl, a left orange turn signal/housing, and a left rear view mirror.  Thanks!

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1 hour ago, FromMaine said:

+ 1 also. Among the VFR's many and storied attributes, being a standout naked is not one of them. 

 

When I bought my 16 AT, I realized I swallowed some personal convictions as to what I liked a bike to look like. Just to own that bike.

 

When I decided this year to slot another VFR in the garage as my 4th Gen is closing in on 6 digits on the OD, I looked at all the 17's on fire sale and still opted for a low mileage 3 rd Gen.

 

There will always be a market for oem looking bikes in good working order IMHO.

 

As noted, there are some very detailed threads here that will be very informative as to what to expect from Aftermarket fairings.

 

+1 for keeping the bike. They are worth the trouble. I had a third Gen in England in 2015 that was totaled for a tip over at the shipyard my boat was in. The insurance company was surprised when I bought it back from them for salvage, but what else was I going to buy?

 

Best of luck with which ever you decide.

 

 

 

 

The salvage value was only $300, and since nothing is mechanically wrong with the bike I figured it would be stupid to let the insurance company take it!

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one problem with chinese fairing replacements is that they're' weak,  about 1/3-1/4 the thickness of OEM and easily cracked.

 

ABS ?  maybe not ??????  😣

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26 minutes ago, KevCarver said:

I had a potential "total loss" crash back in '13 (never bothered with the insurance claim) and was facing the same question. I was all for going 'fighter, but really was just talking myself into it. I found another guy on VFRD that was converting his to naked and sold me all the front end stuff I needed. I wanted to change the color anyway, so having it body-worked was all part of that. I took the opportunity to have the turn signals filled while it was getting work. I'm really so much happier with the full fairing look! Anyone not in the know would look at it and see a completely boring, fully stock motorcycle, but it is actually far from it. I would ride to work last year (at a job I don't have anymore🙂) and park next to a Harley and know mine was far more custom than his would ever be. 

 

IMG_1552.JPG

(Photo and exhaust hanger by SebSpeed!)

 

Sweet looking bike Kev.

For a second there I thought you had twin exhausts, what a great idea.

I then realised it was that silly number plate light that is used on US bikes.

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3 hours ago, FJ12Ryder said:

 With very few exceptions VFR's🤣 with no fairings look like

irrigation pumps put in a motorcycle frame, with some cooling bits hung on it.

 

Priceless !  A forever classic line.  You're a poet, amigo!!!  😅😅

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1 hour ago, VFROZ said:

 

Sweet looking bike Kev.

For a second there I thought you had twin exhausts, what a great idea.

I then realised it was that silly number plate light that is used on US bikes.

Yeah, I see it too. I was in talks with Seb to build me a dual exhaust last year before my world imploded. I cut the fender years ago but ended up putting some cracks in my Thurn clear tail lens, so I found another uncut one. I still want to build a dual exhaust for it one day. 

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4 hours ago, keef said:

Im a streetfighter kinda guy. 

20180516_205624.jpg

 

 

Gawd-a- mighty, mate !!!.   'ow long'd dit take to wrap those headers ??  take me 2 cases of lager to finish all that much 'ard labor it would !  😜

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4 hours ago, TetonVFR said:

I did a search for "Viffercrab" to find his post-but got nothing.  Any chance you have a link to his post? (or maybe mis-spelled his user handle?) If anybody else has some experience with a quality aftermarket fairing company I'm all ears!

 

Here 'ya go. As Terry mentioned about his rebuild, it was Auctmarts.  I have no personal experience with them - but they seem to get a good rep at least when it comes to parts for our V-4's.

 

https://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index.php?/forums/topic/81765-viffercrabs-chinese-fairings-build-thread/

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4 hours ago, Terry said:

I had a low side crash on the right that damaged the top and right side cowl, plus broke the tail cowl (probably my foot did that). I bought replacement parts from Auctmarts via eBay, they are located in Guanzhou near Hong Kong. They offered to do a paint match for an additional $25 so I shipped them a piece of my rashed fairing, and the result was really very good for the price. The fit is not perfect but the only noticeable point for that is the top-side join on the right, which has a slightly uneven gap, but the parts have so far held up to 15,000km of use. You may need to drill out a few mount holes (e.g. for the well nuts) but these have worked OK for me. The parts are not OEM quality but I reckon they are good value. Paint match was 99% right, and finish was excellent with no obvious glitches.

 

IMG_3330.JPG

Wow Terry - those silver wheels are the perfect compliment to the 5th gen's color scheme.  That is absolutely beautiful.  If that bike were a woman, I'd be trying to have an affair with her!    :wub:

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