Fairing Frustration~
Fairing Frustration~
I have been looking for a fairing for my 12 Fat Bob and as most of you have come up extremely disappointed. When I talk to vendors the almost uniform company line is Change out your Dual Headlights for a single Wide Glide one. Let me respond
If I wanted a Wide Glide I would have bought one! One of the things that makes the FXDF so cool is the dual headlight so that will be staying! This bike makes a cool Bad Boy statement and it is about time that someone recognizes it.
The Batwing design is great for an all-out touring bike but does not make it on a FXDF no matter how you modify it. The Bob Dron is still too much an all out touring design and has been around since the early 80s so certainly someone has designed something from this decade.
The Slipstreamer just doesnt do it for me since it is all clear (ok I know a smoked version is available) and handle bar mounted instead of fork mounted and it has to be modified to fit.
The Buell unit is too small.
What I am looking for is something along the lines of a quarter fairing with a rectangle opening to fit the dual headlights. Is that just too hard to make?
I have been looking at some full race fairing upper sections which will allow me to cut the opening but I am not sure the size is right without being able to hold them up to the bike. In addition these are race weight so will require some major sanding and additional fiber glass re-enforcement work.
Does anyone have any other suggestions or photos?
Bob
The Batwing design is great for an all-out touring bike but does not make it on a FXDF no matter how you modify it. The Bob Dron is still too much an all out touring design and has been around since the early 80s so certainly someone has designed something from this decade.
The Slipstreamer just doesnt do it for me since it is all clear (ok I know a smoked version is available) and handle bar mounted instead of fork mounted and it has to be modified to fit.
The Buell unit is too small.
What I am looking for is something along the lines of a quarter fairing with a rectangle opening to fit the dual headlights. Is that just too hard to make?
I have been looking at some full race fairing upper sections which will allow me to cut the opening but I am not sure the size is right without being able to hold them up to the bike. In addition these are race weight so will require some major sanding and additional fiber glass re-enforcement work.
Does anyone have any other suggestions or photos?
Bob
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I have the same fustration as you.
I be even willing to settle to try this. Its a Buell fairing.
May not be what you have in mine. But I be happy with it until Ness came up with something. I'm surprized the motor company isn't aware of the demand for one. It would be big in the Euro market were the Fat Bob sells better than any other model in the Dyna line.
I wonder if Chris over at Death Squad could fab something up. The Fat Bob is a untapped market for aftermarket. Its big in Germany, England and Holland.
I be even willing to settle to try this. Its a Buell fairing.
May not be what you have in mine. But I be happy with it until Ness came up with something. I'm surprized the motor company isn't aware of the demand for one. It would be big in the Euro market were the Fat Bob sells better than any other model in the Dyna line.
I wonder if Chris over at Death Squad could fab something up. The Fat Bob is a untapped market for aftermarket. Its big in Germany, England and Holland.
Last edited by Chicago Ken; Feb 5, 2012 at 05:04 PM.
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2011
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From: Knob Noster, MO
I see your pain but you bought a one off style of bike, so companies can't really make a profit on making a fairing just for the fat bob. So you will have to convert your light to a single or make a custom fairing.
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The Fat Bob is far away from being a one off bike. The company produces thousands a year for many different markets overseas. OK maybe I took Loco's remark too literal. Sorry!
The irony here is the Fat Bob was created for the Euro market to begin with! Hence the twin Street-Fighter Euro headlight style. That street-fighter style should of included a fairing from the start, after all the motor company did a fairing on the V-Rod.
Look at the V-Rod for a second, not big numbers of them running around. Most dealers here are even selling em at a loss. Not originally designed as a touring bike but as a sport bike contender. They were never intened to have touring bags or full cruiser windshields. The company went on to make bags and full windshields for em because people wanted them. I understand its all about dollars and cents. Even the short lived low volume selling Rocker has its own full windshield and aftermarket outlaw fairing.
We just want a fairing for our Fat Bobs!
Back to the topic at hand I saw some Dyna FXRs using old Police fairings.
These look like theres enough room to mod twin lights in and a sound system to boot!. Don't know if the look would work on a Fat Bob. A little over the top for my taste but it could be a good starting point for a creative modder.
Somehow the look seems to work on these old FXRs.
The irony here is the Fat Bob was created for the Euro market to begin with! Hence the twin Street-Fighter Euro headlight style. That street-fighter style should of included a fairing from the start, after all the motor company did a fairing on the V-Rod.
Look at the V-Rod for a second, not big numbers of them running around. Most dealers here are even selling em at a loss. Not originally designed as a touring bike but as a sport bike contender. They were never intened to have touring bags or full cruiser windshields. The company went on to make bags and full windshields for em because people wanted them. I understand its all about dollars and cents. Even the short lived low volume selling Rocker has its own full windshield and aftermarket outlaw fairing.
We just want a fairing for our Fat Bobs!
Back to the topic at hand I saw some Dyna FXRs using old Police fairings.
These look like theres enough room to mod twin lights in and a sound system to boot!. Don't know if the look would work on a Fat Bob. A little over the top for my taste but it could be a good starting point for a creative modder.
Somehow the look seems to work on these old FXRs.
Last edited by Chicago Ken; Feb 6, 2012 at 03:09 PM.
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,658
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From: NorNev
If you are desperate for a dual headlight fairing, I would suggest trying to make one out of two ebay 1/4 fairings. The cut might be a little difficult but afterward you could epoxy and glass the two pieces together making a wider dual headlight fairing.
Not a big Photoshop guy, 5 minutes with MS paint.
Not a big Photoshop guy, 5 minutes with MS paint.
The Fat Bob is far away from being a one off bike. The company produces thousands a year for many different markets overseas. OK maybe I took Loco's remark too literal. Sorry!
The irony here is the Fat Bob was created for the Euro market to begin with! Hence the twin Street-Fighter Euro headlight style. That street-fighter style should of included a fairing from the start, after all the motor company did a fairing on the V-Rod.
Look at the V-Rod for a second, not big numbers of them running around. Most dealers here are even selling em at a loss. Not originally designed as a touring bike but as a sport bike contender. They were never intened to have touring bags or full cruiser windshields. The company went on to make bags and full windshields for em because people wanted them. I understand its all about dollars and cents. Even the short lived low volume selling Rocker has its own full windshield and aftermarket outlaw fairing.
We just want a fairing for our Fat Bobs!
Back to the topic at hand I saw some Dyna FXRs using old Police fairings.
These look like theres enough room to mod twin lights in and a sound system to boot!. Don't know if the look would work on a Fat Bob. A little over the top for my taste but it could be a good starting point for a creative modder.
Somehow the look seems to work on these old FXRs.
The irony here is the Fat Bob was created for the Euro market to begin with! Hence the twin Street-Fighter Euro headlight style. That street-fighter style should of included a fairing from the start, after all the motor company did a fairing on the V-Rod.
Look at the V-Rod for a second, not big numbers of them running around. Most dealers here are even selling em at a loss. Not originally designed as a touring bike but as a sport bike contender. They were never intened to have touring bags or full cruiser windshields. The company went on to make bags and full windshields for em because people wanted them. I understand its all about dollars and cents. Even the short lived low volume selling Rocker has its own full windshield and aftermarket outlaw fairing.
We just want a fairing for our Fat Bobs!
Back to the topic at hand I saw some Dyna FXRs using old Police fairings.
These look like theres enough room to mod twin lights in and a sound system to boot!. Don't know if the look would work on a Fat Bob. A little over the top for my taste but it could be a good starting point for a creative modder.
Somehow the look seems to work on these old FXRs.
The biggest problem with most fork mounted fairings is the headlight in mounted much higher up closer to the handle bars than the FXDF is. For example the early '80's GPZ fairing which is made for a 7" square headlamp would end up mounting above the FXDF head light.
Bob
Last edited by HYPR; Feb 5, 2012 at 11:57 PM.
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From: Back in the Good Ole USA. South Carolina to be exact.
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That looks great Ice Caps. Thats want I would like to have on my bike.
Thanks for your photo shop work. I saved the picture, just got to find someone who is willing to fab one up.
I wish someone could make that for our bikes.
I don't have any experience other than finding those FXR pictures on the web.
I wonder about using a cut up version of the Road Glide fairing, it has a rectangular head light opening using two lights in it already.
The problem with the Road-Glide would be it attaches to the frame and not the forks.
I don't mind not having a fairing but it would make a nice styling addition to the Fat Bob.
Thanks for your photo shop work. I saved the picture, just got to find someone who is willing to fab one up.
I wish someone could make that for our bikes.
I don't have any experience other than finding those FXR pictures on the web.
I wonder about using a cut up version of the Road Glide fairing, it has a rectangular head light opening using two lights in it already.
The problem with the Road-Glide would be it attaches to the frame and not the forks.
I don't mind not having a fairing but it would make a nice styling addition to the Fat Bob.
Last edited by Chicago Ken; Feb 6, 2012 at 03:27 PM.
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,016
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From: West New york, NJ
An old police fairing would match the lines pretty well if it could be modified to be fork mounted rather than frame mounted. There looks to be enough room there to modify the opening to adapt the dual headlight into it. I see them on ebay often. Since you obviously have experience with them any ideas for converting these to a fork mount set up?
The biggest problem with most fork mounted fairings is the headlight in mounted much higher up closer to the handle bars than the FXDF is. For example the early '80's GPZ fairing which is made for a 7" square headlamp would end up mounting above the FXDF head light.
Bob
The biggest problem with most fork mounted fairings is the headlight in mounted much higher up closer to the handle bars than the FXDF is. For example the early '80's GPZ fairing which is made for a 7" square headlamp would end up mounting above the FXDF head light.
Bob