Road King aftermarket fairing
Thread Starter
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Stage II
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Dallas, TX
I am leaning toward the Dragonfly fairing... Mostly because their hand controls are set up with chrome housings. What are the names of the other companies that have chrome hand controls?
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 258
Likes: 1
From: Kings Mountain, NC
Tex,
I know there are a lot of fans of using a batwing type fairing on a Road King and I used to be one of them. After I sank all of that money in to buying and painting one to match my bike I decided that I just did not like it because; 1. the looks (why ruin the classic lines of The King?) and, 2. The feel. It almost seemed like I was driving the truck (I like to see the road through the handle bars).
If you're only after a good set up to listen to music, save yourself several hundred dollars and buy a Zumo. You can plug your ear buds in to the Zumo so you can listen to your favorite MP3s while having the added benefits of a great GPS.
Flame suit on
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 2,160
Likes: 62
From: GA.
If I'm not mistaken, the dragonfly is open to the weather on the bottom side of the fairing. There are a bunch of aftermarket stereos that will allow the use of hand controls. Just find one that allows a hard wired remote. I'm running a Woody's fairing and love it. I'm using his recommended base radio, which is a Sony, that runs about $120. I think I'm gonna upgrade later this year to another Sony with the wired remote feature so that I can add the hand volume controls.
Tourer
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 444
Likes: 4
From: Albuquerque
Tex-
A few things to think about before deciding on a stereo.
Do you want or need a CD player?
Do you want or need Ipod controls?
Will you be using XM or Sirius?
How much do you want to spend?
All are important for what you are going to use it for. Most newer head units are building all or most of those options in.
The standard FM reciever will not work as good as you want it to, so know that when investing.
For me, I use my Ipod and didn't need anything else for tunes. I wanted an easy to use Ipod interface on the stereo and wanted the Ipod hidden in the saddlebag. When I first got my Dragonfly the suckered me into overpaying for a Kenwood and it lasted all of 8,000 miles before crapping out. Good decision not buying their stereo option. After that I put an Alpine Marine iDA-X100M in. The Ipod controls are great and sound quality is fantastic. It has built in crossovers and allows pretty good tuning to be able to maximize volume without distortion, especially on the bike. I have 12,000 miles on the bike since installing and it has been working perfectly. The Alpine comes with a long usb cable for the Ipod, so no additional cost there, but the unit is definitely more costly than some other options that have gotten good reviews here.
Hope that helps, good luck with your purchase.
A few things to think about before deciding on a stereo.
Do you want or need a CD player?
Do you want or need Ipod controls?
Will you be using XM or Sirius?
How much do you want to spend?
All are important for what you are going to use it for. Most newer head units are building all or most of those options in.
The standard FM reciever will not work as good as you want it to, so know that when investing.
For me, I use my Ipod and didn't need anything else for tunes. I wanted an easy to use Ipod interface on the stereo and wanted the Ipod hidden in the saddlebag. When I first got my Dragonfly the suckered me into overpaying for a Kenwood and it lasted all of 8,000 miles before crapping out. Good decision not buying their stereo option. After that I put an Alpine Marine iDA-X100M in. The Ipod controls are great and sound quality is fantastic. It has built in crossovers and allows pretty good tuning to be able to maximize volume without distortion, especially on the bike. I have 12,000 miles on the bike since installing and it has been working perfectly. The Alpine comes with a long usb cable for the Ipod, so no additional cost there, but the unit is definitely more costly than some other options that have gotten good reviews here.
Hope that helps, good luck with your purchase.
If I'm not mistaken, the dragonfly is open to the weather on the bottom side of the fairing. There are a bunch of aftermarket stereos that will allow the use of hand controls. Just find one that allows a hard wired remote. I'm running a Woody's fairing and love it. I'm using his recommended base radio, which is a Sony, that runs about $120. I think I'm gonna upgrade later this year to another Sony with the wired remote feature so that I can add the hand volume controls.
There's several manufacturers of aftermarket fairings, and most of them have very good reputations. Dragonfly, Deadcenter, Kuryakyn, Woodys, Wideopen, and Hoppe are all reported to be quality products, and you will probably be happy with any of them. I like the Dragonfly for the best looking inner fairing of all of them.
If you have any questions about Dragonfly's fairings, I would encourage to call the company. Ask to speak to Kevin (the owner). They are a great company to work with, with a strong commitment to customer service.
I would not hesitate to buy another Dragonfly. If I was in the market for an aftermarket fairing again, they would still be my first choice.
This fairing is several years old. The new ones are even better looking.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 2,160
Likes: 62
From: GA.
Here's a dragonfly that was for sale on here recently. Definitely looks open on the bottom to me........
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...-w-stereo.html
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...-w-stereo.html
Tourer
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 466
Likes: 0
From: Chicago, Il
here's a couple of pics of my hoppe quadzilla I have an Alpine head unit and I've been caught in the rain plenty of times and my stereo stays dry (when it rains or when I wash my scoot I just close the stereo door)
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Joe Kucinski
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 41
Likes: 0
I've got the Dead Center Cycles fairing on my 03 Road King Classic. Instead of the "stock" radio that Dead Center uses, I installed a Sony CDXM60UI Marine CD Receiver MP3/WMA/AAC Player with USB Wire for iPod and USB Devices.
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 409
Likes: 8
From: SE WI
Without starting a firestorm here, where did you get your Quadzilla? It doesn't look like the genuine article, and there are some counterfeiters out there.