Hello, brothers and sisters in VRSC land! I've been a member of the forum for as long as I've owned my '08 DX. I mostly lurk and glean what I can from historical posts. This post will be my first thread and tenth post in almost 9 years. Anyway...
I'm balls deep into doing a Road Rod fairing conversion. I can't wait until I'm finished! It's going to be sweet looking, but it's ugly right now; I pulled the battery and moved the wiring harness and connections out to make room to work, so there are wires hanging everywhere and my shop is a wreck.
If you haven't done the conversion, but you're thinking about it, here is what I've learned, so far:
If anyone out there has done this conversion themselves, I would appreciate ANY insights or tips you might have. Right now I have an issue with the lower bracket not reaching the mounting holes on the fairing - it's about 3/4 of an an inch low and to the rear. I have the top bracket all tightened up (against the instructions to leave connections loose), but I don't think there's going to be that much play if I loosen everything up. It's late now and I worked on this most of the evening, so I'll get back to it tomorrow.
Thanks for sticking with me if you're still reading! Before I started I was running with a Memphis Shades bullet fairing and I have Saddlemen Cruis'n Deluxe saddlebags and trunk bag out back that are rigged to be detachable. I'll post some before and after pics when I get this all together. I also installed a Rostra electronic cruise control recently, so be on the look out for a write up about that; I'll probably tag it on to TheTryal's Audiovox CCS100 cruise control thread here: http://www.1130cc.com/forums/showthr...329&highlight=
I'm balls deep into doing a Road Rod fairing conversion. I can't wait until I'm finished! It's going to be sweet looking, but it's ugly right now; I pulled the battery and moved the wiring harness and connections out to make room to work, so there are wires hanging everywhere and my shop is a wreck.
If you haven't done the conversion, but you're thinking about it, here is what I've learned, so far:
- The Cycle Vision instructions SUCK. I think they sent them to China to be written and they refer to "figures" that are missing (I think I'm missing a page). The "figures" are black and white photos that are photo copied and blurry, so they're not much use anyway:banghead:. If you undertake the project yourself, be patient, be a problem solver, and be courageous!
- Be diligent in your research! Cycle Visions has a parts list of what you will need from Harley-Davidson as far as the inner and outer fairings, windshield, screws and other hardware. They list prices, but as of this writing they are 7 years out dated. Of note, they list a "Harness" part number 70423-98 - this is the dual headlamp wiring harness. It's a "Y" that goes from a single male three prong head light plug to two female three prong sockets and goes from the bike's headlight harness to the Road Glide dual headlights (duh-huh :D); it costs $56.64 from H-D. Build it yourself from parts and wire you can buy at most auto parts stores and save some money.
- I recommend avoiding the Chinese molded ABS FLTR fairings that are prolific on E-bay. I bought one - the price was right at $280 shipped (and I got it the next day because the guy selling was Custom Dynamics right here in North Carolina). But the fit and finish is rough - the seam between the two halves doesn't quite match up right, especially at the corners on either side of the windshield just above the speaker holes. On the other hand, finding undamaged genuine Harley fairings on E-bay is near impossible and getting them through a dealer is about a $900 affair (unpainted), so there's that. I used a heat gun (gently) to soften up the inner fairing to make the seam meet better on those corners and I will also be doing a little sanding to ease some tight spots that create bulges in the seam when the two halves are screwed together. Side note: I saw a listing on E-bay just today for a complete assembly - headlight, windshield and all for $500 - one problem though - the outer fairing was broken in HALF - right down the middle!
- Handlebars. If you have an '07-'11 DX like me, you will need the Harley "Reach" handlebars at the very LEAST (P/N's 55988-04 for stainless steel and 57466-10 for satin black - $99.95 according to Harley's website) and a new brake line (P/N's ABS: 42264-08A, Non-ABS 44736-06B); stock throttle/idle cables and clutch line can be used. If you have a '12 and up DX - you already have these handlebars. I figured I would need to change bars, but I wanted to see how my stock ones would fit - my clutch and brake levers interfere with the fairing, so - no, they don't work. I've seen pictures of DX's with the Reach bars and the Road Glide fairing and they work; they look a little close, but they work. Bars with more rise and pull-back than the Reach bars might be in order for DX riders.
If anyone out there has done this conversion themselves, I would appreciate ANY insights or tips you might have. Right now I have an issue with the lower bracket not reaching the mounting holes on the fairing - it's about 3/4 of an an inch low and to the rear. I have the top bracket all tightened up (against the instructions to leave connections loose), but I don't think there's going to be that much play if I loosen everything up. It's late now and I worked on this most of the evening, so I'll get back to it tomorrow.
Thanks for sticking with me if you're still reading! Before I started I was running with a Memphis Shades bullet fairing and I have Saddlemen Cruis'n Deluxe saddlebags and trunk bag out back that are rigged to be detachable. I'll post some before and after pics when I get this all together. I also installed a Rostra electronic cruise control recently, so be on the look out for a write up about that; I'll probably tag it on to TheTryal's Audiovox CCS100 cruise control thread here: http://www.1130cc.com/forums/showthr...329&highlight=