The fairing

So, here’s the big thing added to Selene.

Rawr!

I’ve never been a big fan of windshields and the day I took the H-D Road King for a test ride cemented that.  I found the wall windshield to be big, cumbersome and only served to make the ride oddly uncomfortable.  The batwing on the Street Glide though?  Superb.  It had looks and the ability to take the wind away from my chest and hands.

I knew that Memphis Shades made a universal batwing, but finding the mounting hardware in grand old New Brunswick last year proved to be difficult.  This season, Memphis Shades has everything readily available and a few calls produced the entire kit for me in about a week.  Keep in mind that there are three things you need to order for a complete install.  The fairing, the mounting hardware (or plates if you already have a mount) and the windshield.

So, as usual, here is my little write up of the install and my thoughts on the addition to my ride.

The batwing came nicely secured in a full size box wrapped in foam.  Memphis took a good amount of measures to make sure it was delivered scratch free and in one piece.  I would suggest handling the fairing with some kind of cloth gloves on to prevent scratching.  Keep in mind that the fairing is molded Lucite® acrylic and easily scratched.  They supply every tool you’ll need to mount it except for the 8mm socket wrench to remove your signal lights.  The biggest problem you’ll have is trying to get the mounting equipment off the vacuum wrapped cardboard.

Mouting hardware.  Mine aren't black.  Doesn't matter, you dont' even see them.

With everything out of the boxes and plastic it was time to remove the signal lights.

8mm bolt holding signal light bar.

Signal bar off hanging by the wires.

With this done slip the lower fairing mounting bracket in behind the signal light bar and reinsert the bolts.

Lower fairing mounting bracket in place.

I wasn’t big fan of how close the upper section of the bracket comes to the fork covers.  In all likelihood it will come in contact with them if the bike gets jarred a lot.  The only bonus is that this mounting system will likely never come off the bike.

It's really really close to the fork covers.  Also note my helper.

Next up, removing the upper triple tree pinch bolt with the supplied 6mm Allen wrench.  When these are out, you can place them off to the side as they won’t be used again.  The kit comes with new long bolts for the installation.

Removing the pinch bolt.

Now take the L-shaped upper brackets and remove the lower Allen bolt (opposite the L section).  Pop the L-shaped upper bracket in place and re-insert the Allen bolt, but don’t tighten it all the way.  These L brackets must be tab up and facing the forks as per figure 2, below.  Put in the new longer Allen bolt with the spacer in the triple tree pinch bolt hole.

Figure from installation sheet.

Lower Allen bolt.

Upper L bracket with bolt & washer in place.

With the brackets in place we can move on to the fairing itself.

Mounting the fairing brackets.

Please, keep in mind that the brackets get mounted facing inward.  I got a little ahead of myself and put them on completely wrong.  You find out rather quickly once you try to mount the fairing to the bike.  Please note the picture below illustrates the WRONG way to put it on.

WRONG!!!

If you put the bolts at the bottom of the holes in the bracket you will end up with the fairing as close to the headlight as it will go.  It looks the best this way and will help block more wind.

Now that you’ve mounted the brackets the right way, go ahead and slip it onto the lower and upper bushing assemblies.  I found this best with help…which I thankfully had around for the whole install.  The fairing will go on, but it will give you a bit of a fight.  If I was by myself, I could very well have scratched the fairing trying to get it onto the mounts.

You have limited adjusting room with the upper bushings and can move the fairing forward and back with them left loose.  Find the best spot for the fairing and tighten them up.

Upper bushing adjustment space.

In fact, now is the time to tighten up all the bolts.  The last thing you need is this beautiful piece of plastic taking your head off on the highway.

Now the windshield itself…which has to be ordered separately.  Yes…separately.  Anyway, I ordered the smoke black windshield and it looks fantastic on the black fairing.  It’s simple enough to install, but again it’s easier with help.  One person holds the windshield in place, the other installs the hardware.  Again, use cloth gloves if you have them, the windshield is easy to scratch.

You get three nylon nuts, washers and Allen bolts.  I’ve got them mounted ass backward on my windshield, still wondering if I like it that way or not.

Bolt inside, nut outside. Instructions say it should be the other way around...

Tighten it all up and…that’s it, you’re done!

Make a final check on all the bolts and pat yourself on the back.  Or get your buddy to point at the fairing saying, “Now that looks cool!”

Now that is cool!

Riders eye view.

Outside, minus my saddle bags.  She's kinda skinny without them.

My thoughts?  I love it and Selene loves the attention.  It’s made a huge difference in the amount of wind that hits my chest, has made my April rides that much warmer and makes the highway a lot more comfortable to ride.  There is a small amount of buffeting, but compared to the amount of wind I’m used to it’s nothing to complain about.  I bought the fairing so I could take it off when I didn’t need it, but now I think it looks so good that I’ll never take it off.  Oh Gods…I’m a convert!  *hangs head in shame*

I do intend to get the lower deflectors and the chrome windshield trim later on.  The chrome will just accent all that black and I’ve read that the defectors make quite a bit of difference.

Windshield trim. Lower deflectors.

I will not be getting the fork lowers as the only ones I can get attach to my fork covers and I’m not willing to do that.

That’s it.  Hope you enjoyed the write up.

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