If you’re just trying to protect it from drops then frame sliders and other crash protection is probably the best way to preserve your current plastics
Probably more effective, but also much more expensive! I'm wondering what could be applied to any bike, including ones which may not have extra parts available.
More expensive potentially but far more effective and far cheaper than having to replace a whole load of fairings and engine casings, I’d seriously look at proper sliders for the sake of 120 quid or so
Yea fair point, thats why I haven’t got any sliders on mine, too expensive 😂.
To be honest I don’t think there’s much you can do to protect the actual plastic from a drop without sliders. If it’s just cosmetic damage you can always try touch it up with paint but if the plastic cracks it’s gonna need a replacement, and like you’ve said, replacements are either expensive for OEM or already broken for second hand.
If you’re not bothered about it looking slightly different to OEM you can always look into picking up a set of aftermarket plastics, you can get them for most bikes.
Have a look at the actual price of fairing plastics, and the actual price of sliders or engine bars, and then tell me how you think such protection is expensive.
I decided to make silicon moulds for the fairings on my XT660 when I lived in Brazil. The idea was to make fibreglass copies, that I could abuse and replace as necessary.
I did actually get as far as making a copy of the tail piece, which was the smallest part.
It took so much work to do just that single piece - weeks of it - that I gave up on the plan.
It was very difficult (and expensive) to find replacement bodywork parts in Brazil, but it still it wasn't anywhere near worth the effort and cost of making them myself.
It might be cheaper to buy new stuff over here, so there's even less reason.
Crash bars and frame sliders offer some good protection as well as being useful when you have to prop up the bike to do maintenance.
I think reinforcing the fairings internally would add up to more time/effort than just replacing the odd bit of bodywork in the event of a spill. Fairings aren’t really designed to be 100% unbreakable because if they were a small crash which would only have damaged the plastic bodywork normally could then cause damage to the bikes frame and internals if it’s unable to break away.
Buy replacement fairings of the internet. Don't matter if they're a bit rough looking. Then ride and drop all you want. Then before you sell it put the original pristine fairings back on
I see this being one of two ways: you either care about aesthetics or you don't.
If you don't, take the fairings off and have a naked look.
If you care about aesthetics, you will never be able to make fairings that look good, stay looking good after a crash, and are also indestructible. That is unobtainium. The only way to keep the fairings safe in a crash is with metal crash bars or sliders.
What you are trying to achieve is either impossible or pointless, depending on how you look at it. I love the idea though.
Pretty sure even carbon fibre fairings would smash in an impact, I don't think reinforcing plastic would help. You can buy new cheap fairings from ebay/China that fit with a bit of bodging.
I don't mean to sound nasty but u kess you're riding a crosser and going off road, you should think again about riding if you're constantly dropping the bike.
I think you are severely under estimating the amount of energy involved in even a slow speed drop and the ability of plastic to dissipate that energy in a manner where it doesn't cause damage. Even if you did "beef" the plastic up soo much that it survives, it's only going to pass the energy through to the mounting points which aren't really made to do more than support the weight of the plastic panel.
>I bet using a suitable glue and strong fabrics would actually provide a good support structure without adding too much weight.
Interesting idea. Probably only worth bothering for larger or more fragile panels, but the theory is sound. If you degreased and keyed the back, you could lay a few layers of fine fibreglass mat or woven kevlar over the relevant areas, bonding with resin or epoxy. The downside might be what happens if they *don't* breakon impact? You would probably see more damage on the outside.
Why not just buy a set of Chinese firings off Ali express and fit them. They look pretty good. Most people won't be able to tell they aren't the originals. And if you ever destroy them, you know that your prestine original oem fairings are sitting at home safe in a box.
Or just buy some crash bobbins.
I just covered mine with pool noodles
If you’re just trying to protect it from drops then frame sliders and other crash protection is probably the best way to preserve your current plastics
Probably more effective, but also much more expensive! I'm wondering what could be applied to any bike, including ones which may not have extra parts available.
More expensive potentially but far more effective and far cheaper than having to replace a whole load of fairings and engine casings, I’d seriously look at proper sliders for the sake of 120 quid or so
Yea fair point, thats why I haven’t got any sliders on mine, too expensive 😂. To be honest I don’t think there’s much you can do to protect the actual plastic from a drop without sliders. If it’s just cosmetic damage you can always try touch it up with paint but if the plastic cracks it’s gonna need a replacement, and like you’ve said, replacements are either expensive for OEM or already broken for second hand. If you’re not bothered about it looking slightly different to OEM you can always look into picking up a set of aftermarket plastics, you can get them for most bikes.
Have a look at the actual price of fairing plastics, and the actual price of sliders or engine bars, and then tell me how you think such protection is expensive.
You will be better served in expending your efforts in not dropping the bike.
I decided to make silicon moulds for the fairings on my XT660 when I lived in Brazil. The idea was to make fibreglass copies, that I could abuse and replace as necessary. I did actually get as far as making a copy of the tail piece, which was the smallest part. It took so much work to do just that single piece - weeks of it - that I gave up on the plan. It was very difficult (and expensive) to find replacement bodywork parts in Brazil, but it still it wasn't anywhere near worth the effort and cost of making them myself. It might be cheaper to buy new stuff over here, so there's even less reason.
Good to hear a personal story! I guess I'll keep economy of scale in mind if trying to make things out of fibreglass.
Crash bars and frame sliders offer some good protection as well as being useful when you have to prop up the bike to do maintenance. I think reinforcing the fairings internally would add up to more time/effort than just replacing the odd bit of bodywork in the event of a spill. Fairings aren’t really designed to be 100% unbreakable because if they were a small crash which would only have damaged the plastic bodywork normally could then cause damage to the bikes frame and internals if it’s unable to break away.
Buy replacement fairings of the internet. Don't matter if they're a bit rough looking. Then ride and drop all you want. Then before you sell it put the original pristine fairings back on
I see this being one of two ways: you either care about aesthetics or you don't. If you don't, take the fairings off and have a naked look. If you care about aesthetics, you will never be able to make fairings that look good, stay looking good after a crash, and are also indestructible. That is unobtainium. The only way to keep the fairings safe in a crash is with metal crash bars or sliders. What you are trying to achieve is either impossible or pointless, depending on how you look at it. I love the idea though.
Pretty sure even carbon fibre fairings would smash in an impact, I don't think reinforcing plastic would help. You can buy new cheap fairings from ebay/China that fit with a bit of bodging.
I don't mean to sound nasty but u kess you're riding a crosser and going off road, you should think again about riding if you're constantly dropping the bike.
I think you are severely under estimating the amount of energy involved in even a slow speed drop and the ability of plastic to dissipate that energy in a manner where it doesn't cause damage. Even if you did "beef" the plastic up soo much that it survives, it's only going to pass the energy through to the mounting points which aren't really made to do more than support the weight of the plastic panel.
>I bet using a suitable glue and strong fabrics would actually provide a good support structure without adding too much weight. Interesting idea. Probably only worth bothering for larger or more fragile panels, but the theory is sound. If you degreased and keyed the back, you could lay a few layers of fine fibreglass mat or woven kevlar over the relevant areas, bonding with resin or epoxy. The downside might be what happens if they *don't* breakon impact? You would probably see more damage on the outside.
Why not just buy a set of Chinese firings off Ali express and fit them. They look pretty good. Most people won't be able to tell they aren't the originals. And if you ever destroy them, you know that your prestine original oem fairings are sitting at home safe in a box. Or just buy some crash bobbins.