Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Erasmo]

Oooh I like that design, maybe raise the front fairing a bit so you can stay out of the wind while in a comfortable position but I like what they did with keeping the steer-mounted headlight.

Just to give you an idea, this is where I'm at with my CBR250R.
.
.

.
.

.
.

.
.

Nice design, how much was your improvement?

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Check out the dustbin bike, number 4 on this page:  https://rideapart.com/articles/top-5-bike-uriosities-week-411

It is for sale at $12,000.  The owner is located in Oakland, CA.  It might be cheaper to buy the bike, remove the Ducati engine and...... 

They're just around the corner from me! I'll get in touch, maybe just to ask for custom work or something if it's already gone.

[sendler]

Nice design, how much was your improvement?

I only gained about 8%. But at least I didn't lose any efficiency and now I have big locking storage.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Nice design, how much was your improvement?

I only gained about 8%. But at least I didn't lose any efficiency and now I have big locking storage.

8% on an ICE bike might be larger for an electric; it seems like electric motor consumption varies more directly with drag for reasons I feel I should be able to articulate.

[sendler]

My trunk with the lid open. You can see the line I drew in the dust diagonally down the side which shows the extent of the lower storage.
.
.

.
.

[Erasmo]

It kinda looks like a souped up version of a Pacific Coast:

[quixotic]

Has anyone considered the vintage full-fairings from Airtech? I'll admit that I'm partial to their aesthetics over the dustbins. 

I'd probably be looking at the Dunstall, the Cronshaw, or the John Player Norton, due to the hand protection, and the fact that I sometimes need to ride to work at near-freezing temps.  I'm wondering if they'd work with sport bars, or whether a person would have to go to clip-ons.  And if clip-ons were necessary, would rear-sets then be necessary? (At least we wouldn't have to worry about shift linkages). 

I'm not averse to crouching, and I've done up a rigid framework inside a tank bag for that.

I've adapted both an Air-tech 1/4 fairing and a Parabellum Scout fairing for an old BMW R65.  I found that although the former looks cooler, it's not nearly as robust, and it doesn't provide the nearly the coverage that the latter does.  But I guess that's where the full-fairing might come in. 

I grew up lusting after the John Player Norton, so a part of me thinks that it'd be cool to slap one on a Zero, but then paint it with the original Norton colors and branding. 

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Has anyone considered the vintage full-fairings from Airtech? I'll admit that I'm partial to their aesthetics over the dustbins. 

I'd probably be looking at the Dunstall, the Cronshaw, or the John Player Norton, due to the hand protection, and the fact that I sometimes need to ride to work at near-freezing temps.  I'm wondering if they'd work with sport bars, or whether a person would have to go to clip-ons.  And if clip-ons were necessary, would rear-sets then be necessary? (At least we wouldn't have to worry about shift linkages). 

I'm not averse to crouching, and I've done up a rigid framework inside a tank bag for that.

I've adapted both an Air-tech 1/4 fairing and a Parabellum Scout fairing for an old BMW R65.  I found that although the former looks cooler, it's not nearly as robust, and it doesn't provide the nearly the coverage that the latter does.  But I guess that's where the full-fairing might come in. 

I grew up lusting after the John Player Norton, so a part of me thinks that it'd be cool to slap one on a Zero, but then paint it with the original Norton colors and branding. 

It's certainly appealing, but I think the trick is determining fit where these fairings were meant to conform to a frame of certain dimensions, and the Zero's boxy lower front is probably a challenge, in addition to the non-circular LSL urban headlamp shape. I'd certainly be glad to see someone do it.


The other concern which has been re-iterated is that the aerodynamic (meaning range) benefit from a full fairing vs a dustbin fairing is much lower. Aside from leaving the front forks and wheel exposed, all of the full fairings seem to be designed around a liquid cooling system so have an "open mouth" design which captures and directs air for cooling that on the Zero will hit the flat battery face.

As far as I'm concerned, if you do it and write it up, no one loses; we'll learn how a fitment works and your bike will probably look really good in addition to having a small range and comfort boost.

[quixotic]

The other concern which has been re-iterated is that the aerodynamic (meaning range) benefit from a full fairing vs a dustbin fairing is much lower. Aside from leaving the front forks and wheel exposed, all of the full fairings seem to be designed around a liquid cooling system so have an "open mouth" design which captures and directs air for cooling that on the Zero will hit the flat battery face. 

Thanks for that feedback.  Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.  The Peel unit for a Ducati 250 though, has a much smaller inlet which looks as though it could be bridged by a flat chunk of something, while still leaving a relatively slippery shape for the wind to find its way around. 

Some of the land-speed fairings look promising.  I love the bullet's styling, and it looks like a relatively easy fitment.  The single photo of the Bob George fairing almost looks like it might have no gaping hole for cooling, so that might be worth a query to Airtech. 

Admittedly, one of my big problems is lack of garage space. My daily parking routine is somewhat similar to fitting a sardine back into the can. For me, this makes the dustbin a very remote possibility.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

The other concern which has been re-iterated is that the aerodynamic (meaning range) benefit from a full fairing vs a dustbin fairing is much lower. Aside from leaving the front forks and wheel exposed, all of the full fairings seem to be designed around a liquid cooling system so have an "open mouth" design which captures and directs air for cooling that on the Zero will hit the flat battery face. 

Thanks for that feedback.  Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.  The Peel unit for a Ducati 250 though, has a much smaller inlet which looks as though it could be bridged by a flat chunk of something, while still leaving a relatively slippery shape for the wind to find its way around. 

Some of the land-speed fairings look promising.  I love the bullet's styling, and it looks like a relatively easy fitment.  The single photo of the Bob George fairing almost looks like it might have no gaping hole for cooling, so that might be worth a query to Airtech. 

Agreed on all points; I think you've been looking more broadly than I have.

Admittedly, one of my big problems is lack of garage space. My daily parking routine is somewhat similar to fitting a sardine back into the can. For me, this makes the dustbin a very remote possibility.

I'm struggling with this, too, and I literally back my Zero downhill into my garage using the throttle in Eco mode. I'm currently keeping three bikes (two Zeros, likely to sell the older one soon) in a single-car garage with one low-power outlet so it's a challenge to work on a big project. I also have no car, so I can't really transport a dustbin as cargo yet. I'm strongly considering local workshop spaces or fabricators for hire but haven't made the leap yet. This is why I'm entertaining a lot of compromises, because I'd rather confirm fit before committing and winding up with useless (to me) fairings.

[quixotic]

Here's a great page with all the relevant measurements for the bullet fairing (see the last image).  It'd be great if Airtech did this for all of their fairings.

http://www.dimecitycycles.com/airtech-bullet-quarter-fairing.html

[Erasmo]

I stumbled upon this Youtube channel where a bloke puts a lot of model cars in water tunnels and talks about the how and what while providing interesting feeds from the tunnel.

This information is of course nothing new for the fairing builders here but for the newly interested it provides a few nicely visualised first steps in aerodynamics.

[quixotic]

Bravo to Dutch at Airtech! I sent a query about the Peel fairing dimensions, and he got back to me within a day with the following:

"I've attached basic dims on the Peel. Cool project! That's a pretty cumbersome fairing because it's all one piece. Pretty narrow bike but tall steering head IIRC so any of the full fairings listed for a tall single or twin should work!"

I've also attached the photo he sent.

[Killroy]

People, don't overthink the cross wind winds.  There is a huge opportunity for improvement, so go out and make something.

[Zorgalouf]

It would be nice if Zero could offer a faired version like the BMW F800GT.
.
.

.
.

I was exactly thinking that! I have a F800ST (so a few years before but nearly the same look) and it is a great fairing, not to big, not to small. I think it would look nice on a Zero, and could help a bit with the range.
And it is also a belt  (nothing to do with the subject, i know  )