New Project and First Motorcycle

A little fun update for everyone. I ordered some new fairings from China. After reading reviews/forums/etc... went through a company called Auctmarts. People seem to be pretty pleased with the fit and finish of them so I'm looking forward to delivery. Apparently each set is made for the order so I don't expect to see them for a few weeks at least. See below for obviously stolen photos of the fairings. Just went with the bike's original color as I like that.

Capture.JPG Capture2.JPG

Should look like a brand new bike after I get them installed. I'll probably do a little write up/photo montage of the whole process as well. While the bike is apart I'll probably also do a little cleaning/maintenance just to get her ready for spring.

Also, fingers crossed my tank doesn't look faded, as that's metal and doesn't get replaced with new fairings.
 
did you get a hardware kit too or just going to re-use the oem?

The chinese fairings seem to do well. They take some monkeying with to get everything to fit, but end up looking good. I have seen some with spider cracks where it gets hot tho, not sure how to prevent that besides lining the fairings with something.
 
mangosmoothie said:
did you get a hardware kit too or just going to re-use the oem?

The chinese fairings seem to do well. They take some monkeying with to get everything to fit, but end up looking good. I have seen some with spider cracks where it gets hot tho, not sure how to prevent that besides lining the fairings with something.
Click to expand...

The kit includes new hardware, windscreen, and a head shield too. I'll probably add some Home Depot heat shielding though here and there as I see fit while I install to mitigate any cracking/discoloration.

I'm really just excited to have a bike that looks good though! The cracks and scrapes on the fairings were getting me down when taking pics for the 'gram.
 
Update!

Got an email with the finalized photo of my fairings. Ordered Feb 10 and done with paint Feb 27. Reviews online seem to say that the shipping from China is pretty quick so hopefully within a week or so we have them in hand.

0227_15.jpg

0227_16.jpg

I'm very curious to look over them and see how the quality overall is since they're China fairings. Anything will look better than whats on the bike now though so I'm not worried at all.
 
alexwlwsn said:
Update!

Got an email with the finalized photo of my fairings. Ordered Feb 10 and done with paint Feb 27. Reviews online seem to say that the shipping from China is pretty quick so hopefully within a week or so we have them in hand.

View attachment 10021

View attachment 10022

I'm very curious to look over them and see how the quality overall is since they're China fairings. Anything will look better than whats on the bike now though so I'm not worried at all.
Click to expand...
IMG_1555.JPG
I basically got my first bike the same way that you did. Needed work and I got it all sorted and upgraded after I rebuilt it and enjoyed it for a while. I ordered a fairing kit from china as well and to be honest the fit was an absolute pain in the ass but when I got them all on and finally situated, they looked great.
 
Last edited:
eject0seat0cuz said:
View attachment 10032
I basically got my first bike the same way that you did. Needed work and I got it all sorted and upgraded after I rebuilt it and enjoyed it for a while. I ordered a fairing kit from china as well and to be honest the fit was an absolute pain in the ### but when I got them all on and finally situated, they looked great.
Click to expand...

It's definitely a labor of love! I enjoy wrenching and messing around with stuff so I'm curious to see how it all goes. The PO had seriously fuckered with the stock fairings so when I reinstalled them, it was a pretty awful experience anyway. A lot of people say the Auctmarts fairings actually fit really well and the only issue is that some of the bolt holes are just a tiny bit smaller than they'd like. I'm hoping they go on relatively smoothly!
 
The day I was waiting for has finally come! The fairings were delivered to me this previous Saturday and thankfully this weekend was free enough for an install.

The box they were delivered in was giant (as I expected) and everything was very nicely wrapped in foam paper stuff. There was one piece of the fairings where a small piece had cracked off but it was in a location that you'd never see unless you were really looking for it and already knew where it was. Over all I was very impressed in the shipping speed, and in how everything was packaged.

IMG_20190309_094010.jpg

In the box was the full painted set of fairings, a new windscreen, and a hardware kit. I assume the windscreen, being free, won't stay as clear as long as a $100 one but it's much more clear than the old one. I honestly couldn't even see through the tinted and scratched one that was on there previously so anything is better.

IMG_20190309_142830.jpg

The meat and potatoes:

IMG_20190310_152505.jpg

All in all I am super happy with it all. The paint quality is pretty good. No weird runs in the clear coat worth mentioning and the color matches great. Fitment I'd rate as a 8.5/10 as well. The tail section was the only section I needed to trim in order to get fit but I only needed to remove ~4mm of material. Below is also I suppose a fitment "issue" but in time and with warmer weather, this might even out a little. Install at the end probably took about 6 hours but I was in a shed so likely if I had a larger garage with more room to walk around, it could've been done in less time.

IMG_20190310_145055.jpg

I still think I'm going to rehab my muffler my disassembling it and repainting it black, and also clean the bike up a little more. Next up along with a nicer muffler will be a new rear tire (getting that for my bday this month) and possibly adjusting the suspension for my weight. I've been reading a lot of articles and since front and rear is adjustable for compression and rebound I figure I can make some adjustments and make it ride a little nicer for my slender 150lb frame.

I'm super happy with how my little $600 bike turned out and can't wait to get it out once the weather finally warms up and I can have some more fun with her and also get to be a better rider. All in all for $600 for the bike, $300 fairings, and ~$200 to get it running post purchase I think I got a pretty killer deal on a good bike.
 
Small update...

Got a new rear tire for my birthday so I'll be putting that on shortly. I can definitely feel the rear end get a little weirdwhen I take turns so it's definitely time for that old tire to go. Just matching the front with another Dunlop GPR300. People usually use them on more "casual" bikes like a 500cc or a 650cc cruiser but I'm not planning on tracking the bike so I'm quite confident I'll never get to a point where this tire isn't enough for me. They're also going to do better in wet/cooler conditions than a more aggressive rubber as well.

I just can't get over how much better it looks now...

PSX_20190322_221056.jpg
 
Question for my biker friends.

Just installed a new rear tire (Dunlop Sportmax GPR-300) about 25-50 miles ago. I've spent some time in parking lots just making low speed tight circles to try and scrub out the tires as well as possible. I also don't ride like a mad man since I'm still new to sportbikes. I realize I'm still breaking it in, but I'm noticing something weird while cornering. Sub-10-15mph, the bikes feels totally fine. I can lean over and loop de loop just fine and everything feels stable. When I'm travelling at say, 20+mph though the ### end feels almost wiggly while leaning as if it's moving back and forth maybe 1/2".

Not sure if maybe I should check my rear wheel bearing? Maybe it's something wrong with how I'm taking turns also, I'm just not sure where to start looking. Bike only has 15k miles so I can't imagine the bearings are shot.

The tire was properly inflated when I mounted it but I guess it could have a slow leak. I feel that's unlikely as the tire and stem are brand new.

Any ideas/suggestions?
 
Post a pic of the tire when you get a sec, like up close directly behind/above it.

Do you have a rear stand? Get it up off the back wheel and check for side to side play on the wheel and where the swingarm connects to the frame.

Did you put the axle and wheel back on yourself? Double check axle nut torque and that the wheel is straight. Also double check tire pressure.

Idk how you ride but my rear metzeler will wiggle a little bit if it the tires are cold and the road isn't warm.
 
mangosmoothie said:
Post a pic of the tire when you get a sec, like up close directly behind/above it.

Do you have a rear stand? Get it up off the back wheel and check for side to side play on the wheel and where the swingarm connects to the frame.

Did you put the axle and wheel back on yourself? Double check axle nut torque and that the wheel is straight. Also double check tire pressure.

Idk how you ride but my rear metzeler will wiggle a little bit if it the tires are cold and the road isn't warm.
Click to expand...

I'll grab a photo for you next chance I get. I do have a rear stand so I'll see if I can find any play in the wheel and swingarm. I'll check those other items as well.

If it's just a issue when the tire/road is cold I guess I'll just have to get used to it. I just haven't taken corners very aggressively yet so I feel like I'm going to fall when the back end starts the wobbles.
 
I noticed the squirm the most when taking decently sharp turns at a pretty slow speed. So like left turns onto streets. And it was when i wasnt trying to be aggressive at all.

It isnt a perfect test but you can drop youe hands off the bars and see if the bike goes straight on a flat road. If the rear wheel is super off it'll drift one way
 
mangosmoothie said:
I noticed the squirm the most when taking decently sharp turns at a pretty slow speed. So like left turns onto streets. And it was when i wasnt trying to be aggressive at all.

It isnt a perfect test but you can drop youe hands off the bars and see if the bike goes straight on a flat road. If the rear wheel is super off it'll drift one way
Click to expand...

I am semi-confident my rear wheel is straight. When re-installing it I put a straight edge on the rear sprocket and made sure it pointed as straight with the chain as possible.
 
Did a casual pull yesterday in my old MS3 log spot to try and measure the 60-100 times I might be seeing. I could have done it all in 3rd but shifting is much more fun. I used an application called Speed Logic (Lite) which apparently is relatively accurate. It's just crazy comparing a car's acceleration to a bike's since I don't even think my MS3 could've cut a sub-3s 60-100 with a 3-4 shift and it was making almost 600whp.

Template public:_media_site_embed_youtube not found. Try rebuilding or reinstalling the s9e/MediaSites add-on.

(ignore 1/4mi and 0-60 times)
Screenshot_20190521-200523.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top