Before you splash out and buy one I have encountered a couple of problems. The front brake master cyclinder (standard bars) interferes with the right side of the fairing forcing the fairing to sit about an inch higher than the headlight. The lower surface of the fairing also sits on the indicator stems at this level.
... I will fit this and a universal headlight bracket ...
As for the indicators I am still deciding what to do there but will probably go for an aftermarket bolt on set or modify an old rear indicator stem... ...I will fabricate my own brackets for the fairing, probably in alluminium.
At the end of the day I want a bolt on/bolt off system without butchering the original style of the bike. And mine is a black '84 R65 with red/white pinstripe...
I hope this helps someone if they consider going down the same path. I just have a thing about the 'S' style fairing.
Cheers, Burt.
Old Bengt Phorqs and I did the Barber Motorsports & AHRMA event year before last. The swap meet takes two days to properly shop. That's where I found a brand new and complete with hardware EMGO fairing, the same as Burt discusses, for thirty bucks.
My '81 R65 has the Euro bars. A Trail Tech Vapor digital instrument replaced the entire OEM gauge pod. The headlight, turn sig and instrument cluster bracket went into storage; replaced with a pair of headlight brackets which clamp to the fork uppers. These are also EMGO products.
The fairing's "universal" mounting hardware was tossed as it was never going to work with the short, low bars. And besides that, it looked
universal.
The R65 headlight fits just fine using the new headlight brackets. They, too, are EMGO products and allow for adjustments in the vertical and horizontal. Surprisingly, the small screen does a good job of knocking down much of the wind encountered while "sporting" down the highways.
Quarter front view but without the small, black streamlined LED turn signals installed on the fairing body. Was necessary to swap in a different turn signal flasher relay; one designed for use with LEDS and/or conventional filament bulbs as those are the rear sigs on the bike.
With the OEM light and gauge bracket removed, there is a tapped hole at the top of each upper triple clamp. It is a perfect place to anchor a simple steel bracket. The attach point at the fairing is in the position indicated on the fairing by a factory applied paint spot. Got lucky on this deal.
The lower attach brackets ar enothing more than small, straight steel tabs that also attach to tapped holes originally securing the bottom of the headlight metal plate. Two holes drilled in the lower part of the fairing ties it all together.
A word about the brackets: I began with card stock to determine approximate shapes. The attach point at the fairing is a straight bend. However, the bend at the triple clamp attach point runs
diagonally across the width of the brackets.
Satisfied with the cardboard, I next made brackets from 0.75" wide hardware store, soft, architectural-grade aluminum. After confirming drilling locations and correct fairing position, I made the final brackets from 0.75" mild steel strip.
Same top bracket on both sides. It was necessary to trim a little bit of the fairing to clear the master cylinder. Not noticeable. The fairing to screen hardware shown did not meet my expectations so all was replaced with cad-plated, aircraft grade AN hardware. No extra screw threads to catch you and NyLok nuts snugged but not crushingly tight -which may stress the screen and fairing plastic. Thin rubber washers utilized throughout the install.
With the simple brackets and QD front turn signal wiring, I have timed the complete removal of the fairing assembly in less than six minutes. The two upper clamp bolts. two nut/bolt combos on the bottom and disconnect two wire leads.
