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They are ugly and they get in the way.

12K views 17 replies 14 participants last post by  MikeB 
#1 ·
No, not Harley-Davidsons. It's those hideous gas tank side covers, bulbous monstrosities that serve no known function except to provoke ridicule (and break upon contact with the ground). OK, style is a subjective thing, but they also get in the way when I'm trying to tie down the bike in the toy hauler with straps over the lower triple tree.

So right now I'm running without them, and I must say the bike looks a lot better nekkid. But it also looks unfinished -- I'd like to attach the "chin" piece under the headlight nacelle as well as tie together the upper fairing pieces, and both require the side fairings. Has anyone found a way to "trim" the side fairing pieces in a way that reduces the monstrosity factor but keeps the structural usefulness? The only part that is really needed is the upper edge where most of the fasteners are located, and the very forward part that holds the chin in place.

Any ideas/pix? Any Photoshop cognoscenti out there who could whump up an image?
 
#2 · (Edited)
I went naked at first, for the same reasons as you suggest...The big fairing side panels are WAY out of proportion with the rest of the bike. But eventually I went in the opposite direction and installed a set of JMV fairing lowers, which make the bike look just right to my eyes.

I have no interest in taking my Strom on more than dirt roads now and then, since I have a real dirtbike for serious off road riding.


BTW...

The bulbous fairing side panels do actually add a fair amount of wind protection for your body. At speeds above 65 mph the difference between naked and faired is very obvious.

Here's a few shots of my bike naked, and with the JMV fairing lowers installed...







 
#4 ·
"It's those hideous gas tank side covers, bulbous monstrosities that serve no known function except to provoke ridicule (and break upon contact with the ground)"

Why would you a bike that you have such distain for with no way to change the look properly?

newfoundlanders bike look nice but the obvious missing of something from the tank takes the appeal away and visually incomplete.
 
#5 ·
#6 ·
Thanks for that, Monkey. A useful thread. That guy performed somewhat more radical surgery than I was thinking of, but it gives me some food for thought. I have done fiberglass work on previous boat projects so I might take a whack at reconfiguring the side panels. Your response was certainly more helpful than awd505's: "Why would you a bike that you have such distain for with no way to change the look properly?"

I had a fourth grade teacher equally disapproving of my behavior, but at least she had some grasp of spelling and grammar. I'm glad awd didn't have a ruler in hand or he might have smacked my knuckles as well.:-D
 
#9 ·
Hey, MikeB, maybe if you had introduced the thread a little more tactfully, instead of suggesting that all the rest of us are driving around with hideous, bulbous monstrosities on our bikes you'd wouldn't have been flamed. Just a thought.
Well the other side of that coin is...

We all know it's one of the best motorcycles ever made, but to deny that it looks like ass, is...well...just that...denial. Mike is just being honest and observant. The bike is all f_cked up looking, in stock form, despite being an amazing machine, functionally.

That being said...

The best looking naked version I have seen, includes the process of adding an SV650 tank...



 
#10 ·
Well the other side of that coin is...
We all know it's one of the best motorcycles ever made, but to deny that it looks like ass, is...well...just that...denial. Mike is just being honest and observant. The bike is all f_cked up looking, in stock form, despite being an amazing machine, functionally.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Keep it light guys - its just electrons.

:mod2_2guns:

Tige
 
#15 ·
That "bodywork" is what helps to identify it as a V-Strom......it's unique and easily recognizable.

If you don't like it, maybe you should have bought an H-D cruiser and you could look like those folks......clones. :D

Jim Davis....your bike in that setting is gorgeous!
 
#18 ·
The best looking naked version I have seen, includes the process of adding an SV650 tank...
I considered the SV look, Newfoundlander, especially the minimalist cowl. But when I looked up the part numbers and diagrams for the Wee's cowl mounting bracket and that for the SV it's apparent that they are totally different, and I don't know if the SV bracket would even bolt up to the Wee in the right places. Maybe I'll go down to the dealer's and peek up under the skirt of a SV to see if the frame steering head is the same. If so, it should work without too much cutting and pasting.

I don't think I'd want to go to an SV tank, though, because of capacity. 260 miles and the low-fuel icon is just starting to blink on the current tankful. Wow!
 
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