When I first got the V-Rod, I swore that I would never change a thing on her. As most promises go, things change the more educated you get with the experiences life gives you. Last year I rode to Sturgis and tied a sleeping bag to my handlebars…almost making a rudimentary wind-block. While it looked hideous, it definitely blocked the wind and made the more than 3500 mile trip bearable. Over the last year I have tried to find a decent windshield, but just couldn’t get over the looks, as they either looked goofy or were just too hideous for me to attach it to my bike. While a windshield is a great idea….I want to make sure my bike still looks good, well at least to me.
Then while scouring 1130cc.com, I saw a bike by a guy named Shea who had a Trask powered nasty bike dripping with attitude. I liked the concept behind his bike but once I saw the pics of his bike in a magazine, decided I wanted to change the height of the fairing as I could tell his didn’t really block much wind. Although I have fallen for the style over function bug before, I am also adamant about not adding anything to my bike that will make it less comfortable or harder to ride as that is a mistake I vowed not to repeat.
The Fairing came form a distributor on E-bay and it included the fairing, brackets, mounting hardware, and shorty plexiglass windshield. I decided to put the pieces together and place it on the bike just to see how it looked. Once I had it on, I decided t rig it up with zip ties and finagling the brackets between my turn signal mounts to try it out. Initially I was VERY pleased, but knew I’d have to fabricate something to make the mounting more permanent and stable….I called in help from a few friends.
We stared with the stock pieces and took just a few hours to fab what we needed. The only additional hardware I bought was 4 pipe supports from Lowe’s, 4 plastic spacers, and 4 3/8 bolts to attach the fairing mounts to the pipe supports. We mounted the pipe supports to the fork tubes, then attached the newly modded fairing mounts to the pipe supports. The system worked perfectly.
I recently made a run with some friends and have ridden about 500 miles with the new system. The air is blocked from the bottom of my neck down to my waist, keeping me free of fighting the wind while riding. I can take both hands off of the handlebars while riding 90 mph and still take a few pics. The bike tracks straight and I think the design actually pushed my front end down making it even more stable than before. Overall, I’d say this is a great improvement and expect to see more V-Rods with similar set-ups very soon. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see the Motor Company do something like this 2 years from now…since they are always behind what works on the street. Until next time…
