Do you miss your fairing?

Signal 50

Signal 50

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I am considering ordering the Nubz shop VS streetfighter headlight kit. I'm glad someone finally sells something that is more or less plug and play. I've been admiring a lot of the streetfighter bikes in here for a while but hadn't been able to bring myself to "experiment" on my bike.

I do a fair amount of cold weather riding and I'm wondering if anyone misses their fairing during cold weather or highway riding? Does the lack of front fairing make a huge difference during commuting or long distance traveling? I know it will also be inherently colder but that I think can remedy with some Tourmaster pants.
 
Only on the track and occasionally on the freeway. The flow is much less turbulent, but there's a steady pressure on your chest.
 
I noticed that when I rode a GS 500 recently. I don't do many long trips but I wouldn't be opposed to it in the future. How tiresome does it become?
 
I dont miss it at all. I never even thought about going back to the fairing since day 1. The stock fairing doesnt provide much protection anyway and it created bad turbulence on my helmet at my height. (5.10) Feels much better without it!
 
I don't miss it.. ever! I'd love a bike that provided meaningful protection for highway speeds, but I never felt FZ6 did that very well with fairing on. I've always found the ride to be very turbulent. Full tuck behind the screen helped a great deal, but I wouldn't want to ride like that very long. I actually prefer it without fairing on the highway, but I wouldn't want to maintain 80mph for very long.. it's definitely tiring.
99% of my riding is at lower speeds.. say 50-60mph and I mush prefer the streetfighter setup for that. I don't find that it's infinitely colder to ride that the faired setup, but I rarely get out when it's below 40 degrees out there and if I do, I usually don't go fast.

To sum it up, I don't regret my choice one bit and have no interest in converting the bike back to faired version.
 
Erci said:
I don't miss it.. ever! I'd love a bike that provided meaningful protection for highway speeds, but I never felt FZ6 did that very well with fairing on. I've always found the ride to be very turbulent. Full tuck behind the screen helped a great deal, but I wouldn't want to ride like that very long. I actually prefer it without fairing on the highway, but I wouldn't want to maintain 80mph for very long.. it's definitely tiring.
99% of my riding is at lower speeds.. say 50-60mph and I mush prefer the streetfighter setup for that. I don't find that it's infinitely colder to ride that the faired setup, but I rarely get out when it's below 40 degrees out there and if I do, I usually don't go fast.

To sum it up, I don't regret my choice one bit and have no interest in converting the bike back to faired version.
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Thanks! Its nice to have input from someone in a similar area. I don't ride below 40* really and I have adequate cold weather gear, just wondering if it made a huge difference. I do most of my riding on back roads but I do commute and have been thinking about a 250 mile ride to PA.

I really like the look so it looks like I'll go ahead with it. :thumbup:
 
I feel the exact same as Erci too. He pretty much summed it up. :thumbup:

I've had the fairing off for over a year and haven't missed it one bit. At first, I kept it around because I thought there might be times that I'd want to put it back on. But after about 6 months, I realized I'd never want it back on, so I sold it and put the money into more mods...lol.

McLovin hit the nail on the head too. With the fairing, you get this weird turbulence that buffers your helmet. Without it, the air is smooth and steady. The only difference I notice in cooler weather is that more air hits my knees and legs, but good cool weather gear cures that. And it's a blessing in hot weather!

Go for it! You won't miss it a bit, IMO. :D
 
I live in northern Iowa and ride the FZ6 until is snows regardless of the temperature. Honestly when it gets to a certain temperature, like around 10 degrees or lower, it doesn't matter what kind of protection you have, cold is cold lol. Wear wind resistant gear that's also vary warm and you'll be a-okay. Btw did the same type of winter riding with the fairing and then this recent winter without and like I said there isn't a huge difference. Also +1 on what erci said.

P.S.
I'm a senior in Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University and I'm currently taking a lot of gas dynamic and testing laboratories and I just wanted to say that what everyone is saying about the weird turbulence is supported by science. Let's just say while a windscreen makes the BIKE more aerodynamic, it makes the rider in a normal riding position get caught by the separated flow which is the most turbulent and causes the most drag. Little things that cuase drag like our clothes and helmet aren't in large enough magnitude until about Mach 0.25 (200+ mph) or so and there are only a few of us on this sight that go that fast lol. So have at it man you won't regret it.

P.S.S.
Sorry for the nerd out it's kinda my job now lol
 
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The only thing I really miss about it is now I get hit with a lot of small rocks in the neck area and they can hurt at times. Also you get more bugs to the visor. I still rather it without it tho.


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My first serious street bike was a Honda V65 Sabre. Sort of an FZ6 on steroids. No fairing. Used to ride that bike from San Diego to Portland OR..... could do the trip in one shot.

It was easier, on those rides, to use a small windscreen to deflect the worst of the wind blast from my chest. A bar mounted unit was perfect for that. National Cycle Deflector.
 
I used to have a naked bike and I preferred it to the FZ6 on the highway. The pressure never bothered me, and compared to the FZ6 there was almost no buffeting. I try to avoid riding my FZ6 on the slab altogether, so going naked has never been all that appealing to me. I like the look, but I don't feel like shelling out the cash for it. And I like the look of the faired FZ6 just fine.

My question is, how does the naked conversion (in the US where the naked version has never been available) affect resale value?
 
The Dude said:
My question is, how does the naked conversion (in the US where the naked version has never been available) affect resale value?
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When it comes to mods, the value almost always seems to drop. People want an *untouched* bike. I suppose if the bike is converted to a true FZ6N, you can tell people it's a Euro version, but most of us use aftermarket kits and various bits and pieces here and there.
The bike is pretty cheap to begin with, so it's not like there's a whole lot to lose :thumbup:
 
Had to bump my thread.

I was riding my roomates naked GS the other day on the highway and that thing is downright scary.

I have been doing more and more long trips and I dont' want the streetfighter look to turn me away from that.

You guys provided me with a lot of good info before so I have to double check. I know a lot more of the wind will be directed into my chest which is fine. But do you get that unstable, "pulling you off the bars" feeling? To me it felt like a lightness in your hands and wrists at high speeds due to your chest taking so much wind.

I figure a heavier, more stable bike (FZ, compared to GS 500) will be a dramatic improvement but I'm still a bit on the fence about things.
 
Signal 50 said:
Had to bump my thread.

I was riding my roomates naked GS the other day on the highway and that thing is downright scary.

I have been doing more and more long trips and I dont' want the streetfighter look to turn me away from that.

You guys provided me with a lot of good info before so I have to double check. I know a lot more of the wind will be directed into my chest which is fine. But do you get that unstable, "pulling you off the bars" feeling? To me it felt like a lightness in your hands and wrists at high speeds due to your chest taking so much wind.

I figure a heavier, more stable bike (FZ, compared to GS 500) will be a dramatic improvement but I'm still a bit on the fence about things.
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Yes, there's definitely that "getting pulled off the bike" feeling at high speed. I usually slide back on the seat and rest my behind up against the raised section. Leaning down slightly helps as well.
It's definitely not an ideal setup for long highway trips. I didn't like how the bike felt on the highway with stock fairing either though.. turbulence at the shoulders and helmet was intense. No turbulence with naked setup, but since you're taking on all of the wind, there's more of a "I'm getting pulled off" feeling.
 
I like the looks with the fairing so I just cut down a Puig racing shield and it gave me smoother air flow and a lower noise level, no problem cruising down the super slab at 85.:thumbup:
P1000656.jpg
 
Jblk9695 said:
I like the looks with the fairing so I just cut down a Puig racing shield and it gave me smoother air flow and a lower noise level, no problem cruising down the super slab at 85.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

I did the head light mod on this bike and I have to say that I like Jerry's modded windscreen better than any other I've seen on any FZ6. It looks even better in person. :rockon:
 
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