Poor man's headsteady upgrade

Where did you get the beautiful fairing? Would love have something like that on mine.[/quote]

Scored it on eBay, NIB. Sorry, don't know where to source another. Hyde brace, floating disc, Corbin seat and Grimeca caliper were all eBay finds, too.

Manxman

JimR said:

o0norton0o said:

gorgeous bike. I have the same bikini fairing on my bike with similar handlebars, only my bike's color is black and so is my fairing and my front fender.

As far as your headsteady goes, you should weld some gussets across both ears of your flange so they don't flex under lateral force. designs similar to yours have been done before and the gussets really help them remain rigid latterally... just something to think about...

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Where did you get the beautiful fairing? Would love have something like that on mine.

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As Manxman said, ebay. Here's one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Viper-Sport-Caf ... 01&vxp=mtr

It's the same one as I have... and it's "meh" ok... I added 2 rubber mounted brackets to my mirror stalks to bolt the 2 rear wings of the fairing to. That makes it a lot stiffer than just using the 2 brackets in the kit on the ears of the headlight. The fairing looks better than it actually works. Maybe if I wasn't 6'3" it would block more wind for me. If I am going 90mph and duck down behind it, then it works ok. I've often thought of making my own fairing for my bike to be minimal like the bikini style, but taller to block more wind without being a giant monstrosity...

manxman said:

I don't think there is a lot of static vertical load going through the isolastic system (until you sit on the bike, anyway).
Manxman

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I'm not sure about that. I won't get into the difference between the 68-70 and 71 and up models other than the center stand is attached to the frame on the early bikes where it's on the cradle on the newer ones.

That said, I installed new isolastic rubbers in my bike in 2008 and by the next year, I pulled off the front isolastic to install a Hemmings vernier adjuster. By that time the donuts had taken a set towards the bottom by about 1/4". At that point I decided to install the later model engine spring off the head steady and tightened it up as much as I could and even reversed the donuts in the front isolastics. it still only pulled the front isolastic stud up maybe 1/8", in other words, the engine was still pressing the front isolastics down at rest. It did bring the cradle isolastic stud back to center which it wasn't before, it was pressed to the front as I remember. All in all, the result was with the engine head steady spring, I did reduce some idle vibration, but other than that I can't tell any diff. My 2c.

I'm still convinced that things could be improved, for example, comnoz' valve spring under the engine.

I've also never found that adjusting the head steady to relieve or counter engine weight does anything. I currently have a diy heim joint head steady, after using the early style head steady, but I don't push the bike much at all.

DogT said:

manxman said:

I don't think there is a lot of static vertical load going through the isolastic system (until you sit on the bike, anyway).
Manxman

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I'm not sure about that. I won't get into the difference between the 68-70 and 71 and up models other than the center stand is attached to the frame on the early bikes where it's on the cradle on the newer ones.

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Interesting point about the centerstand. If you routinely park the bike on the centerstand, the loads on the isolastics are way less ... and in the opposite direction.