Why I like naked bikes

[Mr.S2R]

Someone else's handlebar? Heading in the direction of "a place the sun don't shine".   

ah - oohh - actually copped a handlebar from another rider's bike in the hip once on the track - my leathers saved me there , no fairing there  .  kamikaze pilots and there extremely late breaking manoeuvres....

[signora monster]

kamikaze pilots and there extremely late breaking manoeuvres....

OMG. I hope there aren't any of those in the White Group on Sunday.   

[monstermick58]

That's a big job.

Besides, any excuse to get the gear off...

Er... am I the only one that picked up on this ??

Good to see you 'revealing' more of yourself suzyj





                                     Mmick

[Two dogs]

All done

[Mr.S2R]

that is some very good work! 

[timmyc]

Mind me asking how much a job like that would usually cost??

[Two dogs]

I would like to know too so I can give Billie the bill
I quoted him $200 but I will let him pay me what he thinks is fair
Nah his a mate so probably a case of beer

[Betty]

Looks good Dez.

Perhaps you guys could help to inform the uninitiated (thats me, stoopid). I have heard the terms 'plastics' and 'race glass' thrown around my guess at being:

. factory issue plastic fairings
. fibreglass replacements for the track

I am assuming that fibreglass is cheaper and lighter to repair, is that about right?

On a separate but kinda related note how do these things go with fuel?
I've heard about the 'expanding tank' problem in the US with the plastic tanks but how does fibreglass handle fuel (you know green frame tank, etc)?

So what are the pros and cons of plastic vs. fibreglass?

[Betty]

I should have known better I s'pose asking on here about plastic and fibreglass.

So to make it more palatable and hopefully to get a response I will throw carbon fibre into the mix as well. I have heard of carbon fibre tanks (and obviously body panels) ... so pros and cons of each ... comparatively speaking.

[suzyj]

I'm no expert from a motorbike perspective, but from a manufacturing point of view, plastic would be immensely cheaper to produce in large volumes, but need very expensive tooling.  Fibreglass and carbon, otoh, need relatively inexpensive tooling but quite a bit of labour to make.  Materials for carbon of course are more expensive than fibreglass.

I'd imagine that a damaged plastic fairing would be very hard to repair, so fibreglass and carbon win there - as shown by Dez.

So for bike manufacturers who are wanting to build things by the thousands plastic is the go, as evidenced by all the plastic bits on our bikes.

For those who are making things in the tens, or even hundreds, carbon/fibreglass is much better.

[dragonworld.]

Fibreglass is heavier than plastic and will resist fuels like methanol which would virtually dissolve most "plastics"!! But not ideal when you want to save weight! I have seen some racers fairings (who were prone to checking out the track surface fairly regularly  ) have fairings that were a good 2+ kgs heavier than the original pristine uncrashed product after a few repairs!  [moto] The term "autumn leaves" applied liberally here! 

As Kaz said, once the tooling (read... bloody expensive! ) for plastic is made, the product can be banged out by the thousands, but firbreglass, carbon fibre and composites by their nature are quite labour intensive therefore expensive!

If you are looking at things from a "green" perspective, plastics are generally recyclable. Grind the old stuff up, add some virgin material and voila its reborn and on another bike, car, or even a bedside table!

[Betty]

Thank you peoples.

[FIFO]

I'm no expert from a motorbike perspective, but from a manufacturing point of view, plastic would be immensely cheaper to produce in large volumes, but need very expensive tooling.  Fibreglass and carbon, otoh, need relatively inexpensive tooling but quite a bit of labour to make.  Materials for carbon of course are more expensive than fibreglass.

I'd imagine that a damaged plastic fairing would be very hard to repair, so fibreglass and carbon win there - as shown by Dez.

So for bike manufacturers who are wanting to build things by the thousands plastic is the go, as evidenced by all the plastic bits on our bikes.

For those who are making things in the tens, or even hundreds, carbon/fibreglass is much better.

What she Said  +1