My Windjammer SS Project

[heli_madken]

Hi,

I have just finished a 4 month long project to fit a Windjammer SS fairing to my 1977 GL1000. I desperately wanted a Vetter fairing back in the 70s on my GL1000 but could never afford one so this was an itch I can now thankfully scratch!

I purchased the fairing off eBay, it seemed to be in reasonable condition but needed some cracks repairing and a general overhaul. When I picked up the fairing I took an instant dislike to the leather effect internal skin, no offence meant here I recall thinking it was cool back then but I took a decision to kind of modernise the fairing in the following ways -

1. Completely smooth out the leather effect
2. Fit internal pockets with 12V and 5V supplies
3. Make a hard lockable cover for the left hand pocket
4. make provision for a GPS system
5. Fit a modern radio
6. Hide the hose clip fittings as much as possible

So I set to with the radio binnacle first, I joined both halves permanently together, rubbed down the surface and applied some filler. After this was smooth I covered over with glass cloth and epoxy resin. The idea of the covering is to stabilise the surface for painting and help cover over any seams in the jointing process. Here is the top surface filled and glassed -

Once this was complete I did the same for the rest of the fairing -

I repaired any cracks by backing with Plasticard (ABS plastic card) and Acetone which in effect welds the plastic into position, this is very effective and combined with the glass cloth makes a good repair.

Once I had everything smoothed out I could apply some matt black paint to give me the effect I wanted.

I could not get hold of the correct GL1000 fairing lowers but knew that they are all basically the same and just need trimming to shape. I got some destined for another bike that where new in their original box. I get a tremendous kick out of the idea that these have rested somewhere for forty years unused, amazing.

For my bike I didn't want those beautiful polished carburetors covered so i trimmed the lowers quite a lot, fabricating the shape with some Plasticard to get what I wanted -

My current GL1000 was black but I wanted to paint it the same colour as my bike from 1978 which was Candy Sirius blue so made a decision to paint the fairing and the bike.

As its a Candy colour the first stage was a silver base coat -

Followed by the blue colour coat and on to masking out stripes -

Then finally clear coat. This whole process took me six weeks but I am very pleased with the results -

I am in to 3D printing and have made my own very large 3D printer, to tidy the wiring up I designed and printed an enclosure which replaces the headlight shell and keeps everything waterproof and hidden -

The loom to the fairing exits the enclosure behind the front forks to keep everything as short as possible, I used silicon sleeved wire which is more flexible that PVC shielded -

I don't want to carry much in the fairing pockets, perhaps just a mobile phone which would be on charge. I also wanted this area to be neat rather than just the inside of the moulding. So I designed and printed some pockets. These fix in place to a Plasticard mount which is fixed in place with acetone -

The right pocket has a 12V outlet mostly for my Sat Nav system, left has 5V for charging purposes.

Next up was to make a lockable cover for the left pocket. Again I designed and 3D printed a cover which was then glassed and painted, of course I also smoothed out, glassed and painted the right cover -

The Radio is an Alpine unit and I fitted some waterproof speakers -

I have a BMW Sat Nav system so purchased a Garmin mount which is fitted to the right hand pocket lid -

I have a Bluetooth helmet headset, to get audio to this I am using a small Bluetooth transmitter which is wired to the rear speaker channels and the Sat Nav is Bluetooth paired with the radio . So it works like this -

1. Listening to music via speakers set fader to front bias
2. To listen to music via headset only, connect to Bluetooth transmitter and set fader to rear bias effectively turning off speakers
3. To listen to Sat Nav directions or stored music set radio source to Bluetooth

It all works incredibly well.

Another aspect I wanted to tidy was covering the mounting hose clips. For this I designed and printed covers which screw and cable tie in place and double as DRL mounts -

These are very effective and add a safety aspect.

Lastly I didn't like the fact that to have the shelter side covers removable you had to remove the lower hinge pins relying solely on the knurled fixing knobs to hold them in place. So I designed and printed some clips which locates the bottom of the cover in place securely and accurately -

Overall I am very pleased with the results, I used a rubber edging rather than the original Vetter version with chrome -

I do however have a problem with the radio binnacle, it feels solid but over road bumps wobbles and bangs. It is fixed in place through two of the windscreen bolts and also the to upper fixings via the steel straps. I have also added two further fixings but this hasn't helped, any ideas?

Hope you like what I have done,

Ken

 

[Scott-E]

Make sure you pull the light pods out and check the lenses. The glue used back then degrades after a few decades. The lenses are glued to the bulb reflectors. The lenses can fall out while your riding from vibration. You'll never know when one or both have fallen out until you get off the bike and find one or both missing. Once you remove a pod you can see if the lens needs to be removed from the reflector, the surfaces cleaned, and fresh 3M glue applied to keep the lenses in place for another few decades. Replacement lenses are pretty much made of unobtainium today. After I acquired my Windjammer I checked them and found rotten glue in both lenses. Both would have been gone if I had gone riding with them in that condition.

 

[Dave Ireland]

Really nice work.
Seconded on the indicator lenses - I caught one just in time, and the other wasn't far behind it.

 

[heli_madken]

Thanks, I had read about the lenses some time ago, mine felt solid but as a precaution I ran a bead of Hysol around them so all should be well.

I do have another problem, I noted my first assumption that the radio binnacle was bouncing is not correct its actually the whole fairing. I traced the problem to a crack in the lower mounting frame on both sides. It is located at the base of the 'U' shaped lower mounting near the frame mounting lug, is this a common problem? looks like water has got inside the pipe and weakened it. I believe this is mostly in tension to stop the fairing tipping forward so its easy to see why I have the bounce at the moment,

My initial thoughts are to weld a plate covering the whole of the 'U' shape but will take advice if there are other fixes.

 

[Scott-E]

Thanks, I had read about the lenses some time ago, mine felt solid but as a precaution I ran a bead of Hysol around them so all should be well.

I do have another problem, I noted my first assumption that the radio binnacle was bouncing is not correct its actually the whole fairing. I traced the problem to a crack in the lower mounting frame on both sides. It is located at the base of the 'U' shaped lower mounting near the frame mounting lug, is this a common problem? looks like water has got inside the pipe and weakened it. I believe this is mostly in tension to stop the fairing tipping forward so its easy to see why I have the bounce at the moment,

My initial thoughts are to weld a plate covering the whole of the 'U' shape but will take advice if there are other fixes.

All Windjammer mounting brackets are subject to fatigue, stress, vibration fractures, and just plain old rust. I think your right on track for a successful repair. I designed and fabricated brackets for my 2006 Honda VT600. Needless to say none ever exsisted for my bike. Having an existing bracket you can copy if you need to make a new one is half the battle.

 

[heli_madken]

Thanks scott-E, thats some undertaking to make the frame from scratch, I have enough trouble as is just fitting the Vetter frame correctly so everything lines up.

I have completed my solution which was to weld a plate over the 'U' shape, good and strong now hopefully this will have cured the rattle.

Yes I have disguised my awful welds with some filler , still good enough -

 

[brianinpa]

Wow! Beautiful work. This gives me some ideas for my next bike!

 

[Kynan C.]

Wow Ken! Absolutely stunning job all the way around. I have pulled some ideas as well for my next build. Thanks so much for sharing the images and writeup of the project.

Again amazing job. Please continue to share pics and stories, we love em!

 

[Jackmurray]

Looks great! We, my husband and I also bought a 1977 Gold Wing GL 1000 in the same blue you have. We also bought the Vetter Windjammer SS. We love our Vetter Windjammer SS, we like things original. We are in the prosses of having it restored. We need the Stripes and the windjammer SS and the circle decals for it, if anyone knows where we can find them.
Thank you
Jack and Lyne