[Philmo11]

What back rest did you go with?

Good point of the fairing, I am curious what it would look like with one. I have always just seen the windscreen or no windscreen

This one on the 1100 was on it when I got it. I know nothing about it. I just ordered this one for the Road Star:

Yamaha 1600 1700 Roadstar Drivers Backrest Quick Release no tools | eBay

Click here to see description.

www.ebay.com

I didn’t see a brand on it. My brother is chopping at the bit to ride one and he’s had a few back surgeries.

As for the fairing… this one has my bags on it and a similar fairing.

Those Tsukayu fairings look nice but are ABS. I think I want fiberglass but haven’t decided.

 

[Philmo11]

Of course, regardless how many bikes you look at, mine will still be different.

 

[Philmo11]

Talking to Tsukayu via email back and forth. Awaiting a response as to what they want to do.

Passenger floorboards and new headlight should arrive today. Still haven’t installed the new grips yet.

Still haven’t decided on a fairing yet. Thought about ordering a Vector fiberglass but I can’t nail down the exact configuration I want. I want the smooth outer fairing with uncut holes for speakers and open glovebox but the only option has a damn fake vent in the outer fairing. Probably have to call them. I found a set of active/passive Bluetooth speakers with 600 watt amp and Bluetooth receiver built into the speakers that I can seat in the fairing. No separate components necessary, therefore, no additional cutouts needed.

Tsukayu is still on the table if I can convince them to discount a fully configured/painted fairing for the frustration. Don’t care for the ABS but it’s supposed to be compatible with the Memphis Shades quick release brackets and offer the same type of setup I want.

 

[Pancake81]

This one on the 1100 was on it when I got it. I know nothing about it. I just ordered this one for the Road Star:
View attachment 123773

Yamaha 1600 1700 Roadstar Drivers Backrest Quick Release no tools | eBay

Click here to see description.

www.ebay.com

I didn’t see a brand on it. My brother is chopping at the bit to ride one and he’s had a few back surgeries.

As for the fairing… this one has my bags on it and a similar fairing. View attachment 123774

Those Tsukayu fairings look nice but are ABS. I think I want fiberglass but haven’t decided.

I do like the look of the bat wing fairing, but was never keen on the look from the rider side when it is aftermarket. It always looked plain and out of place when there is no radio and built in speakers etc. always looked out of place to me. Although functionally would work well.

 

[Philmo11]

I do like the look of the bat wing fairing, but was never keen on the look from the rider side when it is aftermarket. It always looked plain and out of place when there is no radio and built in speakers etc. always looked out of place to me. Although functionally would work well.

The one I had on the Roadliner S was a Memphis Shades I had factory paint matched on the outside and inside too. I had a leather bag inside the fairing shell that filled the empty space between the fairing mounts. That made a world of difference in the way it looked. I don't have any pictures unfortunately.

Got the grips on the Vstar 1100. wasn't terrible. Passenger floorboards came in. One did not have the correct bolts. One did not have any bolts or the required spacers. Talk about irritating. I will likely have to cut some black pipe to make spacers. Not a huge deal, again, just irritating because its another trip to the hardware store. The only way to get the spacers is to buy the complete passenger floorboard kit. Not doing it.

New headlight bulb came in. Previous owner put a blue one in. That is one awful headlight. I don't understand what the blue light fetish is all about. It doesn't help see any better. Just looks like crap and shades everything blue. New one was was LED and exactly what I was expecting, however, the female plug end on the wiring harness was melted on one of the connections. Not sure what caused that but it was not in danger of contacting anything metal so I put it back together. I will worry about that another day. I am curious if that blue light was just too hot. The LED should pull way less voltage.

Talked to manufacturer of the hard bags. they asked for pictures from further away. I supplied several. then they went silent. That was 9:30am this morning.

 

[Philmo11]

I decided on a fairing for the VStar 1100. I went with a Vector glovebox model. Has a place for 6.5” speakers to be mounted when I get around to it. For now, it’ll break the wind. I wanted the glovebox above the pre installed audio because in today’s world, Bluetooth receivers can be hidden inside without the need for a head unit. The glovebox gives me a spot to set small stuff. I don’t care for the fake vent but I’ll live. Some pictures from Vector’s Facebook page…

@Pancake81 I think it keeps with the classic look without looking cheap. In reality, $508 for a gel coat fiberglass fairing with an inner ain’t bad.

 

[Philmo11]

Tsukayu refunded the amount I paid for them to paint the hard bags. That's fair. They claim the mounts are coming in a separate package. Hope they arrive soon. I'd like to get these mounted. I'd like to see if the lids can be swapped to hide the flaws for now. The one will have to be sanded out for sure and it's too cold to paint.

 

[Philmo11]

I’ll be damned, fairing should be here Friday. Well, it’s FedEx so I won’t hold my breath, but that’s what the eta is.

 

[03star]

damn those road kings are sweet. someday i'll have one. until then ill keep riding my star...

 

[Philmo11]

damn those road kings are sweet. someday i'll have one. until then ill keep riding my star...

I never was a big Harley fan growing up. My old man rode in a couple clubs with my grandfather and some other family and friends. Most rode hogs. This was in the 80’s. I pretty much dismissed the Harley as just a name back then.

Fast forward to about 12-15 years ago, I walked into a Harley shop and was impessed by how far Harley had come in quality of their modern bikes. It’s hard to beat the fit/finish of a newer hog but you’re gonna pay for it.

On another note, can’t swap the lids because of the rivets on the inside face (bike side) of the bags.

 

[Strat man]

Crash bars are here. Nice and girthy pipes. Rust on the inside. I’ll spray Rustoleum primer inside to kill the rust before I mount them. I bolted them together for the pic so you can see the actual design. Second pic is next to a water bottle for size comparison.
View attachment 123548
View attachment 123549

Try never dull it removes rust

 

[Philmo11]

Fairing came in. Brackets aren’t even close to being able to mount it. They are about 2 inches too wide for the forks, about an inch too close and at least 2 inches too low to be mounted where the holes are. Not to mention the holes in the mounting plates are too small for the fork mounts they sent. Not enough there to drill new ones. I sent them a message on their Facebook. They did answer that when I reached out the other day.

Finish on the gellcoat was awful. Glue and resin all around the edges. The rubber trim they put on it was covered too. I don’t even know that the point was. I spent a good hour trying to scrape the crap off it, buff and polish with a rag and compound. It’s going to need a power buff, by hand wasn’t getting it all smoothed out.

Bolts to hold the metal plate over the glovebox don’t fit. Too long and have acorn nuts, so you can’t just tighten them up. Took 5 washers on the backside, that’s how much too long they were. Bolts for the windshield are exactly the same issue.

These are just samples. The whole thing was like this.

 

[Philmo11]

Can I fix it, yeah, but I shouldn’t have to. This was just plain stupidity. It should have never left the facility like this. What’s worse, the asshat working on it knew the bolts were too long because they screwed it together. Steer clear of Vector fairings.

 

[Pancake81]

Can I fix it, yeah, but I shouldn’t have to. This was just plain stupidity. It should have never left the facility like this. What’s worse, the asshat working on it knew the bolts were too long because they screwed it together. Steer clear of Vector fairings.

Wow....! That is awful. I cant imagine any company sending anything in out tht condition. DO they just hope people dont want to deal with shipping and returns? No one would look at that and think, "jeez, what a beautiful fairing".

 

[Silversurfer]

Sorry to hear of all the troubles and issues you are having with these accessories and parts. I really do appreciate you taking the time to document and post the pics. I have a 2008 V star 1100 and will be doing a few mods in the future. Can you post pics and or the manufacturer for the passenger floor boards? Thanks in advance, and thanks for taking the time. Good Luck, and looking forward to reading about your progress.

 

[Philmo11]

Sorry to hear of all the troubles and issues you are having with these accessories and parts. I really do appreciate you taking the time to document and post the pics. I have a 2008 V star 1100 and will be doing a few mods in the future. Can you post pics and or the manufacturer for the passenger floor boards? Thanks in advance, and thanks for taking the time. Good Luck, and looking forward to reading about your progress.

I bought used oem floorboards. I haven’t cleaned them up yet but when I do, you’ll be the first to know. I’m going to brush them with a bench grinder and scratch pad then spray them with that clear coat I bought for the controls. I use the same method for restoring brushed stainless on firearms, minus the clear coat of course. Looks good.

 

[Philmo11]

This is what I use on stainless, you can see the setup in the background.

A picture of the finished product.

 

[Pancake81]

I use a product called perk, both on motorcycles and firearms. Works like a charm. Mirror finish if that’s where you want to take it

 

[Philmo11]

I use a product called perk, both on motorcycles and firearms. Works like a charm. Mirror finish if that’s where you want to take it

I usually just use mothers to polish. I don’t care for mirror look on guns… fingerprints… I will polish, just not to that level.

This slide was just dry sanded up to 600 grit sandpaper, no polishing necessary. Perfect semi polished machined look.

Back to the bike… I decided not to screw with Vector. I want this thing rideable. Went to the hardware store, bought stainless bolts, washers, nuts and nylon nuts. Then grabbed a bandsaw and 2” wide aluminum angle, 3’ piece.

This is what we started with, take note of where the bolt holes are in the stainless plate.

This is what I have built out to fit properly. Take note of where the new holes are.

Now, before anyone says, “well, aftermarket riser and handle bars…” this doesn’t even come close to them. This is a representation of how far I had to tilt it forward just to get the “glovebox” level. Then I had to raise it to clear the cables and the headlight because the cables in the original position were smashed against the glovebox opening. The headlight prevented it from tilting forward at all. No possible way it could have been bolted where the original holes were.

I will saw off the extra not needed to make it look a little more professional and drill the final holes in the morning to bolt the 3 plates together. There is a 6” piece of aluminum angled bolted to the stainless plate, the long piece of aluminum angle is just sitting on top at the moment.

I bolted those long pieces to the fork mounts and my two boys helped hold everything so I could get the lengths and angles right. What you see in the picture above is exactly where it needs to be. Photos installed will come tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Philmo11]

I’ll likely have to paint all those brackets black because they don’t match but that’ll come later.

I wish I could bring it back 1” but the way I put it together, I can’t. I’d need plates instead of 2” angle. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t know where to find plates thick enough. So here are the nitty gritty pics showing clearances. (YesI know it’s filthy).

You can see in the pic above, I have space to move the fairing back but there isn’t room with the brackets.

Below you can see, it is as low as it can go. Again, I have clearance to move it back an inch but more than that and I’d either have to raise the whole thing or tilt the fairing backwards to clear the headlight. The nose of the fairing is actually a little lower than the headlight bezel as it is.

The side view of the brackets.

Now overall pics

More screwiness when I went to install the windshield, yeah… It doesn’t fit either…

So not only are the bolts too long, but now I get to fix this (insert your favorite 4 letter word). I swear, I don’t know how these people tie their shoes in the morning. This is unbelievable….

Mounting brackets for the bags came in. Don’t know that I’ll have an extra pair of hands today but if I do, I’ll get those mounted.