39 replies to this topic

[solorogue]

I ride all years and on of the things I contend with is the elements. Rain, wind, heat, etc..
So recently I add some deflectors on the side of the faring from Air Wings.

I have riden a few weeks with them on and I have to say I am happy. I can adjust them to keep the rain and wind off my legs and when it gets warm I can turn them to deflect the wing to blow and cool on my legs. I have to say these work well.

I mounted them a bit different then the manufacture instructs as I didn't like the idea of the mount bar across my side fairing so I made small slots with my dermal and mounted the wings under the side faring. I think it gives it a cleaner look. See what you guys think:

[Intech]

Looks good. The extra air on the legs in the hot weather would be a good thing!

[SacramentoMike]

Geez this looks tempting for the miserable heat we'll be getting here soon. More info, please. In your link they show "original" and "new generation" wings. Which are yours? And when you said you mounted them "a bit different," do you mean instead of mounting them in the illustration in the link--in front of the mirrors--you put them where you show in your picture? Or is the side-fairing mounting you did one of the options from the manufacturer, but you really did just change it a "bit?" Can you give more detail about how they're mounted--the hardware, etc? Looks like a winner. Thanks for posting it. If your reply gives enough detail, I think I might explore the idea of trying to fabricate something like this myself.

(rant) BTW, damn it's annoying when you click on a picture--like in this link--so you can see something better and instead of enlarging the image, it just opens a new page with the original freaking picture in the same size up in the corner. (/rant)

[TomInCA]

OM, how come we haven't met up yet? Anywy, the first post linked to the hand-wings that mount off the mirrors. The Air Wings mount lower. Here is a picture from the site showing them mounted on the fairing rather than through it. Try this link.

[Intech]

What is also messed up on that site is the picture they show on the "Gen I only" page is a Gen II!

[solorogue]

Baker Built Air Wings carries two "air wings" for the FJR.

The First is for the hands, mounted near the mirrors on the fairing. These keep wind and rain off the hands and shoulders, or in warm weather can be turned to throw cooling wind right at you.


The second (and the ones I bought)are the Air wings for the sides of the fairing. The mounting change up I did, was the manufacture had the easy mounting bracket go over the top of the side faring (as you can see in the pic of the red FJR above) on my bike (the silver one) I cut small holes in my faring and mounted the air wings posts under my side faring.

This is a quick easy install, you don;t even remove your faring off. The manufacture sends you all the hardware and a mounting template.
Unless you mount my way it takes a bit longer and you do take the side fairings off. I had it done in an hour, otherwise it only takes 10-20mins.

The results are great I think and I am all about a comfort ride, as my ride to work is typically 1hr one way.
Hope that helps.

[mferriter]

I ride all years and on of the things I contend with is the elements. Rain, wind, heat, etc..
So recently I add some deflectors on the side of the faring from Air Wings.

I have riden a few weeks with them on and I have to say I am happy. I can adjust them to keep the rain and wind off my legs and when it gets warm I can turn them to deflect the wing to blow and cool on my legs. I have to say these work well.

I mounted them a bit different then the manufacture instructs as I didn't like the idea of the mount bar across my side fairing so I made small slots with my dermal and mounted the wings under the side faring. I think it gives it a cleaner look. See what you guys think:

I would think that if you adjusted them to "catch air" and deflect it onto your legs, there would be a hell of a lot of force trying to rip them off your bike. They would also act like brakes, slowing your bike down and eating into your MPG.

[solorogue]

I haven't had a problem with the wings damaging my faring or anything. True the wing it is catching puts some force on the mount, but nothing the fairing can't take and it's mounted secure to the bike. As for MPG, I guess it adds some drag but I wouldn't imaging much. I will give up a few MPG for a cooler ride in the 100+ degree summers when they come, and protection in the 20- winters.

[mferriter]

I haven't had a problem with the wings damaging my faring or anything. True the wing it is catching puts some force on the mount, but nothing the fairing can't take and it's mounted secure to the bike. As for MPG, I guess it adds some drag but I wouldn't imaging much. I will give up a few MPG for a cooler ride in the 100+ degree summers when they come, and protection in the 20- winters.

Good point on the heat vs mpg issue. I was more concerned about the force on the mount & fairing at high speeds, obviously not much help in stop and go traffic.

[SacramentoMike]

Thanks for the quick reply to my questions. Getting my legs out of the engine heat blast on a hot day is one of the main reasons I like my highway pegs, but I don't like to use them all the time. You often don't want your feet that far from the controls, so these would be great. Probably best to bite the bullet and buy a set of these than to try some hokey homemade thing, too. I assume you have to pull the whole side cover off the bike to mount them though, right?

And Tom, thanks for your link and info too. Plus a much better picture there. But Tom . . . "OM" hasn't posted on this thread.

OM, how come we haven't met up yet?

We should meet for a ride, but. . . by Grabthar's Hammer, PLEASE never call me "Old Michael" again.

Oh, and the mileage concern? Probably not as bad as it COULD be.

[solorogue]

If you mount the manufacture's way then NO you do not need to pull your faring pieces off. You simply use the mounting template, drill two holes per side, and the Air Wing mounts attach using anchor bolts that spread out and attach to the faring in the holes you drilled. That's it.
As stated my way of mounting required removing the fairing and I used a hardware bolt with lock-nut and washers.

[TomInCA]

And Tom, thanks for your link and info too. Plus a much better picture there. But Tom . . . "OM" hasn't posted on this thread.

OM, how come we haven't met up yet?

We should meet for a ride, but. . . by Grabthar's Hammer, PLEASE never call me "Old Michael" again.

What was I thinking?

I met OM when I was with MM! There sure are a shitload of Mikes here! Maybe they're reproducing?

[JamesW]

Thanks for the quick reply to my questions. Getting my legs out of the engine heat blast on a hot day is one of the main reasons I like my highway pegs, but I don't like to use them all the time. You often don't want your feet that far from the controls, so these would be great. Probably best to bite the bullet and buy a set of these than to try some hokey homemade thing, too. I assume you have to pull the whole side cover off the bike to mount them though, right?

And Tom, thanks for your link and info too. Plus a much better picture there. But Tom . . . "OM" hasn't posted on this thread.

OM, how come we haven't met up yet?

We should meet for a ride, but. . . by Grabthar's Hammer, PLEASE never call me "Old Michael" again.

Oh, and the mileage concern? Probably not as bad as it COULD be.

Nice picture, was assistant crew chief on a D model-way back when.

[RaYzerman19]

I've been using the Hand Wings for the past year, and they really work to block air or bring air to your mid-torso. Expecially good when you have a Rifle windshield. I use them to bring air any time it is over 70F.

[ehc0720]

I've been thinking about attaching some sort of "air wing" to my highway peg mount to send cool air to my feet/legs.

[motoquest]

Anyone know why they don't have any that fit Gen II's ?

[solorogue]

I talked with Dale over at Baker Built Air Wings and he thinks he can make some side air wings for the GEN 2 but wasn't sure about what your top side farings looks like. Something about perhaps there being a moving part in the way.

Can one of you GEN2 guys post a pic of the top of your side fairing where this air wing would mount up? I can call Baker Built for you and get the info as well as pass on pics if you want them to include and
perhaps fabricate a model for the GEN2 FJRs?

In the meantime, I have been so happy with the look and function of my air wings, I am going to go ahead and get the hand wings to take advantage of them as well. (They make these Hand Wings for both for the GEN1 and Gen2 FJRs) I should then be riding cooler in the summer, dryer in the rain and dressed for the party. A good addition I think.

[squeezer]

Anyone know why they don't have any that fit Gen II's ?

Probably just because no one has asked. They added the gen 1 stuff when folks in this forum started adding Gold Wing hand wings to Garauld's light mounts (was that Radman that started that after another MN rider was tinkering with the idea?) and somebody talked with Baker about it.

I didn't even know they made the lower ones.

By the way, solorogue -- nice, clean looking install there. I really like the Dremel idea to get the bracket under the fairing. I might just copy that.


And also by the way, the Gold Wing hand wings on Garauld's brackets are in the pic below. I've since switched to the FZ1 mirrors and no changes to the brackets or wings were needed:

[squeezer]

Hey solorogue, what did you use for the black grommet looking things where the mounts enter the fairing?

[TomInCA]

I talked with Dale over at Baker Built Air Wings and he thinks he can make some side air wings for the GEN 2 but wasn't sure about what your top side farings looks like. Something about perhaps there being a moving part in the way.

Can one of you GEN2 guys post a pic of the top of your side fairing where this air wing would mount up? I can call Baker Built for you and get the info as well as pass on pics if you want them to include and
perhaps fabricate a model for the GEN2 FJRs?

In the meantime, I have been so happy with the look and function of my air wings, I am going to go ahead and get the hand wings to take advantage of them as well. (They make these Hand Wings for both for the GEN1 and Gen2 FJRs) I should then be riding cooler in the summer, dryer in the rain and dressed for the party. A good addition I think.

The picture in Post #4 from the Baker Air Wing site, is a Gen II bike with the wings installed. Why would they need another picture? This has clearly been done.