I ordered a complete stainless hardware set for the bike when I ordered the fairings. These are stocked here in the US, so it is a bit easier not waiting on customs. Plus, it's a free Amazon Prime delivery!
OK so those of us who have had success with chinese fairings and here's hoping @nigelrb has similar luck with his Castrol replicas.......what are your thoughts on, Ooooh dare I say it......Chinese wheels?? You here of all the horror stories etc but has anyone actually seen evidence? ? I've found no videos on YouTube too say otherwise, just one extremely funny one by 'cyclecruza' entitled 'are Chinese wheels a piece of shit' it' a must watch, please watch it!! He points out that most of the 'shit' on your bike or car or in your house is probably made in China. Some might even be made in the same factory! I'm not sure myself but in my quest for new wheel's that has not been successful so far, I can't help looking at them as I scroll passed on ebay! Thoughts please......but more importantly.....evidence of shitness!
OK so those of us who have had success with chinese fairings and here's hoping @nigelrb has similar luck with his Castrol replicas.......what are your thoughts on, Ooooh dare I say it......Chinese wheels?? You here of all the horror stories etc but has anyone actually seen evidence? ? I've found no videos on YouTube too say otherwise, just one extremely funny one by 'cyclecruza' entitled 'are Chinese wheels a piece of shit' it' a must watch, please watch it!! He points out that most of the 'shit' on your bike or car or in your house is probably made in China. Some might even be made in the same factory! I'm not sure myself but in my quest for new wheel's that has not been successful so far, I can't help looking at them as I scroll passed on ebay! Thoughts please......but more importantly.....evidence of shitness!
There was an article in Performance Bikes magazine (I think) a couple of years ago about Chinese wheels. They did some almost scientific testing on them for strength etc. From memory they came out with a pretty respectable result compared to OEM wheels in all round performance. I'll try and dig out the article if I can find it in the loft.
With no evidence to support this, I would be more worried about tolerances for axle bearings and pitch of sprocket bolt threads than I would about the strength of construction. I do think though, that we have to accept China entering the fold as a manufacturing powerhouse with the belief that they will produce products capable of ISO Certification.
I remember that , they had a rig set up that swung a weighted piece of angle iron against the wheels , it was supposed to represent running in to a kerb at speed . And yeah there wasn't a lot between them in that test . I have the mag but can't be arsed to look for it
The ones I've looked at come with bearings fitted, they could be exchanged for higher quality ones if it was a worry?
Presume so. I wasn't actually referring to the bearings themselves, but to the bearing seating tolerance for the press-fit. In other words, you don't really want to find that after a few hundred miles the WHOLE bearing is spinning in its housing.
Have you started stripping the bike down yet?? I did it stages so I didn't have bits all over the place. Started with the seat unit, then immediately fitted new one. Then belly pan and side fairings, again re-fit as you go. Finally the front nose fairing which is not so difficult but a lot of screws holding it in place to the dash mount. I would take the time to go over each piece and make sure there are no bits of plastic that may prevent good fitting. Also I'd drill out all the holes with the next size up drill just to give a little extra movement. Finally the plastic that is fixed to the inner fairings......you'll need to remove all that so you can use the existing screws. (Unless you have bought a screw and bolt kit) when you build the chinese fairing back up, drill out the lugs, as when you attempt to put the screws back in the lugs could split. You'll get what I mean when you get into it. Good luck!
Cheers for that helpful post, Paul. I haven't stripped down yet. As you know, I'm a tad pressed for room! (Recently floored some of my loft for extra storage). I was wondering about the sequence of installation. We can be too eager with these things. I'd also thought about starting with rear, then take off tank and do nose cone and front guard and then fairings/belly pan. Thanks for the tips re lugs. I'm sure all of us prefer a firm fit with joints well lined up so I will pay particular attention to that. And yes, I did shell out on a new fixing kit. A guy can never have too many screws. I'll probably start a pictorial installation thread that might be of assistance and interest to others. The shame with this is that it will mean one less 'HRC' on the road, but hey, I've already received a couple of decals to place on the plastic below the seat! Also tried to get an 'OIL' number plate, but there's none with a prefix I wanted and all the good ones are 10 grand!!
@nigelrb looking good! I only suggest you get original tank badges or at least something more similar to stock. Those don't look good. Edit: Damn... those things are expensive!!
It's okay. I picked that from their website and already arranged for the glazed ones to be supplied. There are non-OEM ones available also. For anyone interested there's these, which some members have already purchased: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-TA...h=item41d3bb4204:g:iXsAAOSwuAVWxiKj:rk:9:pf:0
Because I'm cool and the exact opposite of @F1CT1C10U5 . Seriously though, there's no personal significance. It actually started when I was looking for an 'HRC' personalised plate for my 2011. Of the configurations available, I settled on R31, partly because of the R's relationship to Blades and secondly because the '1' as a narrow digit looked better on the plate. (Think OCD - only few will understand) So, the 31 on the Castrol fairing will complement the R31 HRC plate on the 2011. I have a whole fleet of these R31s now and already have R31 RSV for my yet to arrive Aprilia. The others are here, including my P31 HRC:
