How to install race fairings to your bike, part 2

It was time to put ‘Cleopatra’ into her new War dress, but I was quite nervous about the fit. Back in Europe, I’ve installed a aftermarket fairing kit ones to a R1, and some of those mounting holes were half an inch away from its destination. That the ABS plastic seem easily crack-able added frustration. Now Cleo’s armor does not- by far- but the damn thang is heck of awesomely painted, that any additional drill would mess it up.  The preciseness of a Panigale fairing goes way beyond that point the term ‘tight fit’. The Italians put so much heart into it, so let’s see how it goes with the installation.

Straight up… it took me half a day just to mount the upper fairing. I took my sweet time to resize holes, but in the end it all fits and I didn’t crack anything. The fit is surprisingly close, but not as perfect as the holes sitting in a stock fairing. With patience and brain you’ll get it done, I promise. To be clear… I didn’t had to ‘ovalize’ those holes. Some were just too small or had to be cleared from the paint.

I’ve messed up the seat… yea, really! OK, there are those air flow ducts in the Panigale seat. I added some carbon pieces, but they didn’t cover the inside fairing piece at that point fully, so that there the viewer would have a direct view to lots of mixed colors. To make it look clean, I had to brush some matte black paint on the inside of those seat panels. To make that stick, I de-greased it with brake cleaner. Way to aggressive chemicals- and the paint got messed up a little. Not good! The same I had to do with the inside of the upper fairing, but good that men can learn by mistakes.

Actually it was planned to install with quick releases, but I run out of time since I have to pack up for a Track Drill coaching gig at Buttonwillow Raceway. Still no total pictures, but my plan is to put Cleopatra out on the start/finish line and shoot some for ya. So let’s get that Superbike-Coach logo on the bike and fill up the gas tank… Buttonwollow here we come :-)

Headcoach Can Akkaya