Road Comet - Fine Tuning

[Southpaw50_imp]

Hey Folks,

I'm new to the forum having purchased my bike this past March. Once again, thanks to all of the feedback regarding after market parts. I contacted Mr. T and purchased a factory Japanese Honda seat (30" seat height), matching side covers, and the Road Comet II fairing with a smoked windscreen.

Over the years I've restored a number of cars, trucks, and motorcycles. With that said, I'm pretty much OCD when it comes to doing car or bike stuff. Anyway, here goes. . .

Upon receiving the fairing, I was disappointed to see the inside looked unfinished, a rough looking red color. Looked like over spray. Before assembly I masked and painted the inside of the fairing matte black with a rattle can. After the paint dried I assembled the unit and installed it, per instructions with the rubber molding piece surrounding the top of the windscreen.

Once installed, I noticed the opening around the headlight seemed unfinished. Went to Pep Boys and looked at the door strip moldings for cars and trucks. Cars are 1/4", truck moldings are 3/8" and very pliable. Installed the truck door molding around the headlight opening in the fairing. Gives it a nice, finished look and seals the area to avoid the headlight bleed into the dash at night. Simple fix for $5 and it looks great.

Once installed, out for a ride. Major disappointment. The Road Comet wobbles in the wind - BIG TIME - at any speed. Those of you that have one already know this. Back to the auto parts store and purchased black car/truck side molding. The molding is 1" wide by 3/8" thick with two strips of 3M double stick tape on the back. Cut two pieces, each 1" long. Positioned the molding between the gauges and the ridge of the fairing. . . 10 o'clock position on the speedo, 2 o'clock position on the tach. Did another test ride. The Road Comet doesn't move, even at 90 MPH. With the inside of the fairing painted black, you don't even see these.

Simple fix to fine tune the Road Comet Fairing and Windscreen. I would do pics but mine are way too large and get rejected each time. I'm 63 years old and not real technology oriented, forget the pics. . . unless I e-mail them to you.

 

[CB4ME_imp]

Southpaw - great info. Lots of folks on the forum have Road Comets, including me. Headlight bleed is bothersome at night. And the fairing does wobble. Your solution is easy, effective and inexpensive.

One member used the trim that normally goes across the top of the windshield to trim the headlight opening. His fairing looks good that way.

I glued a tapered 9" strip of 1/8" thick stiff rubber floor matt along the top and sides of the inside lip of the headlight opening that extends about an inch towards the headlight. When installed on the bike, that strip of rubber makes a tight seal with the chrome ring of the headlight housing. Light is completely blocked and the fairing is stablized in place - no movement even over rough roads.

Others have tried other methods but I really like what you've done.

(if you have a basic photo editor, you should be able to resize your pictures. Or you an send me a few at john.norcross@verizon.com and I can resize and post them for you)

 

[HikerToo_imp]

yep, wedging something between the gauges and the fairing gets rid of the shake, a few other members have recommended that too.
I do love the look of a fairing while riding, makes a nice cockpit I am used to from my Ninja days.

 

[CB4ME_imp]

Southpaw's CB and Road Comet modifications:

Looks great!

 

[Ridem32_imp]

I have the 14 deluxe comet 2. Does the 13 models have the mount that mounts to the horn bracket ? Also when I used the W/S top trim around the headlight hole I had to force the fairing on to mount it. Up to over 100 my fairing don't move at all no wobble at all. The 14 models have a higher headlight mount from what I'm told but my 14 deluxe is a great tight strong fit

 

[Damfino_imp]

I have the 14 deluxe comet 2. Does the 13 models have the mount that mounts to the horn bracket ? Also when I used the W/S top trim around the headlight hole I had to force the fairing on to mount it. Up to over 100 my fairing don't move at all no wobble at all. The 14 models have a higher headlight mount from what I'm told but my 14 deluxe is a great tight strong fit

Michael, didn't you say Takashi included something with your Comet to fill the gap in the headlight hole?

 

[Ridem32_imp]

Yes but I was wrong ! Lol. It was made for the top strip of the windshield but I thought it was for around the headlight hole. Same thing southpaw50 used around his headlight from pep boys. I don't like the trim put on the top of the windshield. I never seen a 13 model with comet mounted but mounted with 2 headlight bolts and one bolt on the bottom mounting to horn no way and a solid fairing move without breaking!

 

[JetA_imp]

Oh ow is the wind protection, any buffet etc?
I am just about to order one for a 14 DLX.
Thinking about the touring version (taller wind screen).

 

[Ridem32_imp]

My 14 deluxe works great no helmet buffing at all. I might get the touring shield also just for more protection for long trips. I just went out to my shop and looked at my fairing to gauges clearence it's about 1 inch away from fairing. So I would think the 13 & 14 mount different and fit different. I grabbed my by hand and tried to move it around ( shaking it by hand) very rigid no movement hope this helps

 

[CB4ME_imp]

Road Comet I on a 2013 uses an L shaped bracket connecting the horn mounting bracket to the bottom of the fairing.

The top of the fairing still bounces around a good 1/4" on bumpy roads, so additional support is desireable IMHO.

 

[Ridem32_imp]

Cb4me. Same way mine bolts. Mine is rigid. But maybe because I used the top W/S strip around my headlight and it made it a very snug fit. Mine does not move at all

 

[CB4ME_imp]

Cb4me. Same way mine bolts. Mine is rigid. But maybe because I used the top W/S strip around my headlight and it made it a very snug fit. Mine does not move at all

My next purchase will be a 2013 Road Comet II with stripes. I'm going to paint the inside and use truck trim for the headlight and the black trim for the top of the shield (although I like the screen without the trim too).

I'll be posting a road comet I for half price.

 

[Ridem32_imp]

That's a deal at half price! If I had a 13 model I would buy it.

 

[Huladog_imp]

Used your tip about inserting some kind of soft support between the gauges and the interior edge of the fairing to stiffen it up. I've been watching my fairing move around for months and kept trying to think of ways to reinforce it, then I just tried your simple solution using some dense black packing foam I had laying around. Cut a couple of narrow rectangles, squooshed them into place and the fairing was now stable with the standard low wind screen.

Makes sense since my Puig windshield came with two neoprene discs to stick on the sides of the gauges to provide support (I've left them stuck to the gauges so I can swap to the Puig if needed again).

Now I just swapped out the low wind screen and put back on the taller touring screen with the flip-up. Had taken it off since the fairing really moved around a lot with the taller screen. Will see how it works.

Also, I started to get stress cracks around two mounting holes in the clear low screen which made we re-think how I was using those tiny plastic washers that comes with the Road Comet fairing. I was getting rain water stuck between the fairing and the inside of the screen, too.

I figured somewhere along the way I had moved the washers from between the screen and the fairing where they provided a small gap and cushioning, to the outside of the screen under the head of the mounting screws. Don't know why I did that, but duh, probably why I got those stress cracks, duh.

Aloha,
Huladog

 

[Red Mist_imp]

Nice lineup of bikes there.

 

[Butch_imp]

Like to know where you got the small box on the back thanks butch

 

[ClassicVW_imp]

I installed my clear washers just under the bolt heads against the screen plastic. The bolt heads don't look too much larger than the holes in the screen plastic so it looked like the correct way.

I also added a non metal washer for some cushion on the bracket under the fairing that attaches to the horn bolt. The under fairing bolt, not the horn bolt.
The metal bracket directly on the thin fiberglass tab at the bottom of the Comet didn't give me much confidence it wouldn't crack.