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[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Airtech is located in Vista about 160 km from Hollywood Electrics and if I'm right there are some members living near them. Oneway from HE to Airtech is do-able without a charging stop.

Holy crap that's less than 40 miles from me. Email time.

Yes, please! CC me at thisusername@gmail.com if it helps justify the fitment.

[Killroy]

    all without weighing enough to make an already heavy-feeling SR even heavier,

The SR lighter than most sport bikes.  I hope you are not comparing the Zero to dry weights of conventional motorcycles too.

The SR does not feel heavy to handle either.  If yours feels heavy, I would do a proper suspension set up with a good shop.  I did that and cut a lot of fork spacer to get the sag right.

What feels heavy to me is all that wind hitting my chest, arms and helmet at 80 MPH 

[LeftieBiker]

   I'm in poor health, and am weaker than I once was, so the SR feels very heavy to me. My GS450T feels much lighter, even though it's probably close in weight when full of gas. The SR does feel lighter than the GS850G I rode for a decade and then sold, anyway...

[MostlyBonkers]

I'm sorry to hear that you're in poor health leftie. I gathered that when you mentioned painkillers in a different post.

Did you consider an FXS? I know range is even more limited on those bikes, but I think they're a fair bit lighter. Tons of fun too! I've never really considered an FX or FXS before, but my mind is opening up to them.

[MostlyBonkers]

While I think of it, I've got a quick question for Terry or anyone else that has tried a big fairing:

How does a big fairing affect handling? Especially the really big ones.

I can't imagine they make a massive difference unless they're very heavy. Perhaps they give more stability at speed? Unless there are strong cross-winds of course!

[LeftieBiker]

"Did you consider an FXS? I know range is even more limited on those bikes, but I think they're a fair bit lighter. Tons of fun too! I've never really considered an FX or FXS before, but my mind is opening up to them."

   I rode both an FX and DS in 2014. Ironically, they had either an S or SR there, but I passed on riding that, because I mistakenly thought the riding position would be too low. Funny, because while the FX and DS were a Blast to ride, both are too tall for me to sit comfortably on them while stopped. I was also afraid I'd kill myself on the FX.  ;-)

   So I'm not totally OT: I think it would be great if we could buy a two-piece plexi fairing that would give you the options of just a full windshield in warm weather/short trips, or a full body fairing with full shield in cold weather/long trip situations.

[Electric Terry]

Great suggestion Bonkers.  While reading that I was also thinking an FXS would be shorter, lighter etc for Leftie.

A full streamliner definitely can have handling issues with cross winds.  I experienced it many times and so has Alan Smith who is the only other person to ride around on a Vetter streamliner for any length of time on his Ninja 250.  Although his next build is going to be on a Zero S.

We both agree a full streamliner isn't for everyone.  We both have a lot of riding experience and that is why we felt comfortable.  But even he is going back to a Kamm tail as we speak because the 5-10% extra from the full tail isn't worth the increased length and side area.  even the storage in that little triangle is a point of diminishing returns.

I would not recommend a full tail to anyone else ever for street use unless your purpose is solely for a landspeed run at Bonneville.

[vkruger]

Any more information on Airtech would be appreciated. I only live 20 miles from Vista and have my 2013 DS with 12.5 kWh battery just sitting in the garage. I'm only riding my DSR and could modify the DS for touring! It already has street tires on it.

[togo]

There been complaints about poor quality but when I look into it it looks like their issue is that the dustbin fairings are lightweight and made to shatter an impact, which is probably a good thing from a safety points of view.  Like Burton says, if the big Vetter fairing comes off at speed, it could kill you.  I'm really tempted to use one of theirs for the front. The front is only 40% or so of the aerodynamic equation but it's most of the comfort equation.

[Erasmo]

Any more information on Airtech would be appreciated. I only live 20 miles from Vista and have my 2013 DS with 12.5 kWh battery just sitting in the garage. I'm only riding my DSR and could modify the DS for touring! It already has street tires on it.

Give them a call to see if you can come by test if a few of their fairing are suitable with brackets.

There been complaints about poor quality but when I look into it it looks like their issue is that the dustbin fairings are lightweight and made to shatter an impact, which is probably a good thing from a safety points of view.  Like Burton says, if the big Vetter fairing comes off at speed, it could kill you.  I'm really tempted to use one of theirs for the front. The front is only 40% or so of the aerodynamic equation but it's most of the comfort equation.

I think that a lot riders would be delighted with a 40% improvement on higher speed and the comfort of a touring bike.

[Yon]

vkruger... 12.5 2013? new battery? why?

[vkruger]

11.4 would not charge to 100%

[sendler]

Keep in mind that the aerodynamics of the rear of a vehicle is more important than the front. Just adding a big windshield might not add that much range. There is really good discussion on Ecomodder by user Aerohead.
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http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/ncfmf-video-how-reduce-drag-25378.html
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http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/dramatic-drag-comparison-32585-2.html
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http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/aerodynamic-streamlining-template-part-c-9287.html
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http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/morellis-fluid-tail-33283.html
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ect.

[Richard230]

Speaking of areo fairings, in 1956 Royal Enfield gave it a try with their appropriately-named Dreamliner .  Guess what?  It didn't sell.  But it was an interesting design for the time and at least the engine didn't overheat - or so they claimed. 

[sendler]

here are some example charts showing how just rounding over the front of a vehicle may not even get you half way to the best possible drag coefficient.
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