Fairing Disassembly - Inner Shell from Outer Shell - Possible?

[WingMan71]

Hello All,

I'm in the middle of my current restoration project and have come up against something that I have not had to do before. (I've restored about 12 vintage bikes in the last 20 years or so.)

Question:
Can the fairing be disassembled? Specifically, can the inner fairing shell (black shell with the fairing pockets and on which the speakers and stereo system instrument panel mount) be separated from the entire outer fairing shell (body colored shell that houses the headlight, turn signals, etc.)?

I'm actually restoring a 1983 GL650, but they use the exact same fairing as a 1983 GL1100. On this bike, the outer fairing is in great shape with really good paint, but the inner fairing is nasty faded and discolored and cracked due to exposure to the sun.

I have found entire fairings for sale on eBay that have much better inner fairings, so the parts for the swap are available.

So, is it possible to separate the inner and outer fairing shells and then reassemble them with a new inner?

I would appreciate any advice or experience with this task.

Thanks

[GAtchy68]

I have the same fairing off a GL650 that I'm installing on a CB900 . I do not believe in looking at it, if you can separate the inner from the outer, But we both know that it is a two-part device that was joined at the factory so I guess you could do it if you're very careful but you might be stressing a lot of glue points and some other stuff . Sounds like you know what you're doing you should be fine at making that decision .

[WingMan71]

I have the same fairing off a GL650 that I'm installing on a CB900 . I do not believe in looking at it, if you can separate the inner from the outer, But we both know that it is a two-part device that was joined at the factory so I guess you could do it if you're very careful but you might be stressing a lot of glue points and some other stuff . Sounds like you know what you're doing you should be fine at making that decision .

That's the REAL question! Are there any (or many) spots where the ABS plastic is actually glued (or ABS welded) to hold the outer and inner halves of the fairing together. I'm thinking that once I start on this effort, I may quickly find out!

Best plan may be to just buy the donor fairing first and use that one to determine if it's possible or not. Duh!

I still have other things to work on, so I have some time to think on it. Runninig OK since I received it a short while ago, but the carbs definitely need to come off and be rebuilt, plus front calipers rebuilt, etc., etc.

Retired now and just love to do this restoration work.

[GAtchy68]

I have a junker fairing here so I'll see what I think tomorrow. Going to see if it will come apart.

[WingAdmin]

They are glued together, quite well, to prevent potholes and vibration from ever breaking them apart. I'm not aware of anyone who has ever separated them, but I'm curious to see how you do.

[GAtchy68]

Not able to split half's

[WingMan71]

I have a junker fairing here so I'll see what I think tomorrow. Going to see if it will come apart.

Great! Let me know how you do.

[Rambozo]

Nothing a liberal amount of explosives won't take care of.

[WingMan71]

Well, after further study, I've given up on trying to separate the inner fairing from the outer fairing to replace it. Once inside you can see just how much adhesive was used to bond the two halves together.

So, the plan is to:

1. Restore the faded black ABS plastic of the inner fairing by using BAck-to-Black, or similar product.

2. Fix the big fairing cracks on the right/bottom side of the fairing using ABS welding techniques. The bike was down hard on that side at some point and the fairing was nearly pulled off of the metal support under the right side. It held on, but a lot of the ABS cracked on impact. The "welding" has to be done from inside so using a hot air gun and ABS sticks isn't possible, just not enough room. So, I'll use ABS pipe dope to fuse the broken ABS pieces back into one solid piece from the inside. Thankfully, I can gain access to the entire damaged area after removing the right side fairing pocket.

I've started and am about half way through the repair at this point. Here's some pics:

Big crack up the right side showing PO's failed attempt at repairing:

Cracked ABS inside at bottom metal support area:

Support area cracks fused with ABS pipe dope:

Holding the big crack up the right front together while the ABS cement inside is curing:

Last step will be to patch up the bottom edge with a thick slurry made of ABS shavings and MEK.

Should look just fine when I'm completely done with it.

[gdhubert]

The Vetter fairing on my '82 GL1100 had a broken mounting hole and a split in the fairing base from vibration I suspect. I mended the crack with 2-part epoxy and used a slightly oversized fender washer to re-attach the fairing to the mounting bracket. Seems to be holding up well. I'll snap a picture of it and attach to this later.