Vetter vs hondaline vs plexifairing

[canuckxxxx]

I have a Plexifairing III on my '82 naked and it works OK at blocking wind and is easy to take off/put on. But I am thinking about the Vetter or Honda fairings because I want to do some long distance touring next summer. :Egyptian:

Seems like I read somewhere that the Vetter has a lower wind resistance than a naked bike. Comparing my bike with Plexifairing vs naked I think the PF has quite a drag. How about the Vetter vs Honda? :headscratch:

What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance
Brian

 

[joedrum]

sheesh this is all guess ive had all three .. to be quite honest ..except for rain on legs i think you are good .. both vetter and honda have huge drawbacks in in access to bike ... and if it goes there i say vetter is easier to deal with ... honda may look better to some ... but neither lokks as good as your bike ... i think your sitting pretty ...

 

[mcgovern61]

You are in luck Brian! It just so happens that I removed my Vetter faring to convert my bike back to Standard and I chose a Plexifaring III for my windshield! I have found that the Plexi needed a lot of adjustments until I got good performance with very little drag. I did an entire thread on this:

viewtopic.php?p=123732#p123732

The Vetter does cut wind better IF you also use the lowers! Without the lowers, I find the performance of the Plexi to be the same (after final adjustments).

The Vetter lowers provide a great wind break and smooth the air out at high speed, but I found they also create a vacuum at the engine which causes the engine heat to roast your feet in the summer! :shock:

I removed my lowers in hot weather and would re-install them for cold weather riding. I have lost a bit of that with the Plexi, but intend to make cold weather lowers like Wilcoy02 did for helping with wet feet:

viewtopic.php?p=102957#p102957

 

[mcgovern61]

I should also add that since I removed the faring and went with just the windshield, this bike DANCES!!! The Vetter faring with the bracket and lowers adds 42 lbs total to your front end. :moped:

 

[roncar]

Depends on:

1. What YOU want
2. Whats available locally (shipping is a bear!)
3. How deep your pockets are

As the Vetter Windjammer was used on MANY, MANY different bikes, I've found them more readily available and a less expensive route compared to a handlebar mounted shield or an OEM Honda. Other brands (Calafia, Bates, Windkutter, etc) are also options depending on local availability, what the seller wants, and/or your budget.

I wanted to put a shield on my 76, but with my budget, a Vetter Windjammer was MUCH more cost effective. I currently have over a dozen Windjammers and numerous GL1000 and GL1100 mounts and a total expenditure of <$75.00US. Yes some are not usable as is, but I have the space and keep them for parts. Resell value is next to zero, mainly due to shipping costs. I met a guy a couple of years ago and he told me,

"I had a couple of Vetter fairings that I tried everything to sell. Finally dragged them to the curb for the trash man. Then I had second thoughts, retrieved them and stripped the parts off and trashed the shells. The parts sold like hotcakes on eBay and went for 'stupid' money."

I don't know what parts are required to mount an OEM Honda fairing, but I suspect it to be more intense than the simplicity of the Vetter or a wind shield and probably more money.

IMHO, if it was me, I'd keep what you have or look locally for a Vetter.

 

[brianinpa]

Brian I think one point in your original question is being overlooked: Long distance riding.

Any fairing that is mounted directly to the handlebars is going to transmit the wind buffeting, cross-winds, and any small movement to the handlebars and therefore the forks which will drastically increase rider fatigue. For this reason, any fairing that is mounted to the frame of the bike is going to better for long distance riding than one that is mounted to the handlebars. I have the Vetter IV on the 1100 and a Vetter Rooster on the 1200 and I can feel the difference when I am riding the 1200: my arms tire out quicker.

Now as far as comparing the Vetter to the Honda fairing... I like the Vetter, but I am biased.

 

[joedrum]

hmm good point brian like brian vetter works best for me .also many like me for health reasons need vetter... the way hooch is set up it really keeps me out of the wind ... not only that for me i have to have fullface helmet hoodie and neck scraf also even in summer or ill get sick ...its a bitch ..but i like to ride .. so what ever it takes to keep riding is what i do ...

 

[canuckxxxx]

joedrum » Fri Nov 14, 2014 8:21 am[/url]":2fpydhp4]
sheesh this is all guess ive had all three .. to be quite honest ..except for rain on legs i think you are good .. both vetter and honda have huge drawbacks in in access to bike ... and if it goes there i say vetter is easier to deal with ... honda may look better to some ... but neither lokks as good as your bike ... i think your sitting pretty ...

Joe, it is good to hear from someone who has experience with all 3 shields. As someone who has only had the Plexifairing, I was thinking that the others would be better but maybe not. Sort of a "grass is greener..." thing. :headscratch:

Thanks for the reality check. :whip: oh2:
Brian

 

[canuckxxxx]

mcgovern61 » Fri Nov 14, 2014 8:23 am[/url]":2045701r]
You are in luck Brian! It just so happens that I removed my Vetter faring to convert my bike back to Standard and I chose a Plexifaring III for my windshield! I have found that the Plexi needed a lot of adjustments until I got good performance with very little drag. I did an entire thread on this:

https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewt ... 32#p123732

The Vetter does cut wind better IF you also use the lowers! Without the lowers, I find the performance of the Plexi to be the same (after final adjustments).

The Vetter lowers provide a great wind break and smooth the air out at high speed, but I found they also create a vacuum at the engine which causes the engine heat to roast your feet in the summer! :shock:

I removed my lowers in hot weather and would re-install them for cold weather riding. I have lost a bit of that with the Plexi, but intend to make cold weather lowers like Wilcoy02 did for helping with wet feet:

https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewt ... 57#p102957

That is very interesting reading Gerry. :read: Interesting reading about the "tuning" you did. I have my PF3 setup as high and as raked back quite a bit and, at 6' 1" I just see over the top of it. I even trimmed some off the bottom of the PF3 so it would not go behind the signal lights so I could bring the bottom forward more. :builder:

GL1100 with plexifairing 1

• canuckxxxx
• Apr 14, 2014

But buffeting is minimal. Maybe I already have the best setup for me...especially now that I have a backrest.

Thanks for sharing your experience
Brian