I am thinking of purchasing fairings for my 2011 XL1200L and would like to see what it looks like on the bike. There are some in the sporty bagger thread but just wondering if there are others.

Appreciate any pictures of your fairings. Please let me know type and who made them e.g. Memphis shades, Tsukaya, USA-Biker.com, etc. I am also concerned that I won't be able to see the road clearly....i.e. can you see over the fairing windshield? Does the fairing block your view of the road?

I am mainly interested in Batwing fairings but open to all types/styles. Thank you in advance for your help!

 

Reckless makes a damn good fairing and they are on sale until 10/31
http://www.recklessmotorcycles.com/
http://www.recklessmotorcycles.com/sportster2011.htm

 

Nice! Did not even know of or heard about Reckless. Looked it up and seems like good quality stuff and full service (including paint). I did inquire if they had fairings without the stereo. My graphics painter quoted me $425 for paint and pinstripe the front so their prices are lower for that part.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Here's a ton of images you can look thru to see what you like.

https://www.google.com/search?q=spor...w=1280&bih=662

 

Thanks PanHeadRich. Went through the images but many are not vendor images so don't know brand of fairings or where to buy. It definitely gives you a view the different types on a sporty.
I was also looking for personal views/experiences with fairings. In your signature pic of the FXRS, can you see over the windshield or do you look through it. Does it hinder your view. Thanks again

 

That particular windshield is far to dark to look thru. You'd really be screwed at night. I personally much prefer looking over the windshield. That's the Riffle Roadster Fairing. They're available in various colors and shades of tint. They're available bullet style, or the standard 15", 18" or custom height. I had the 15" light smoked that worked well before redoing my suspension. I then bought the dark 18" with was to tall. So I just cut it down to 16.5" and it's perfect for my application. I personally love it. It mounts very firm and throws the turbulence over my head without obstructing my view. And I love the look as well, so it works for me.

 

What is this thing called fairing that you speak of?

On a serious note, properly height-adjusted batwing fairing can be a really good thing for wind protection and looks as well.

I originally wanted to add fairing very early but then after looking at a LOT of pictures of Sporties with batwing fairings and scratching my head why they looked a little different than the bigger HD baggers, I realized that fairings transform the front look of your bike to this massive thing. Actually so much so that a narrow-glide front-end and skinny wheel looks a little out of place. Hence I ordered my fairing only after changing the frontend + tire to something fattier (mid-glide frontend with 120mm tire).

Maybe try to photoshop a front-pic of your bike and super impose a fairing to see how it looks before you pull the trigger on something that will cost you around thousand bucks.

Just my $0.02 and something to think about.

 

You have to decide what your purpose is for a fairing. Do you want clean air at head level or do you want to TRY and find something that else that works for your intended purpose. From my experience and many wasted dollars i can tell you that regular windshields like the HD QD are a waste of money. I've purchased the HD, Memphis Shades and Spitfire style windscreens. They all cause incredible noise and wind buffeting helmet on or off. You will hear alot of people say they have no buffeting. Thats simply not possible on a fairly flat piece of plastic attached to the forks with no aero dynamic wind flow pattern. Lowers help if you don't mind the total ugly factor.

If you want wind off your body and head/helmet in clean air the only thing i bought that works was a 1/4 fairing. Mine being the Memphis Shades Gauntlet. There are many choices for 1/4 fairings to include the one HD makes. IMHO the only fairing that looks decent on a cruiser is a 1/4 club style fairing. Good Luck

 

HD quarter fairing. Definitely helps with buffeting but doesn't completely eliminate it.

 

Thanks for the input guys.

@kingxirol - yes I realize batwing fairings will make my front end look huge and I do have narrow wheels. But if you look at those low custom baggers, they have narrow front wheels only a lot taller....and they look awesome. I am trying to widen the front to match the wider rear from the bags but keep it low profile.....just trying to get a low custom bagger look without being so radical/extreme with the front wheel.

The photoshop thing....you are talking foreign to me. Haven't used photoshop app. Thanks for the suggestion.

@wildon833r - Thanks for the input on the 1/4 fairing. There are times when the wind will push me back but usually doesn't bother me since don't go on long trips. Will keep the 1/4 fairings in mind. Thanks

@wreckwriter - Your HD 1/4 fairings look great on your bike. I don't recall you having fairings. Is that something you just installed?