Sitting on the bike looking at the windscreen it's a little tweaked. It appears to be the fairing stay that the fairing bolts on to (pryor lowside). It's not off by much, but enough to be annoyingly noticeable. Are these easy to adjust/bend back or would it be better just to leave it and keep an eye on eBay for a straight one? It's an '02. Thx.
you could try a little heat and bend it...but be careful not to snap it...(thats a given not insulting your intelligence..) just take your time and tweak it little by little....
I say replace it . I have fought fairing stay's that were bent and it can be very dificult to get every thing to line up again and not have some tension on a body panel mount that will crack later.
My '95 is similar... Previous owner dropped it a couple of times (hence I got it at 'the right price') so the screen and instrument cluster is a bit off. (plus side fairings don't quite line up) Sorta not sure exactly where to start... move one bit and it will realign/relocate another... hmmm Should I start by matching side to seat fairings and working forward... or other way round...?? Riding weather is fantastic so don't want to start a big job and have her off the road for any length of time (winter is too short here...)
I'm sure that's the way I'll end up going TOE CUTTER, but in the meantime I think I'm going to give straightening it a shot with the understanding that I'll probably F it up worse and have to get another one anyway. I been watching ebay for it but they seem like a rare part most like due to the nature of bike crashes that lead to parting out a bike...
I've attached some pictures. Can you guys that replied to this thread give me your best opinion whether this is due to a bent fairing stay? I'm pretty sure it is, but before I buy a new stay I want' to be reasonably sure. One pic is a busted dash plastic (gauges are fine) with a buckle near the tach, one is the fairing not lining up on right side and if you look closely at the windscreen pic you might notice it's off ever so slightly, but enough to be annoying (in person anyway). Thanks.
So I finally got around to getting the front fairing off and sure enough the right side was pushed toward the middle, just like I'd expect from the mirror hitting the ground in a low-side. I just bit the bullet and ordered a new cowl stay from carolinacycle.com for 138.00. I'd love to try to straighten the old one, but I'd never get it perfectly straight and the windscreen being a little tweaked will inevitably drive me insane.
I received my brand new upper fairing stay today. I ordered it from carolinacycle.com on the 12th for $138 plus shipping. The dealer wanted $217. As far as carolinacycle goes I'm happy, but they could use a bit better communication. The only communication I got from them was that they recieved my order, anything else I had to call and ask for. There was no email on that it shipped, how it shipped or tracking number, but when I called they were very helpful with giving me any info I needed. Anyway, aside from swapping the old one out and putting the new one on this chapter is done. Anything on the swap I need to know? I took several pictures for reference on how wires are ran and where boxes are. Thanks. Chip
You are ok if you got pic's, routeing is vital and the throttle cables will give you fits if done incorrectly.
Here's a couple of the pics I took without the fariing... looking at the one from the dash you can see the stay is a little tweaked... I'm even ok with the minor cracks/scratchs in the plastic. For some reason getting this stay fixed seems like a huge weight off my shoulders.
