TCat Chinese Fairing hell! With pics.
Discussion
So, given that work is as quiet as the grave at the moment and I'm fed up with it all, I decided to start fitting my replacement Chinese fairings to the TCat today.
Here's what it looked like when I started:
It has a certain Mad Maxesque charm to it, doesn't it?
I literally can't believe what a f
king of a job this has been. I expected to fk all the bits on fairly quickly and be hammering around on it by this evening. I'm nowhere close. First of all, as predicted, although the finish is good, the fit could be better. This means an incredible amount of bending, pulling, swearing and holding things in place whilst screwing. All to the accompaniment of fked knuckles and fury. The worst bits were the black plastic panels that fit inside the nose cowling to cover the framework. They literally were nowhere close to fitting and took about 2 hours to fit. For 2 fking tiny panels.
Also, the petrol tank cover was such a mare that it's put a tiny crack at the front of it as I was stretching it over the original tank. Joy. Don't think it'll get any worse though and looks ok on.
Also, I've used nearly an entire 'fairing screw pack' just getting the nose on so will be using hope to keep the rest in place tomorrow. Here's what it looked like after an entire fking day of work. The :
Also, I dropped a screw down the gab between the front of the tank and the inside of the bike. I can't be fked with the hassle of taking it off again so hope it can't do any damage there. Can it?
Also, I only just realised the breaker sent me 2 left mirrors. So I need to order a right..
In short, I hate this. I know when it's done I'll love it and be really pleased with myself but right now it's making me so angry I want to kill someone.
Also, while i was in the garage working on it, some drove into the side of the Alfa and fked off, leaving a big, fking dent in the door. It's really not my year.
Here's what it looked like when I started:
It has a certain Mad Maxesque charm to it, doesn't it?
I literally can't believe what a f
king of a job this has been. I expected to fk all the bits on fairly quickly and be hammering around on it by this evening. I'm nowhere close. First of all, as predicted, although the finish is good, the fit could be better. This means an incredible amount of bending, pulling, swearing and holding things in place whilst screwing. All to the accompaniment of fked knuckles and fury. The worst bits were the black plastic panels that fit inside the nose cowling to cover the framework. They literally were nowhere close to fitting and took about 2 hours to fit. For 2 fking tiny panels.Also, the petrol tank cover was such a mare that it's put a tiny crack at the front of it as I was stretching it over the original tank. Joy. Don't think it'll get any worse though and looks ok on.
Also, I've used nearly an entire 'fairing screw pack' just getting the nose on so will be using hope to keep the rest in place tomorrow. Here's what it looked like after an entire f
king day of work. The :Also, I dropped a screw down the gab between the front of the tank and the inside of the bike. I can't be f
ked with the hassle of taking it off again so hope it can't do any damage there. Can it?Also, I only just realised the breaker sent me 2 left mirrors. So I need to order a right.
.In short, I hate this. I know when it's done I'll love it and be really pleased with myself but right now it's making me so angry I want to kill someone.
Also, while i was in the garage working on it, some
drove into the side of the Alfa and fked off, leaving a big, fking dent in the door. It's really not my year.Part 2:
Well I've worked on it a bit more today and am a little bit further forward but also now fked.
I started with the rear side panels and centre piece as I thought it would be good to get them out the way. Sadly, the poor fit became more readily apparent here as with both side pieces in place, the centre bit needed to be a good centimetre wider to fit the gap. It also had stupid locating tabs which never had a fking chance of locating so they snapped off and I roughly bolted it into place as best I could, making a mental note not to care any more. Here's what it looks like from a distance:
And here it is a little closer up where the join is all to st:
I was feeling quite pleased with myself after this bit.
Then I got fked into the side fairings. Last bit and should fire straight on, I thought. They won't though.
First of all, I've run out of bolts and those things that fasten bolts from behind when they don't screw into things (spire fixings?). Seemingly every piece of fairing has nothing to bolt into so need loads of these on every hole. Not going to buy another st pack of 'TCat fairing bolts' as there were nowhere near enough so will go to Screwfix later.
Anyway, the big problem is fit. The top of the side fairings need to fasten to the bottom of the headlight cowl as well as their own brackets on the body. This will never happen for two reasons:
1) There is a good half inch gap between top of fairing and bottom of cowl. There is no give in the cowl and the fairings won't move far enough.
2) The bent crash bung is giving me even less movement. I've tried everything to remove it but it won't budge or bend back into shape. To give you an idea, I actually managed to lift the front wheel off the ground heaving on it and it still didn't move so it's not happening.
Here's the gap:
No idea what to do next really as this gap will simply not be bridged and I don't want to break the panels. I really fking hate this. I'd much rather have paid someone else to experience this misery for me I reckon. Also, I won't feel any sense of accomplishment on finishing this as I now hate it. I may just scrap it to be honest. Hateful thing.
Here it is from a distance though, where you can't see the fairings hanging off and it looks quite cool:
ETA - I've had an idea. I might undo the main brackets for the fairings, screw in the leading edge fasteners and then see where they hang and then bend the brackets to meet it there, IYSWIM?
Also, does anyone know how they fasten together at the rear underside? It seems to be an interlocking hole/tab but no fastener seems to fit
Well I've worked on it a bit more today and am a little bit further forward but also now f
ked.I started with the rear side panels and centre piece as I thought it would be good to get them out the way. Sadly, the poor fit became more readily apparent here as with both side pieces in place, the centre bit needed to be a good centimetre wider to fit the gap. It also had stupid locating tabs which never had a f
king chance of locating so they snapped off and I roughly bolted it into place as best I could, making a mental note not to care any more. Here's what it looks like from a distance:And here it is a little closer up where the join is all to s
t:I was feeling quite pleased with myself after this bit.
Then I got f
ked into the side fairings. Last bit and should fire straight on, I thought. They won't though.First of all, I've run out of bolts and those things that fasten bolts from behind when they don't screw into things (spire fixings?). Seemingly every piece of fairing has nothing to bolt into so need loads of these on every hole. Not going to buy another s
t pack of 'TCat fairing bolts' as there were nowhere near enough so will go to Screwfix later.Anyway, the big problem is fit. The top of the side fairings need to fasten to the bottom of the headlight cowl as well as their own brackets on the body. This will never happen for two reasons:
1) There is a good half inch gap between top of fairing and bottom of cowl. There is no give in the cowl and the fairings won't move far enough.
2) The bent crash bung is giving me even less movement. I've tried everything to remove it but it won't budge or bend back into shape. To give you an idea, I actually managed to lift the front wheel off the ground heaving on it and it still didn't move so it's not happening.
Here's the gap:
No idea what to do next really as this gap will simply not be bridged and I don't want to break the panels. I really f
king hate this. I'd much rather have paid someone else to experience this misery for me I reckon. Also, I won't feel any sense of accomplishment on finishing this as I now hate it. I may just scrap it to be honest. Hateful thing.Here it is from a distance though, where you can't see the fairings hanging off and it looks quite cool:
ETA - I've had an idea. I might undo the main brackets for the fairings, screw in the leading edge fasteners and then see where they hang and then bend the brackets to meet it there, IYSWIM?
Also, does anyone know how they fasten together at the rear underside? It seems to be an interlocking hole/tab but no fastener seems to fit
Castrol Craig said:
as ive said to everyone thats asked about them, they are awful. i bought a set for my old nc30 and they didnt fit, quality was poor and the fasteners were all wrong.
What are the alternatives though? A new set of Yamaha fairings cost more than the bike is worth so what can you do? The fasteners are st, aren't they? Everything seems to need a spire fastener and there just aren't enough in my bolt set.Disastrous said:
Castrol Craig said:
as ive said to everyone thats asked about them, they are awful. i bought a set for my old nc30 and they didnt fit, quality was poor and the fasteners were all wrong.
What are the alternatives though? A new set of Yamaha fairings cost more than the bike is worth so what can you do? The fasteners are st, aren't they? Everything seems to need a spire fastener and there just aren't enough in my bolt set.Castrol Craig said:
as ive said to everyone thats asked about them, they are awful. i bought a set for my old nc30 and they didnt fit, quality was poor and the fasteners were all wrong.
But on the other hand, I know people who have bought them for the NC30 and they were great and no problems at all and looks fab.You cant say they are all bad.
to be fair though, how much were they? they dont look too bad a finish in the pictures and yes they are fiddly to fit but your not helped by the bent crash bung getting in the way
id be tempted by a set for my fzr600 project if they arent too expensive, would save me painting the damn thing anyway
id be tempted by a set for my fzr600 project if they arent too expensive, would save me painting the damn thing anyway
Castrol Craig said:
Disastrous said:
Castrol Craig said:
as ive said to everyone thats asked about them, they are awful. i bought a set for my old nc30 and they didnt fit, quality was poor and the fasteners were all wrong.
What are the alternatives though? A new set of Yamaha fairings cost more than the bike is worth so what can you do? The fasteners are st, aren't they? Everything seems to need a spire fastener and there just aren't enough in my bolt set.
"ETA - I've had an idea. I might undo the main brackets for the fairings, screw in the leading edge fasteners and then see where they hang and then bend the brackets to meet it there, IYSWIM?"
Sounds like an excellent idea, may want to try something similar with the tail section panels also.
Sounds like an excellent idea, may want to try something similar with the tail section panels also.
My friend, I can only imagine what you are going through, and you have my sympathies!
If it helps, I once took off a fairing of my GSXR to see what was underneath (first bike). It took me half an hour before I admitted defeat and got a mate round to put it back on....and that was an original one.
Oh, and why is there a naked man in your garage??!!
Good luck.
If it helps, I once took off a fairing of my GSXR to see what was underneath (first bike). It took me half an hour before I admitted defeat and got a mate round to put it back on....and that was an original one.
Oh, and why is there a naked man in your garage??!!
Good luck.
Disastrous said:
2) The bent crash bung is giving me even less movement. I've tried everything to remove it but it won't budge or bend back into shape. To give you an idea, I actually managed to lift the front wheel off the ground heaving on it and it still didn't move so it's not happening.
Bigger hammer? Surely if you tap that bung up a bit the fairing should just about meet?Disastrous said:
...Also, I won't feel any sense of accomplishment on finishing this as I now hate it. I may just scrap it to be honest. Hateful thing.
Hang in there mate, its looking great & you're almost done!Sympathise ... had similar issues after the accident with my CAT although was using my repaired OE fairings.
Make sure you check the nose cone frame very carefully... they bend very easily and also must be aligned properly otherwise the side panels wont line up ... I landed up replacing the nose cone frame for £70 (new) just for that reason!
Make sure you check the nose cone frame very carefully... they bend very easily and also must be aligned properly otherwise the side panels wont line up ... I landed up replacing the nose cone frame for £70 (new) just for that reason!
Thanks for the words people. Will keep at it and let you know how it went when I inevitably lose my temper and smash it up.
Monochrome - that looks like the sort of thing that should fit in the hole - what holds those in place? Mine doesn't seem to have anything to screw into, if you see what I mean?
Monochrome - that looks like the sort of thing that should fit in the hole - what holds those in place? Mine doesn't seem to have anything to screw into, if you see what I mean?
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