Honda RC163 Fairing and Screen

First trial fit, I got Mrs Dave to take a photo so I could see how it looked while I held it in about the right place.

I had been struggling to find a fairing for the bike, I knew of a few companies that used to make them but they all seem to have gone out of business. As luck would have it I went to a car show and there were a few bikes,  a gentleman called Billy had a most splendid 163 replica. We got talking and he told me of a guy called Ken Halliwell in Liverpool that made his fairing. He called me a few days later with Ken's number, a conversation followed and I ordered a fairing, a screen and delivery to my humble abode in the arse end of nowhere, all for just over 200 quid.

It only took a couple of days for them to arrive, I was very surprised at how light it was, I guess that's what you want for a racing application but I am a clumsy sod so I may beef it up a bit just to make it less accident prone, particularly in the areas where the fibre glass meets the mounting brackets.

The next challenge was to work out how to mount it so it looked it's best, many photos were studied and it quickly became clear that every example I found way different to all the others - not very helpful. It was also not very clear what bracketry would be appropriate, so it looked like I was on my own there as well. the one obvious thing was what fixing points on the frame I would need to use so at least I had a starting point.

It took many hours of messing about mounting it, taking it off, trimming it, trying again, looking from every angle, swearing, throwing things, shouting at the dog, it's a good job I couldn't find a virgin to sacrifice. I should say at this point none of this is the fault of the fairing, it's just every bike is unique and the fairing wasn't designed explicitly for my bike - there was always going to be some fettling required. My exhaust layout is perhaps not the finest, it's the best I could do but I think on the original they followed the engine a bit closer, mine should give me better cooling and slightly better gas flow.

Ken had mentioned that the screen was not the actual one for the fairing but he thought it would pull in ok, he was absolutely right. it took some pulling and twisting but I got there in the end and am very happy indeed with the result. 6mm plastic number plate bolts hold it nicely in place, I can't wait for my mate Robert Cooper to do the paint work for me. He's on holiday for a few weeks but it will be worth the wait, he is by far the best sign writer in the area. He does commissions for fairings and helmets, well worth getting in touch with if you have a project in mind.

I have made the bracket at the rear, I made it in a similar style to the tank retainer strap with holes drilled to lighten it, I think it looks ok, I have not found any photos good enough to show me what the original looked like and have seen various solutions on replicas / tribute bikes. I am happy with what I have, one day I hope to get to Beaulieu and take loads of photos of Mike Hailwood's original, I suspect I will be doing a fair bit of reworking after that.

The only negative of all this is that I wish the fairing came down a wee bit lower at the sides so it covered the down pipes a bit more. I guess I could add material to it, I shall ponder that as I have time until the painting can be done.

I have no idea whatsoever how this came out in black and white but I thought it was rather cool so I put it in anyway. There's no stopping me sometimes.

It was at this point I went all Millyard, stood back and said out loud - that's come out perfect, I'm well pleased with that.