budget sv650 cafe racer

Since I had been doing some plumbing using silicone sealant I didn't want to handle painted parts so today I decided to do removal of parts in preparation and sit the main fairing bracket on despite being made for another bike.
At first glance it appears to be about the correct height but need setting forward a bit which is goo as I need change the mounting to go over the brake lines not under.
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Fitted the head light in the fairing and removed my front indicator brackets which were stopping me getting the fairing low enough. also I have chopped the fairing support removing all of the part that mounts on the frame tube because it just wasn't going to work.
 
Closer to getting the fairing in position, comments are welcome as I have no experience with fairings.
I still need make the stem bracket.
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I don't have an experience with fairings but it looks too far forward and too high. Sort of give the front of the bike a lot of visual weight with the rear being very light looking.

Might need to give your phone's camera lens a bit of a buff as well. Photos are starting to look a bit blurred.
 
I don't have an experience with fairings but it looks too far forward and too high. Sort of give the front of the bike a lot of visual weight with the rear being very light looking.

Might need to give your phone's camera lens a bit of a buff as well. Photos are starting to look a bit blurred.
I see what you mean, I will make a bracket with slots and adjust it as low and as far back as I can. If that is still no good I may need put the bars below the top yoke.
 
Today I moved the clip-on bars to the underside of the top clamp making the bar ends too low for me especially with the seating position 40mm further back due to the tank I'm building. But I had a "cunning plan" because I made the handle bar tubes from a recycled Harley drag bar, I new using the slight bend in the drag bar would give a huge amount of adjustment by rotating them and that has saved the day.
It can be seen buy the bar end mirror position how rotating the bar has raised the grip to approximately the same high as before.
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I adjusted the other bar to be the same and did some more welding on the tank. Unfortunately the wind picked up and the gas ran out so I didn't get as much done as planned, but for only the 3rd time tig welding I'm happy and learning as I go.
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You are at the most frustarating part of fitting an aftermarket fairing on a street bike. Race bikes are almost as bad to get them just right, but at least we don't have the added complication of a headlamp.

Those clipons sure are are low, as you mentioned. How about they go back where they were comfortable and then see how to raise the fairing to fit around the bars and headlamp. You want 7 to 10 degrees of droop on the clip ons to be comfortable. Riding is more important than looks on any bike you want to enjoy riding, so get that right and worry about the look after that.
 
You are at the most frustarating part of fitting an aftermarket fairing on a street bike. Race bikes are almost as bad to get them just right, but at least we don't have the added complication of a headlamp.

Those clipons sure are are low, as you mentioned. How about they go back where they were comfortable and then see how to raise the fairing to fit around the bars and headlamp. You want 7 to 10 degrees of droop on the clip ons to be comfortable. Riding is more important than looks on any bike you want to enjoy riding, so get that right and worry about the look after that.
After rotating the bars I think it's ended up ok I haven't measured with a protractor but the droop would be about 7 degrees and the bar ends are about 130mm above the seat. What's your ergonomic thoughts ?
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The key is what is comfortable for you. My race bike bars are typically slightly lower and my street bike bars are usually higher than that because they are used in different ways. With low bars, the rider is essentially rotated forwards so footpegs have to go back from stock position to about 100mm behind the swingarm pivot and about 25mm lower. As long as that places them more or less straight below the front of the seat, it will work. That provides a jockey like stance where much of the weight can be taken on the feet and not all on the wrists.

Your pegs looks to be in the right sort of position but if it were mine, I would probably raise the clipons so they are at least just under the top clamp, but keep in mind that the further the bars are from the seat, that changes stretch and comfort. We are all built differently in terms of arm length to trunk length and so on, so adjust things until they feel natural when riding the bike. And where you do most of your miles makes a difference. Round town, "sit up and beg" is most comfortable. Around winding roads, a flatter more race like position is probably better.

On a naked bike, wind resistance helps to relieve some of the strain but a fairing is designed to reduce that wind resistance, so it's even more important to be comfortable.
 
The key is what is comfortable for you. My race bike bars are typically slightly lower and my street bike bars are usually higher than that because they are used in different ways. With low bars, the rider is essentially rotated forwards so footpegs have to go back from stock position to about 100mm behind the swingarm pivot and about 25mm lower. As long as that places them more or less straight below the front of the seat, it will work. That provides a jockey like stance where much of the weight can be taken on the feet and not all on the wrists.

Your pegs looks to be in the right sort of position but if it were mine, I would probably raise the clipons so they are at least just under the top clamp, but keep in mind that the further the bars are from the seat, that changes stretch and comfort. We are all built differently in terms of arm length to trunk length and so on, so adjust things until they feel natural when riding the bike. And where you do most of your miles makes a difference. Round town, "sit up and beg" is most comfortable. Around winding roads, a flatter more race like position is probably better.

On a naked bike, wind resistance helps to relieve some of the strain but a fairing is designed to reduce that wind resistance, so it's even more important to be comfortable.
Thanks for that. So sounds pretty right to me then. It does feel good to me on the bike now and the foot pegs feel better than when the tank was shorter so that's a win. I have just worked out an articulated front fairing bracket that will give approx. 25mm of up and down movement and tilt forward and aft. That will let me bolt it on and move it around.
 
Had no time or money to buy shield gas lately so today just did some pounding on the tank blending to bar dents into the extended shape.
 
Back to the fuel tank, just got some gas and have started bending up the main divided on the under side between the fuel and air box. It took some head scratching but I decided by putting a flange around it I bend the flange in and out for a perfect fit to made welding easier which I need with my beginner TIG skills. Picture shows after bending before shrinking with hammer. And the tool I made with a slot for bending one side is a bit shorter with a bit bit of a radius, so the fit will be adjusted buy tapping the radius in and out.
 

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Been a while but long story short, My welding mask wasn't good enough for me to tig weld. My first attempt at putting the above panel in the tank "tanked" looked like bird droppings and blew a hole but it was tacked in. I wasn't brave enough to try again till I got a better mask.
I got a mask from Bunnings a mask I had looked at on line for about $70 from china but I really wanted the better $130 mask from China, but I didn't want to wait so I paid $150 for a $70 mask.
Then every time I went to use it, it rained so today was the first time things worked out for some welding time.

Wow what a difference I can see... now know I will be able to weld this tank leak free :D :D still learning but confident.

Also bit the bullet and got a more traditional fuel cap
 

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Getting there slowly I have welded in the piece above and I am getting better, although far from picture book. It has caused shrinkage across the tank between the airbox and fuel tank but not twisted.
I have made a flat bottom for the fuel part which is a really good slip in size but without the underside shape in it yet I can no longer sit it on the bike at this stage, and the support hoop has now been removed.
The tank does look a little less bulky than the pictures from the side with the hoop removed. And I am now planning on flattening the top a bit buy removing the lip from the old filler position.

Any other thoughts welcome to help my cafe racer look, now's the time for changes before its set in steel.
 

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looking back at pictures testing the fairing fit makes me feel better, concentrating on the tank I start to lose prospective
 

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