Any body ever make your own faring?
05-09-08, 07:48 PM
#1
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Any body ever make your own faring?
Well, that's the question. And if you did, how? I want details...with drawings.
05-09-08, 08:58 PM
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bets go to the wisil site for good fairing plans. I honestly think making a simple coroplast wheelcover for the rear is the best speed boost you can get. easily gets me a 10% gain and adds almost no weight.
05-10-08, 06:01 PM
#4
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A good fairing makes a difference
I made a fiberglass fairing using a mold made out of mortormix concrete. Frst I dug a hole in my back yard approx 4 feet long by 10 inches deep then I took a 20 inch bike wheel and scraped it smooth. I then used mortor mix cement and put that down and used a sponge to help get the finish smooth after the concrete started setting up. After a week I used bondo to get a smooth surface. I waxed the mold very well and then laid up the fiberglass in the mold. This was my first attempt at using fiberglass to build anything and it turned out fairly well.The fairing can be seen on webshots,
https://sports.webshots.com/photo/266...49198016kgiGng I found that this works so much better than a coroplast fairing as I can easily get compound bends without the seams. On my homebuilt this year I came in the top 50 out of close to 800 riders on one of the MS150 rides I rode on. This ride was not a race but I still felt really good about it and one of the roadies I passed said he was embarassed because he had never been passed by a recumbent going up a hill. Coroplast is cheap and fast to build with but I love the results from the fiberglass and lexan. I am building another fairing and this time I carved the depression in the ground using the 20 inch wheel but I took the tire off to reduce the width of the fairing. I also made it deeper as the finished fairing is only about 6 inches deep and I feel that 12 to 18 inches would be almost ideal. The bike handles great in the wind and in Arizona it is nice to have shade from the fiberglass. One note is you will likely need 5 - 6 layers to of cloth to be good and strong. I hope this helps! best wishes on whatever you do!
https://sports.webshots.com/photo/266...49198016kgiGng I found that this works so much better than a coroplast fairing as I can easily get compound bends without the seams. On my homebuilt this year I came in the top 50 out of close to 800 riders on one of the MS150 rides I rode on. This ride was not a race but I still felt really good about it and one of the roadies I passed said he was embarassed because he had never been passed by a recumbent going up a hill. Coroplast is cheap and fast to build with but I love the results from the fiberglass and lexan. I am building another fairing and this time I carved the depression in the ground using the 20 inch wheel but I took the tire off to reduce the width of the fairing. I also made it deeper as the finished fairing is only about 6 inches deep and I feel that 12 to 18 inches would be almost ideal. The bike handles great in the wind and in Arizona it is nice to have shade from the fiberglass. One note is you will likely need 5 - 6 layers to of cloth to be good and strong. I hope this helps! best wishes on whatever you do!
Last edited by sfeland; 05-12-08 at 12:52 AM.
05-10-08, 07:55 PM
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05-11-08, 05:07 PM
#6
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Yep.
https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/fauxf40/index.html
https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/tailbox2/index.html
https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/tailbox/index.htm
Come to the Human Power Challenge at Portland International Raceway:
https://www.ohpv.org/HPC/index.html
I'm sure you'll see fairings- both homebuilt and commercial- that will give you far too many ideas.
I agree that the WISIL site is a great resource:
https://www.recumbents.com/wisil/whatsup.htm
https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/fauxf40/index.html
https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/tailbox2/index.html
https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/tailbox/index.htm
Come to the Human Power Challenge at Portland International Raceway:
https://www.ohpv.org/HPC/index.html
I'm sure you'll see fairings- both homebuilt and commercial- that will give you far too many ideas.
I agree that the WISIL site is a great resource:
https://www.recumbents.com/wisil/whatsup.htm
__________________
Jeff Wills
Comcast nuked my web page. It will return soon..
Jeff Wills
Comcast nuked my web page. It will return soon..
05-12-08, 06:37 AM
#7
Senior Member
I currently have a front fairing on my V-Rex. In its past it's had several designs of front fairings and tailboxes, and even a few full heads-out bodies.
