An affordable alternative to OEM replacement fairingsBy SR StaffNovember 25, 2014
If you’ve ever crashed your motorcycle or purchased a damaged bike that “just needed fairings,” then you’ve probably already visited your local dealer and price-checked new cowlings. Then shed a tear. Although high in quality, original equipment fairings for a sportbike are extremely costly. And the same goes for fiberglass race bodywork, which is a bit less expensive but still needs to be pre-mounted, drilled, prepped, and painted. An affordable alternative to these options is replacement fairings from a company such as Nice Cycle, an aftermarket fairing provider that recently created a set of custom fairings for our 2013 Suzuki GSX-R600 testbike.
The ABS plastic cowlings from Nice Cycle go beyond an affordable alternative. “We use the same material and same mounting points as OEM fairings, plus all of our mounting points are reinforced,” the company confirms. An added bonus is that the Nice Cycle bodywork is injection molded (rather than compression molded) for a more consistent fit through a production run. The fairings can be customized for no extra charge and come with a warranty that covers defects.
Mounting the bodywork on our Suzuki GSX-R600 was fairly straightforward, and the only real hindrance was areas where the paint (and clear coat) was thick enough to interfere with mounting tabs or hardware. As an example, the clear coat surrounding two of the mounting holes needed to be shaved so the bolt could slip through. All of the bolt holes lined up nicely with the mounting points on the chassis, a likely benefit of the company’s injection molds.
There are a few areas where design elements overlap or don’t line up perfectly with the design elements on an opposing panel, and here’s where OEM fairings really hold an edge over the competition; Suzuki has had a few decades to work on quality control. That being said, we received an overwhelming number of compliments on the GSX-R600 once it was sporting our Lucky Strike graphics (blue so that we didn’t have to repaint the tank). The colors were a close match, and an added bonus is that the bodywork kit came with nearly every piece of plastic trim you could need, plus a windscreen free of charge. No matter if it’s a custom kit or not, Nice Cycle says it can ship the bodywork to your house within around 10 days.
While not as faultless as OEM fairings, the Nice Cycle kit is a great alternative to replacement plastics, especially if you’re looking for something a bit more unique or headed to the track and don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on replacement fairings that will get scratched during transit or on the track.
Speaking of price, the Nice Cycle full fairing kit for our 2013 GSX-R600 cost just $879.10. That’s roughly $1,000 cheaper than the replacement fairings we priced through our local Suzuki dealership. Saving money never looked so good.
Details
Nice Cycle bodywork
Retail: $879.10 (price varies between kits)
nicecycle.com
