Back with another little story for ya.
Yesterday, I was on a trip to Olympia and back to pick up another GoPro to work with from a guy on Facebook Marketplace. Great guy, very forward, and very interesting personality. On my way back, I had a bit of a mini-disaster when my fairing mounting hardware decided it was time to give up and throw in the towel.
I was at about exit 122a (formerly non-existent on i5 northbound through south Lakewood) when suddenly I hear a metallic "ping" sound, followed by the immediate sagging of my fairing a good few inches. I immediately changed my destination to a closer location so that I could figure out the issue. It also happened to be a destination with a fantastic set of tools that I could work with to figure out an end goal to fix it or remove it entirely.
I arrived at my parents' house a short while later, but not after having to make an emergency zip-tie repair to at least keep the fairing semi-stable the last few miles. I removed the fairing and its pieces to find this lovely broken mess staring at me.
Quite strange seeing the bike without the fairing, as I've only ever seen it on. Let me tell you, though, I am excitedly shocked by the change! But first, I have to figure out this mess of a cable situation.
With the help of some schematics found on an old thread here and a bit of trial and error with a voltmeter, I was able to get the headlight harness separated from the gaggle of wires that came out of the fairing and reconnect it to the PCB inside, removing the white wires completely and stowing the harness for a possible (eventual) reinstallation of the fairing.
All things said, I'm supremely happy with the resulting look and appearance, and I had a really great time riding the bike for the first time without a fairing. And of course, the final look!
Before:
After:
I think, now, more than ever, I need to fix the ears.
