Race bodywork

[Hooli]

Harley Barnes Painted a set of them for my buddy and they look sick and fit well

I would hold off on the pro paint job, or else rattlecan it. No sense in investing in a pricey paint job that's only 1/4" from destruction most of the time. :laughing

 

[ucb]

I pose hard y0 :laughing

 

[NorCal Factory]

That's exactly what I had in mind when I considered the 280 ones...

There a couple of additional things to consider with this approach. First, if you get any kind of a paint job on these that will be $500+. And the Sharkskins and Armor Bodies are much more crash worthy. You wi8ll be paying for freight for a new set of cheap bodywork and another paint job if you crash in addition to the cost of the body work and the installation time which takes hours.

If you are going to have fun at the track why not get a cool paint job? This is a hobby where you want to have fun - right? When you start talking to painters, they will tell you how good or bad different brands are - they have more experience than most of us do and a much more critical eye.


I started out with a set of pre-painted Armor bodies purchased from the KAW forum for $600 that lasted 2+ years.



Then I got a new set of Armor Bodies from Viets Performance and decided to get a fun paint job from Harley Barnes who has been painting for over 15 years.

 

[MotardJunkie]

This is an interesting thread. I always wondered why people would buy trackskins. I can fit new plastic on my aprilia rsv pretty cheap if I dont have to replace it all.

Buying a good set of sharkskins then painting them comes out more than my factory plastics.

So why bother for just a casual B group rider that doesnt care about weight savings taking off the headlight etc.....

But if they are crashworthy to me that makes em worth it.

I learn something new every day.

 

[ucb]

I dont see how thats possible, a full new set of factory plastics for most sport bikes is $1500+, and for the most part you can crash them once then replace, where as quality track platics can be repaired and reused. Might be cheaper if you just low side and have to replace one panel or two, but if you huck the bike end over end, shit will add up really fast

Not to mention for maintenance they are far better. I can get the bike naked in about 2 minutes, same can't be said about any modern sport bile with OEM plastics.

 

[NorCal Factory]

I think you will find plastics for your APE could be much, much more than race bodywork and will take forever to get. And you still have to paint it and get the graphics.
If you have a used Japanese bike, you can probably get a complete set of bodywork off E-Bay for $1,000.

I have over 30 trackdays on my Aprilia, unfortunately I thought of the above issues when riding on the track too much. I needed a less costly, easier to repair, bike to feel comfortable exploring the potential of the bike.

 

[Mick-e]

I have these on my racebike
http://www.catalystracingcomposites.com/
I think they are popular on the east coast, and with WERA racers.
Solid stuff. Although I think they might be a bit rigid.

 

[GeorgeT]

Turns out to be a interesting thread... I obviously want the best combination possible price/quality, and of course I'd throw in a nice paint job too, but since the budget is limited, all your feedback helps a lot. So far, e-racings seem to be provide a good quality for the price.

 

[firemedic2706]

good luck finding e-racing, they went out of business about 6 months ago, now we carry optimal bodywork, it's a cast off of e-racings.

 

[ucb]

Are they the same quality?

 

[firemedic2706]

Optimal bought out e-racing after they went out of business, so basically the same thing just different name, they didn't bring over as many options though.

 

[firemedic2706]

we should be working out a deal with a new company that'll be around the same price but they are trying to get closer to sharkskinz quality, I'll keep you updated on the happenings with the new company

 

[Hooli]

Not to mention for maintenance they are far better. I can get the bike naked in about 2 minutes, same can't be said about any modern sport bile with OEM plastics.

TRUTH. I just got a set of slightly used race glass for the Gixxer. The upper and mids are one piece, as are the lowers. The seller also included an aluminum upper fairing bracket with quick release pins, so basically all I have to do to install/remove the stuff is pull a pair of clips and undo six Dzus fasteners. Can't get any easier! :thumbup

 

[GeorgeT]

good luck finding e-racing, they went out of business about 6 months ago, now we carry optimal bodywork, it's a cast off of e-racings.

No wonder the web site was no help at all :confused

 

[firemedic2706]

yeah, it makes it rough to find a company that went under

 

[MotardJunkie]

I think you will find plastics for your APE could be much, much more than race bodywork and will take forever to get. And you still have to paint it and get the graphics.

ah looks like just the lower fairing pieces are cheap. my dealer told me 150 for fairing pieces. thats just the lowers.

So it looks like if I need to replace all of one side and the top piece it would be about 1300. not counting the two lower pieces on opposite side.

but it is 850 for the sharkskins and another 500 so thats still alot.

but my point was that I did not know that sharkskins were crash worthy.