Also posted this on ADV Rider but the admins might move it so I don't want to post a link.
I just gave my 2006 TE610 a little facelift and got one of the first Lynx fairings by Britannia Composits.
I ordered the twin HID option and here's my initial impressions and how my installation went:
Lighing - The lighting is really nice with two Hella lenses. I took some pics in the woods but the brightness of my gps under exposed them. Here's the low and high beam patterns on the wall:
The sharp cutoff is the way to go on the road but in the woods you definitely need to run both lights. When the suspension dives you're left with little light using only the low beam. On a dark forest road I could easily see 100 yards with both. My only regret with the lights is the fairing doesn't come with any kind of lense protection so I'll have to make something since I've broken every glass lens I've ever owned.
Wind - First I did a test run up to about 55mph with the screen down and my Arai XD face shield partially open.
The first thing I noticed when getting up to speed was the lack of wind on my chest. This felt really good and I can't wait to try it out on the freeway. This is going to be a huge improvement on a long road section and should go a long way to reducing fatigue. I tried face shield up at about 30mph and didn't really notice any difference from stock.
Next I put the fairing screen up and tried the same run. At about 30 I was able to run with my face shield up no ploblem. With the face shield partially open as before at 55 there was no wind coming up under the shield as before but it seemed louder. The turbulance around the helmet while not physically noticeable seems to be higher pitched. I'll report back after some real freeway testing.
The fairing arrived in 3 parts; The dash, the fairing and a bag with a complete wiring harness, some connectors and some attachment screws . Here you can see the ballasts came attached to the sides of the dash. (The ballasts add maybe 1-1/2 to 2 lbs)
Installation - Installation is pretty straight forward with a few catches that I'll try to cover. The instructions say to first mount the dash under the handlebar mount by removing the two 17mm nuts and pulling up the whole assembly. I ended up dis-assembling everything and buying some longer bolts. Your milage may vary depending on your existing setup.
The first catch I ran into was the Cycra triple clamp mounts.You'll have to notch the dash around these. Not a problem if you get halogens but can be tricky with the HID ballasts right there. I notched right up to the ballast then slotted the mounting holes by about 5mm to get it to fit. I didn't need to slot the holes since I ended up re-locating the offending ballast anyway. I'd suggest anyone ordering the HID option request the ballasts be sent loose. I also opted to open up the area where the brake and speedo cables pass through the dash as you can see on the upper right corner:
The second catch was the horn. The low beam is deeper than the high beam and contacts the horn on the 610. You can't swap the lights from right to left because the wiring harness comes out on the other side and would interfere. After bending the horn around and trying to get it to work I decided the horn has to be relocated. I just haven't figured out where to put it yet.
Fitting the instruments requires very careful planning. The HID ballasts limit where things can go on the dash so you really need to plan your dash layout carefully. I opted to use the stock instrument mounting plate as a template and just cut clearance holes behind in the dash:
After I did this I figured out it wasn't such a good idea and the ignition wouldn't fit with the HID ballast sitting right behind. If I were to do it again I'd omit the stock mounting plate and just drill the ABS dash as needed. Figure out the position of this stuff with the dash on the bike, not the bench. This way you can check for interference of your bar mounts, cables, etc. The dash is at a higher angle and makes the view angle of the speedo much better when seated but will interfere with your bar clamps if not carefully planned.
If you use a garmin 276 or EQ with the Touratech mount you don't have much choice on position. Just be sure you have the unit in the mount when you mark the holes so you plan for the antennae. The brake and speedo cables block the screen a bit but I'll take that over looking down at the crossbar and fiddling with it on a dangerous mountain road any day.
Here's the final setup I came up with on the back of the dash:
I wouldn't recommend putting your turn signals in the small flat spots at the bottom of the fairing as the instructions suggest. As you can see here I installed them with the fairing on the bench only to find they interfere with the brake and speedo cable:
If you've got the Cycra mounts your turn signals should work fine in the original position. If you don't have them you might want to fab some spacers to move them out a bit. Here you can see I added a short piece of tubing as a spacer on the Electrosport units to get them out even further:
Overall I'm pretty happy with this things form, fit and function. I know it's going to make longer distance rides a lot more fun, especially on the freeway and at night (which is why I wanted it). I think this is the only game in town that provides both superior road lighting and wind protection. You can see a few additional photos of the install & bike here.
I just gave my 2006 TE610 a little facelift and got one of the first Lynx fairings by Britannia Composits.
I ordered the twin HID option and here's my initial impressions and how my installation went:
Lighing - The lighting is really nice with two Hella lenses. I took some pics in the woods but the brightness of my gps under exposed them. Here's the low and high beam patterns on the wall:
The sharp cutoff is the way to go on the road but in the woods you definitely need to run both lights. When the suspension dives you're left with little light using only the low beam. On a dark forest road I could easily see 100 yards with both. My only regret with the lights is the fairing doesn't come with any kind of lense protection so I'll have to make something since I've broken every glass lens I've ever owned.
Wind - First I did a test run up to about 55mph with the screen down and my Arai XD face shield partially open.
The first thing I noticed when getting up to speed was the lack of wind on my chest. This felt really good and I can't wait to try it out on the freeway. This is going to be a huge improvement on a long road section and should go a long way to reducing fatigue. I tried face shield up at about 30mph and didn't really notice any difference from stock.
Next I put the fairing screen up and tried the same run. At about 30 I was able to run with my face shield up no ploblem. With the face shield partially open as before at 55 there was no wind coming up under the shield as before but it seemed louder. The turbulance around the helmet while not physically noticeable seems to be higher pitched. I'll report back after some real freeway testing.
The fairing arrived in 3 parts; The dash, the fairing and a bag with a complete wiring harness, some connectors and some attachment screws . Here you can see the ballasts came attached to the sides of the dash. (The ballasts add maybe 1-1/2 to 2 lbs)
Installation - Installation is pretty straight forward with a few catches that I'll try to cover. The instructions say to first mount the dash under the handlebar mount by removing the two 17mm nuts and pulling up the whole assembly. I ended up dis-assembling everything and buying some longer bolts. Your milage may vary depending on your existing setup.
The first catch I ran into was the Cycra triple clamp mounts.You'll have to notch the dash around these. Not a problem if you get halogens but can be tricky with the HID ballasts right there. I notched right up to the ballast then slotted the mounting holes by about 5mm to get it to fit. I didn't need to slot the holes since I ended up re-locating the offending ballast anyway. I'd suggest anyone ordering the HID option request the ballasts be sent loose. I also opted to open up the area where the brake and speedo cables pass through the dash as you can see on the upper right corner:
The second catch was the horn. The low beam is deeper than the high beam and contacts the horn on the 610. You can't swap the lights from right to left because the wiring harness comes out on the other side and would interfere. After bending the horn around and trying to get it to work I decided the horn has to be relocated. I just haven't figured out where to put it yet.
Fitting the instruments requires very careful planning. The HID ballasts limit where things can go on the dash so you really need to plan your dash layout carefully. I opted to use the stock instrument mounting plate as a template and just cut clearance holes behind in the dash:
After I did this I figured out it wasn't such a good idea and the ignition wouldn't fit with the HID ballast sitting right behind. If I were to do it again I'd omit the stock mounting plate and just drill the ABS dash as needed. Figure out the position of this stuff with the dash on the bike, not the bench. This way you can check for interference of your bar mounts, cables, etc. The dash is at a higher angle and makes the view angle of the speedo much better when seated but will interfere with your bar clamps if not carefully planned.
If you use a garmin 276 or EQ with the Touratech mount you don't have much choice on position. Just be sure you have the unit in the mount when you mark the holes so you plan for the antennae. The brake and speedo cables block the screen a bit but I'll take that over looking down at the crossbar and fiddling with it on a dangerous mountain road any day.
Here's the final setup I came up with on the back of the dash:
I wouldn't recommend putting your turn signals in the small flat spots at the bottom of the fairing as the instructions suggest. As you can see here I installed them with the fairing on the bench only to find they interfere with the brake and speedo cable:
If you've got the Cycra mounts your turn signals should work fine in the original position. If you don't have them you might want to fab some spacers to move them out a bit. Here you can see I added a short piece of tubing as a spacer on the Electrosport units to get them out even further:
Overall I'm pretty happy with this things form, fit and function. I know it's going to make longer distance rides a lot more fun, especially on the freeway and at night (which is why I wanted it). I think this is the only game in town that provides both superior road lighting and wind protection. You can see a few additional photos of the install & bike here.
Thanx,
