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faired vs. unfaired bikes

U

ultracyclist

New member
This thread is a spin off from the "R1200....unappreciated..." by fastdogs2.

Is it my imagination? Are more people going from RT types to R types than the other way around?

If that is the case, then why don't naked bikes sell in the US?
 
Last edited:
I am very happy with my R1200S now.

Too bad BMW killed it for the HP2 Sport in the US, and now the latter is largely gone (except as used).

You can ride it "naked" sitting upright, or faired laying on the tank. And, it has more power and wider wheels than an R bike, too.
 
It depends on where you live, and your riding style. When I lived in Southern California, I had only one faired bike, which I only used occasionaly. And I did not own a car for many years.
Now that I live where it gets much colder, I only have one unfaired bike. The BMW fairings on my bikes also work very well in this land of many high winds. My riding season is greatly extended throughout the year, as long as there is no black ice. I only have lowers on one of them. Commuting, light shopping, events, etc always on bike, weather permitting.
When I lived in SoCal, faired bikes, if you don't count little cafed crotch rocket affairs, were relatively rare. Around here, even the crusty primer painted Harley riders (not posers) usually run at least large clear windshields, if not full baggers. Almost never saw that in SoCal.
 
ultracyclist said:
This thread is a spin off from the "R1200....unappreciated..." by fastdogs2.

Is it my imagination? Are more people going from RT types to R types than the other way around?

If that is the case, then why don't naked bikes sell in the US?
Click to expand...

It is your imagination,:laugh and yes naked bikes do sell, just there may be more fairing styled bikes available now than in the past. Look at the selection of bikes availalbe on the market today, choices galore, accessories available for new bikes the moment they come out (S1000RR).

Just look at the number of companys' producing windshields now, takes all day just to go thru the selections available, which is gr8.

Hell up here in Canada if you don't have a fairing, your freezing your butt off for 4 months of the 5 months we get to ride.:banghead
 
I have an RT and plan on sticking with it for the foreseeable future. I can see going with a roadster in the future. The R seems a more simple ride than the RT particularly at low speeds and that is a growing factor.
 
Naked vs Faired Bikes

I agree with AZ-J. BMW Motorrad made a big mistake when they discontinued the R1200S in favor of the HPs. I suppose they thought that they could compete better with the huge number of very popular naked Ducs out there. I love the R1200S and the R1200R but neither of them is going to compete with the Salami Rockets. Because the R1200R doesn't compete well in the naked bike marketplace, I hope Motorrad doesn't discontinue it. In these economic times I think there is definitely a place for a more basic bike that is cheaper to maintain than fully faired bikes. I think Motorrad would be smart to come out with a new cam-head R1200 series in three variants -- naked, bikini fairing and one with sport touring bodywork.

Pete
 
PowderkegPete said:
I agree with AZ-J. ... I love the R1200S and the R1200R but neither of them is going to compete with the Salami Rockets. ... I think Motorrad would be smart to come out with a new cam-head R1200 series in three variants -- naked, bikini fairing and one with sport touring bodywork.

Pete
Click to expand...

Thanks for the agreement, PkP, but I have to say I disagree with "neither of them is going to compete with the Salami Rockets" at least to the extent the R12S could have done "it" much better than the HP2 S ever did. All BMW needed to do was market it. But instead, since it was only sold for some 12-14 months, here, it never had a chance in the US.
 
I rode home from work on my RT this past Friday in a 50 degree rain - windy, cold nasty weather - but pulled into the garage warm, dry and smiling

On the way I passed a rider on a naked cruiser. He looked cold, he looked wet and and he looked frazzled. He did not wave back.

'Nuff said.
 
Trends come and go. I think the current move toward naked bikes is rat inspired to a degree. Sportbikes that are wrecked are oft times "ratted out" instead of replacing damaged parts. That plastic is hard on a young rider's wallet! Anyway, what is left is a nude rat bike, and it has figured in the stying of bikes by Ducati, Suzuki and Yamaha to name a few. There is also a trend toward purism and simplicity. Fairings are wonderful but require removal for maintenance among other considerations. I personally love unadorned motors but like the weather protection fairings offer. On the other hand a naked bike is in my future, but I'll hang on to my faired machines thank you.

By the by, I do think naked bikes are selling. How else to explain the jump into this market by the manufacturers?
JD
 
ALIENHITCHHIKER said:
I rode home from work on my RT this past Friday in a 50 degree rain - windy, cold nasty weather - but pulled into the garage warm, dry and smiling

On the way I passed a rider on a naked cruiser. He looked cold, he looked wet and and he looked frazzled. He did not wave back.

'Nuff said.
Click to expand...

Too bad for you, you have weather like that. Sunny and 63 right now, and we should hit 80 Tuesday or Wednesday.
 
I'll refrain Mr. Hitchhiker from sending you my best picture response as well.
 
If you happen to live in those 'southern climes' year round riding is easy, but for many of the rest of us, that have actual cold weather, a good fairing makes a big difference.
Until Oct '08 I had never ridden a bike w/ a fairing. That's when I bought my R1200RT. All I can say is, that at my age ( 65 ), this has made a huge difference in my
comfort level, 200 mi rides at 20-25 degrees F. Rain,even cold, no problem.
I live in north west NJ and ride mostly upstate NY....the roads there are a lot of fun
though they tend to be rather tricky in winter.
Tho' this bike has a full fairing, it suffers nothing in the handling/performance
department.... I'm not crazy but I'm not slow...Ex: I'm happy to get 5000 mi on a
set of PR2's. Will I get another unfaired bike ? If I do it will probably be a F800GS
or something along those lines.
Even in cold weather I average 1500 mi/ month and have over 32000 very satisfying
miles on this bike.
Fairing....YES.

Dave Bogue
'08 R 1200RT
 
If you don't count the GS as a faired bike--and you shouldn't--then you can conclude unfaired bikes are selling quite nicely.
 
ALIENHITCHHIKER said:
I rode home from work on my RT this past Friday in a 50 degree rain - windy, cold nasty weather - but pulled into the garage warm, dry and smiling

On the way I passed a rider on a naked cruiser. He looked cold, he looked wet and and he looked frazzled. He did not wave back.

'Nuff said.
Click to expand...

LOL Heck more than once I've stuck my hand out to wave and quickly yanked it back, only then remembering it was wet out there!
 
AZ-J said:
Too bad for you, you have weather like that. Sunny and 63 right now, and we should hit 80 Tuesday or Wednesday.
Click to expand...

I attended University in Burlington Vt. While I was there, I met a young lady from Louisiana who said she preferred the cold of Vt. to the heat of LA. Her reasoning was you can only take so much clothing off, but there is no limit to how much you can add. So when it's 110 degrees in AZ, we'll be riding in comfort (and probably a rainstorm as well).
 
ALIENHITCHHIKER said:
I rode home from work on my RT this past Friday in a 50 degree rain - windy, cold nasty weather - but pulled into the garage warm, dry and smiling

On the way I passed a rider on a naked cruiser. He looked cold, he looked wet and and he looked frazzled. He did not wave back.

'Nuff said.
Click to expand...

Couple years ago rode all over Arizona and western New Mexico on my R80G/S with a couple friends with KLRs. We then stopped at my home in Albuquerque and I then rode my R100RS with them over to an Airhead rally in Oklahoma. The RS was heaven in comparison.

It's really a myth that fairings are hot, BTW. If it's hot outside, the fairing reduces the blast of hot air--which is the significant thing. It reduces the accompanying dehydration as well. If all you're going to do is ride around town or offroad, a bare bike is fine (and maybe preferrable). Otherwise a fairing improves everything.

So, quoted poster notes faired bike better in cold, wet weather. I note they're better in hot, dry weather, too.
 
To me a air/oil cooled boxer with frame mounted faring and adjustable windshield is optimum. The frame mount mostly decouples the wind from the steering. The boxer is inherently cooler in hot weather than any water cooled bike I have experienced. You can adjust the windshield to get more noise or more air as needed. A light naked bike with some good bags would make a nice city/adventure bike, but can not go on long trip as comfortable. Since I can only afford one bike, I choose a fairing.

Rod
 
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