KLR650 "Wheatwacker" mod

I found out about this fairing mod a few years ago over on KLR650.net. It was devised and shared by a fella that goes by the handle Wheatwacker, so the mod thus bears his name.

Bein' a taller fella, I've been wantin' to do this for a long time, and I finally got a slow Saturday at work a few weeks back to go about it. Naturally, I forgot to start takin' pictures until I was halfway though, but I share what I remembered to take.

First step was to cut the fairing from the outer edge to the headlamp opening. I drilled a hole first to alleviate any cracks that may have attempted to spring out from the end of the cut.

Next was to cut the wedges out of aluminum. I used .080 sheet stock... not too thick, but still good and sturdy. I used light cardboard to figure out the angle of the wedge, then used a bandsaw to cut the aluminum to the final shape. One thing I did that I haven't seen with others doing this mod is I made sure to incorporate the upper fairing mount holes into the aluminum wedges. Perhaps I'm off base, but I felt this helped with keeping everything sturdy and tight.

Then came the hard part. I had to form the aluminum to match the curve of the fairing. This was best done by hand, although I used a brass hammer on some areas to add to or flatten back some of my curves.

Once I had the wedges formed correctly, I used a vice clamp to set and hold them in place, and I started drilling the holes. I drilled the plastic and aluminum at the same time to ensure that everything lined up correctly.

My initial plan was to mock everything up using screws and nuts, then rivet everything together. After getting the screws in place for the mockup, I decided to just throw on a lock nut and call it a day. This'll give me more flexibility when I add in a dash later, as I can use longer screws through the same holes to mount the dash.

After that, I simply tightened everything up and re-installed it on the bike.

From start to finish, it took less than two hours, and I was taking my time to make sure everything was clean and just-so. It's definitely an easy mod to do, and it helped straighten out the wind buffeting effect tenfold. Not only that, but it also seems like the fairing is a lot sturdier than it used to be, which makes for a gentler ride.

Next up will be a custom-fit dash, so I can get my switches and power supply out from behind the dash cluster.