Lynx Fairing for the Husky

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.

That is super cool, I think I will need one of these when the new 510 demo shows up.

The screen is meant to be down and somewhat out of the way for off-roading and up when you hit the highway for added wind protection.

I use 6mil clear plastic over the HID on my 610--got it from Dual Star. Highly recommended. Lots of night racers, Dakaristas, and legions of dual sporters swear by it.

Its a big deal. Riding 200-300 miles a day on a 610 with a fairing is a very different experience. Its subtle at first, but by the end of the day it adds up.

Ive got the same problem!

Nice write up, and great looking bike.

That looks great Hoder and an excellent write-up, Thanks! I believe that you are running HID on both lights, correct?
I'm thinking about one in the spring but unfortunately the free shipping from the UK will be no more

BTW: what tank graphics are those?

cheers,

Mike

Yes, HID on both lights.
Graphics are from www.powersportgrafx.com

Thanks Hoder,

My recent OT check is going to Britannia.
I decided to stick with the halogens and upgrade as
needed later on.

Bob

I believe they're in Canada, not the UK

Nice write up Hoder.

Found a few more photos of this particular Lynx Fairing
on their site.. http://www.britanniacomposites.com/index.html

They manufacture an assort of different styles.

One with the shield all the way up



in red




Hoder,
Have you had an opportunity to test out this new product?

Their website also lists 'Free shipping to the US until the end of 2008'

I've only done a couple short rides. Things haven't been going too good around here & I might end up having to sell the bike so I don't want to wipe it out now that it's all nice and purdy. I tested with no eye protection (don't try this at home) and with the screen down I got up to about 30 before my eyes watered too bad to see. With the screen up I ran up to about 50 with no watering eyes. I ran out of road but the wind protection is there.

Sorry to hear that Hoder.

I just did the install on this. If you straighten out the 'tang' for the horn, there is a tapped hole on the top triple clamp (on the 2008 anyhow), I mounted the horn there.

I also Ebay sourced some Yellow LED modules and mounted them front and rear: (less to stick out)

Hoder
I hope it wont come down to that for you
It would suck for the Husky community to lose an able tester as yourself

Very good testimonial, I really hope you’ll get to test the on road, high speed/ wind/ long distance effectiveness of the faring
Best of luck to you, hope you’ll pull thru it

Side note on Britannia composites; I’ve converse with them (IanB) on ADVrider and they were quick to replay with answers and seem to be generally nice people to deal with, I have yet to purchase the faring so your mileage may vary…

Nesbocaj
Your LED in the handguards is exactly were I’m going with mine, I’ve got a different idea for the back although yours is very nice

I installed mine and the kit is just super, as is the seller Ian.






A bit cool here in NY for a ride anytime soon