RANS commuter pics

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PaulM

Guru
Location
Portsmouth, UK
Just occurred to me that I can create a fairing for the handlebars to keep some of the coming winter's wind and rain off. Rather than pay £400 for a Windrap fairing, I think £5 of 100mm black electrical tape will provide half of the benefit and won't add weight. I can turn the existing handlebar bag around and access the zip opening from below :okay:.
 

Nigelnightmare

Über Member
Sheet of clear Perspex fixed with "P" clips and you could extend it up past the top of the handlebars.
Perspex sheet available from garden centres (greenhouse glass).
 
Looks nice but ...........

Don't expect it to keep you dry in bad weather.
The gap between the fairing and you is so big that that it will only stop a small fraction of any wet stuff from hitting you.
Don't put a light inside the fairing if you want to see where you're going. It will disperse the beam to much to light much in front of you and it will also reflect light back into your eyes cutting down on what you can see in front.
I mainly used my Streamer fairing because it made the bent look more imposing from the front not for weather protection.

Luck ........... ^_^
 
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PaulM

Guru
Location
Portsmouth, UK
The smaller wheel reduced wheel flop and made it easier to handle at slow speed e.g. when going uphill. Above 30mph it's more sensitive on the bars than it was but still solid.
 
It must have had a little too much caster originally. It would be interesting to plot it out. I'm planning to buy a new fork for one of my bikes which, due to the slackness of its head angle, will need new longer rockers fabricated. I find the subject of steering geometry endlessly fascinating.
 
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PaulM

Guru
Location
Portsmouth, UK
Looks nice but ...........

Don't expect it to keep you dry in bad weather.
The gap between the fairing and you is so big that that it will only stop a small fraction of any wet stuff from hitting you.
Don't put a light inside the fairing if you want to see where you're going. It will disperse the beam to much to light much in front of you and it will also reflect light back into your eyes cutting down on what you can see in front.
I mainly used my Streamer fairing because it made the bent look more imposing from the front not for weather protection.

Luck ........... ^_^
I'm hoping it will keep my shins and feet dry at least. We'll see. It should keep some wind off my body, and/or deflect it into my face. I might try mounting a light on the lower fork leg with a Topeak Bar eXtender. For the time being I have a light mounted to the fork crown. This is not in my line of sight and shines perpendicular to the screen in front of it so maybe reflected glare won't be too much of a problem.
 
I'm hoping it will keep my shins and feet dry at least. We'll see. It should keep some wind off my body, and/or deflect it into my face. I might try mounting a light on the lower fork leg with a Topeak Bar eXtender. For the time being I have a light mounted to the fork crown. This is not in my line of sight and shines perpendicular to the screen in front of it so maybe reflected glare won't be too much of a problem.
With your feet it really depends on the difference in height/distance between them and the bottom of the screen and your speed.
The slower you go, the more likely the drops off the screen will miss your feet and visa versa.
Plus any side winds will just blow the wet stuff in from the side.
This includes any spray thrown up by passing vehicles.

As for lights it basically depends on the height of your eye line in relation to the top of the screen.
The higher it is, the more you see forward.
But very little light is thrown forward through the screen and you cannot really see through the illuminated parts of it.
This can make unlit roads a bit tricky, in the dark with the screen on my bent trike I only found potholes after I hit them.
But if you only cycle on lit roads you're fine because the whole screen lights up and that can make you more visible.

Luck .............. ^_^
 
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PaulM

Guru
Location
Portsmouth, UK
It must have had a little too much caster originally. It would be interesting to plot it out. I'm planning to buy a new fork for one of my bikes which, due to the slackness of its head angle, will need new longer rockers fabricated. I find the subject of steering geometry endlessly fascinating.
The trail measurement is around 7cm with the 20" wheel. More than I was expecting.
 
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PaulM

Guru
Location
Portsmouth, UK
Rode it to work Friday. Reminded me of my Piaggio X9-250 with its fairing. I've been able to fit a light mount outside the fairing using aTopeak Bar eXtender adapter.
 
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