Dress It Yourself
DRESS IT YOURSELF
Sure, the factories are now in the touring business. They offer complete packages that bolt right on and you can have them installed when you take delivery of your new machine and the colors all match . . . but what the factories think most people want may not be what you want.
Enter the touring bike done to individual tastes. There are good people ready to supply equipment that may be just a bit different
from the optional gear. Many have been in the touring business since before it was a business. With their help you can go as fancy or as spartan as you please, or as your budget allows.
For instance, the four motorcycles shown here are rigged for the open road, but each has been put together by a different person, in a different way.
Like the idea? For details and descriptions, turn the page. . . .
Kawasaki and Vetter
Touring doesn’t have to be big and heavy. This Kawasaki KZ650 does occasional duty as a production racer, but for other weekends and daily errands, it’s fitted out with Vetter’s new Quicksilver fairing.
Vetter is best known for the Windjammer, the full touring fairing for large bikes and the one that inspired most of the large fairings now on the market.
The Quicksilver is the same idea, that is, a frame-mount in a wedge shape, but it’s smaller and lighter and intended for middleweight bikes. (One of the models used as a workhorse by Vetter designers was. in fact, the KZ650.)
The Quicksilver weighs 17 lb. Retail price is $159.95 for the fairing body and $14.50 for the windshield. Mounting kits are $51.95 for the Honda CX500 Custom and CB750 and $30.25 for other bikes. A rectangular headlight is standard, and a rectangular quartz-halogen light sells for $24.95. From Vetter dealers.
Honda Gold Wing and Bates
One of the things most touring riders think about when it comes time to buy their second fairing is storage space. The Bates Clipper sets the record here, with the usual stuff pockets inside and a locking box between headlight and screen. Optional equipment for the Clipper includes lowers, AM-FM radio, a digital clock, map light and cigarette lighter (yes, some fairings provide enough still air to allow smoking). There’s a choice of clear or tinted windscreen and the screen adjusts for height.
This bike is owned by Bates and is used for testing and display, so it’s equipped with everything in the catalog: Clipper fairing, $430; mounts, $49.95; radio. $115; clock, $50; lighter, $5; dashboard light, $15.
Elsewhere on the GL are engine guards, $45; ride-off center stand; $69.50; luggage rack. $69.50; tote box, $89.50; box rails, $44.95; fiberglass saddlebags, $139.50; bag mounting kit. $49.95; wrap-around guards, $89.50; extra rear lights, $27.95. All from Bates Industries, PO. Box 240-WN, Long Beach. Calif. 90801.
Yamaha/Pacifico/Lockhart/Tourmaster
Nothing in the rulebook says the bike has to be sparkling new when it gets fitted for the open road. The Yamaha XS750 Special is one of our longterm machines, with lots of miles on the clock, but adding the extras shown here just made it better.
The fairing is Pacifico’s Classic, a full coverage frame mount. In the basic black used here, it sells for $375 with sealed beam headlight, $390 with a halogen bulb. For another $25, you get color match. The mounting kit is $45 and the lowers, not used here, are $55. From Pacifico, 1625 South East Hogan, Gresham, Ore. 97030.
Lockhart’s Tail Piece, the luggage rack barely visible here, was removed from a GS750 and fitted to the Yamaha with the help of a hacksaw and electric drill. Useful things, racks, and this one, priced at $99.95 for black and $119.95 for chrome, is one of the best. From dealers or write to Lockhart Industries, 15557 Texaco St., Paramount, Calif. 90723.
Gripping the rack is the Tour Pack, sort of a soft top box. It’s made of Cordura, good tough material, with plenty of pockets and zips, and it has a framework of aluminum tubing, like a backpack, with spring-loaded clamps to hold the pack atop the rack. Price is $135, with an optional waterproof cover for $13.99. The distributor is Helmet House, 2115 Colorado Blvd. Santa Monica, Calif. 90404.
Suzuki and Calafia
Because this Suzuki GS850 is a prototype for Calafia’s newest option, it’s been equipped with as much show as go. The fairing is a Calafia STX, with lowers. Also on the bike are Road Runner saddlebags, a Sport Caddy (top box in street talk) and an Ez Berg seat.
What makes this machine different is that the color is special, designed for this application. Rather than merely paint fairing and bags in the factory’s shades, Calafia has developed its own color, a metallic-backed blue.
This is genuine custom work. For the price; STX fairing, $389; mounting kit, $59.95; lowers, $123.95; bags, $184.95; mounting kit and guards, $194.95; Sport Caddy, $173.95; and Ez Berg seat, $206.95, you send your tank, fender and side covers to Calafia and you get the new pieces and your old parts, all done in a color you’re not going to find on the bike next door. The custom work will be offered only for the GS850 and GS1000, the Honda GL and the Yamaha XS11, and there will
only be 500 examples made this year. For details, write to Calafia Industries, Inc., 540 W. Lambert St., Brea, Calif. 92621.
