WARNING, fairing kit from BlissStar

Discussion in '5th Generation 1998-2001' started by OnlyVfr, Aug 12, 2017.

  1. OnlyVfr

    OnlyVfr New Member

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    Dear VFR lovers...

    To make this story as quick as possible. I parked my renovated VFR outside workplace, came back to it after finishing works day and bike was damaged and on it's side. Played back cameras and it happened to be a new employee who sat beside me for 4 hours working and said noting that he did it, despite he knew it was my bike as I showed it to him the same morning. It was his first day at work too. Anyway, damages were done to left side mirror, givi rack, fairings and so on. I went to get a quote from HONDA dealer and guy had to pay out for my damages... I wanted to buy new fairing kit anyway as side cowls were bad etc. Having this free spare cash, I bought all parts damaged and left fairings for the last. After doing a lot of research I decided to go with BlissStar on ebay, as they had all positive comments and lots of them. I bought black fairing kit with some red flames, because they had no plain black, and flames are barely visible, very discrete must say. It took 3 weeks to deliver to Ireland. Customs held it and had to pay additional fees. Fairings were 231 dollars, deliver 220 dollars, and customs after some... were 91 euros.

    Packaging was great, must say everything nicely wrapped. I prepared everything. I started with rear fairing, as I thought, that would be easy, also got new LED tail light. First thing I noticed that light does not fit correctly into new fairing and there are no threads where screws go. Ok, I managed to make threads and fit it in quite ok. Fitting it on the bike was a completely different story. Left hand side holes did not align at all, miles away, had to use drill a lot and plastic welding... 2 hours later rear end done, but not good enough, had to take it down again as left hand side had no room for lock and frame , so had to make more alterations... Will be posting with pictures, please do not post till I am done.
     

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  2. OnlyVfr

    OnlyVfr New Member

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    Ok, now I went to do front cowl. The same story again, no threads , except there were brass threads for headlight. Surprisingly front cowl fit like a glove, but when I tried to put other plastics in place it was miles off again. Plastic which goes around the clocks would not even go through the clocks and after I trimmed it and it went in, the top part would not even stick to the screw holes on the top...1 inch away... Ok, I said to myself I will fit in old plastic for clock and for sides, still, no joy. I had to do a delicate job of making new threads, plastics snapped off, and I used hand, not drill, and started with 3mm threader wanted to finish at 6 mm... So I put back old(renovated) front cowl ii which fit like a glove...fixed it in place etc and anyway I did not like flames on front cowl so...
     

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  3. OnlyVfr

    OnlyVfr New Member

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    So it was time to fit side cowls and the middle bit which goes in front of pipes... I had to drill new holes for crush mushrooms etc too. I am not going to explain procedure how to cut those holes, I am pretty sure everyone here knows. It was the same story with side cowls..Holes in wrong places, had to drill them larger too, very difficult to fit, and did not align with front cowl...The middle bit, after some fight was fit ok. BlissStar provided with bolts and clips, but to be honest they are not the best grade. In the end of the day I left side cowls, and rear cowl on the bike. Might buy OEM side cowls and the respray / renovate all of them at the same time...
     

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  4. OnlyVfr

    OnlyVfr New Member

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    In the end of that long day fight, I would not recommend to anyone to buy those fairings, waste of time and nerves. Thank f..it was not my money , I would be even more angry...Still wasted a day and had extra rubbish to throw out...
     

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  5. OnlyVfr

    OnlyVfr New Member

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    I apologize for quality of pictures, but I had no time to do it properly. At least you have some idea about those fairings... I must say , that plastic was ok, not as good as OEM and you can see and feel difference, but was not bad at all. Paint job was ok, actually more than ok imo.
     

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  6. OnlyVfr

    OnlyVfr New Member

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    If you have any questions please do not hesitate to post them, I will reply as much as I can, could be some delays. Some people might think I can't fit fairings etc. Just to let you know that it is a easy job and did it many times, also had friendly Honda mechanic with me when I needed him. Unfortunately fairings were bad.
     

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  7. OnlyVfr

    OnlyVfr New Member

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    Those are final pictures, you can post any comments. I will make new post about Delkevic pipes I got, another nightmare, but in fairness Delkevic sent me new pipes, bit improved bends etc but still did not work, had to go to steel fabricator and make proper bends of just 1 pipe...Hope this post helps a lot of people.
     

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  8. thtanner

    thtanner New Member

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    Our 5th gen blissstar fairings were also.. unsatisfactory. Horrible fitment.
     
  9. OOTV

    OOTV Insider

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    So far I have heard more horror stories of Chinese fairings than good ones. Sorry you had to add yours to the list. I'm in the process of rebuilding my "totaled" 01 and I was lucky to find intact, albeit a bit scratched OEM fairings. I'm in the process of cleaning them up and hopefully get a quality paint job soon.
     
  10. DaHose

    DaHose New Member

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    My 2000 has some broken panels, and I have done a few repairs already, along with re-painting the rear, and lower left pieces. Fixing a single panel is not impossible with a plastic welder, but it takes days of work. Then repainting even a single piece with the correct three part paint came out to about $120, plus the labor if you aren't a good painter yourself.

    So lets say I wanted to repair the last crack on my rear cowl (discovered it polishing after paint), the cracks in my front upper fairing, the cracks in my right lower fairing, refinish the little corner of the left lower fairing and paint it all, my guess is that I would be looking at 3 or 4 full days of teardown, plastic repair and prep. Then paint for a full re-coat of everything would be somewhere in the $500 range, plus whatever it costs for decals. After all that work and money, I also have to re-assemble, and just accept that eventually pieces will crack again from use, or some friggin yayhoo deciding to lean against it hard, or a knuckle-dragging, mouth breathing cage driver backing into it, in a damned parking lot :Frusty: (nooooo, that hasn't happened before).

    Ok. so keeping all the varying ideas above in mind, when I look on ebay I see a full set of yellow bodywork for $367 with free shipping. If the plastic is of fair quality, the paint is decent, and final fit (after all your adjustments) is good, it seems like that $367 price tag is reasonable for a set of clean, painted, and sacrificial bodywork. No it isn't perfect, but you also don't pay the $2000 it takes to buy new OEM panels, that are painted correctly with all decals. I suppose the deal breaker is whether or not the panels do end up looking good when you are all done fitting them. Do you have final pics. of the bike with the new panesl fitted?

    Jose
     
  11. OnlyVfr

    OnlyVfr New Member

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    My left and right cowl were beyond repair, just not worth it. My rear cowl was ok, just to respray, maybe little bit of fixing (1h), front cowl - a lot of work, already plastic welded, fixed, attached threads and all, had to even redo indicator "frame" etc, but it is done. Front fender was badly cracked on the very top, fixed with plastic welding and resprayed, unfortunately after 2 months it starts to crack again. I thought "fck it", buying new set and use that...But you already read my story... I am attaching pictures I have, and I will take more detailed later on with proper descriptions. It was not worth it, look how front cowl cracked and I was with holes, not even threads, in my hand, not even worth fixing new cowl. Side panels were very, very difficult to align and they are "stretched"... They do not stick to the side frame and live gap too. Look, ok but still will buy side cowls oem, and respray all oem all together, maybe matt black, don't know yet.
     

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  12. DaHose

    DaHose New Member

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    Hmmmm ..... If you ultimately can't get them to at least fit on the bike, then I agree those chinese fairings are absolutely a waste of money.

    It does look like you got them mounted though. I would add that you can get brass nut inserts to address all the spots where there were missing.

    I have not given up on the idea of doing some track schools on my VFR to improve my riding technique, and you never know what can happen on a track. At that $367 price, I might still be tempted to buy the sacrificial plastics and fix/repaint my OEM panels over time. If I have a temporary set of plastics on the
    bike, I can ride it while I take my time to repair/repaint my good parts. I do understand your recommendation though, and I do agree that if you want a really nice end result, then you should fix your OEM parts and repaint. Go find Tinker's thread about the fairing that he put back together. I swear it was in 10 pieces, but his turned out great.

    I really would appreciate some good pictures when you have it all mounted on your ride to see how edges match up.

    Jose
     
  13. VFR4Lee

    VFR4Lee Member

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    Ah geez, sounds familiar. Probably thought nobody saw, I'll just stfu. :Baby:
     
  14. OnlyVfr

    OnlyVfr New Member

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    I promise pictures during weekend, because I have no time for anything now. However, I will take seat off, and take proper pictures of places I had to drill/expand, how it does not fit, where it touches the seat lock, where side panels are "stretched" and all. I am installing gel pads and new seat cover over weekend so I will take pictures for you guys over weekend, sorry for the delay. Also, my front cowl was in few parts, I plastic welded it, sprayed and all and looks very good, better than Chinese one anyway...
     
  15. OnlyVfr

    OnlyVfr New Member

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    Funny thing, cos we work for cctv / IT company, but here...;-) shit happens.
     
  16. OnlyVfr

    OnlyVfr New Member

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    Few quick pictures , sorry for delay, had no time at all for the bike.
     

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