Motorbike fairing in simple English

Often times we hear that a bike is naked faired, or the bike comes with bikini fairing or a motorcycle is half faired so on and so forth. While avid bikers may know or understand what these mean, laymen who have been riding a bike for some time will find these terms as Hebrew and Latin. The following paragraphs will help these make in simple English for them.

What is fairing

Fairing is an important and inevitable part of any motorbike, and serves to dilute the drag of the bike aerodynamics thus improving fuel efficiency. Additionally, fairing protects rider from wind as well as from getting fatigued. A wind break of the fairing supports the rider so much so that a tiresome ride against heavy wind can even be not so tiring.



Fairing comes in a variety of configurations and is widely dependent on the type of bike as well as preference of customer (read: rider).

The fairing can also to enhance the aesthetics of the bike and to add the instrumentation and to house the headlights and electricals in the front. Often times it is made of light-weight polycarbonate polymer materials.

For instance a tourer comes with a noticeably different full fairing as compared to a cruiser and anyone can spot the former on the road. Let us see some of the fairings here:

Full fairing
The full fairing is widely used for tourers. Full fairing means full coverage to the body, hands and even face of the rider so to give maximum protection to him. There'd be one windshield, the engine comes covered and there is lot of plastic going all through the bike.

Bikini Fairing
A bikini fairing as its name says it nano fairing, usually above headlights on an almost "naked faired" bike.

Cafe racer fairing
Cafe fairing is the handlebar-mounted one, with a round bullet-like shape. Cafe racer fairing provides a little protection to the biker from wind. This fairing has a huge fan base but the biker will have to lean awkwardly on to the fuel tank, ride low to derive if any good.

Half fairing
This fairing provides some protection to the biker from the wind, however the fairing here includes just a windshield and goes halfway down the bike's height. The engine will not be covered here.

Quarter fairing
Windshield-only or quarter fairing is where there is a windshield and then little fairing that extend through headlights and the handlebars triple clamps.

Benefits of bike fairing
Besides giving protection to the instrumentation, the headlights, and the electricals, larger configurations of fairing such as the full and the half fairing give protection to the riders from the atmospheric elements and aerodynamic benefits. Furthermore, during an accident the fairings protect expensive parts like engine.

The commuter bikes that we normally see today do not have need for these kinds of fairings.

That said what riders like in faired bikes is the style element they ooze. They give the bike a potential to express its identity in the crowd. Also in some fairings as in naked fairing you can do in a lot of customization. So if you should not be okay with the fairing your original bike maker offered, you can go for customization, be it painting or having add ons to the fairing. Now why wait, go get some fairing and express what you are.