Looking to buy race plastics

dsmitty37

dsmitty37

Member
so I am looking to bite the bullet and buy some race plastics instead of running my street plastics when I do trackdays. I know the old adage you get what you pay for, all I am looking for is some advice on brands that people have had good luck with....Armour bodies, Sharkskinz, Catalyst Composites.

Dzus fasteners...worth it or no? I will end up putting street plastics back on after trackdays as this is my only bike until i can buy either a pure track only bike or buy something else and convert my current bike to a track only bike.
 
Motofun352

Motofun352

Control Rider
I've had both Sharkskinz and Armor Bodies....Shark is a little better but more $, either is very good...currently running Armor Bodies if that makes a difference.
Yes on the Dzus...You take the plastic off and on many times what with oil changes, cleaning AND your intention to put street platics back on...see Kurvey Girl and they'll set you up....
 
HondaGalToo

HondaGalToo

Control Rider
I've used Armour Bodies. The fit for my '07 gixxer was excellent. You'll definitely need Dzus fasteners to connect the belly pan to the uppers. I also got my Dzus from Kurveygirl. I used zip ties to connect to the fairing stay, or a mirror block off plate would also work well. Everywhere else I used the stock bolts to connect. I haven't seen the '08 up close - is there a connection point below the tank area that has a plastic piece that pushes into a rubber grommet? If so, a wellnut works there.

You probably know you have to remove the headlight to put the track bodywork on? It's kind of a pain to switch it back and forth. Another thing to consider, if you're just wanting to save your stock bodywork, is the street bodywork that Sharkskinz makes. It has a cut-out for the headlight. You could just put that bodywork on and leave it for street and track. Just throwing it out there...
 
Myers

Myers

Control Rider
Have gone with the "save money" version before.... would not recommend it... I am now on my 2nd set of ABs and will continue with them moving forward.
 
D-Zum

D-Zum

My 13 year old is faster than your President
Plan that your current bike is being prepped to be your dedicated track bike, consider what you want for your next street bike. Many of have had this plan to swap out body work for alternating applications..and it seems to always fail...because the swap's a pain.

Once you go track..you hardly ever go back.
 
leanangler

leanangler

Control Rider
I run Sharkskinz on the Ducati which have been awesome, they are on the spendy side tho. I'm running Optimal Racing fairings on the r6, WHich I was happy with how they painted and mounted up. Price point might be the biggest deciding factor, but you can't go wrong with Sharks, ABs, or the Optimal stuff. I'd stay away from the ebay junk and Hot bodies
 
P

prplppleatr239

New Member
I went against the grain and ordered my set from motofairings.com last year. After shipping, a set of DZUS from Kurveygirl.com, and some heat shield at the local auto parts, I'm all in for less than $400. The heat shield was needed because I still have the stock exhaust on my bike, and without it the bodywork runs too close to the catalytic converter and would melt.

I'm running them unpainted with just some number stickers on the front. When I installed it all of the holes lines up just fine, and besides the exhaust clearance there were no issues with fitment. Note that you need the 14mm fasteners, not the 12mm.

According to my math, getting a "good" set of bodywork with a professional paint job would run about $1,000. The $600 I saved was put to use buying a new set of tires, new brake pads, and another day at the track. To me, it was a much better use of my limited resources than looking pretty with a shiny new paint job.
 
dsmitty37

dsmitty37

Member
I would like to just have a track only bike. Just isn't in the budget yet. My plan is to just but track plastics and run them as is for this year and then get them painted over the winter. I've been looking at armour bodies and sharkskinz and several places that sell them will put the dzus fasteners on for a small fee. Are they a pain to install or something fairly simple . I'm pretty handy with tools and fixing things so I'm trying to do the best I can with my budget I've set
 
S

scotman623

Member
My vote is for SHARK, Very good quality and they will pre-drill the body work for you for free if you ask.. The dzus fastners are easy to install if your handy....
 
HondaGalToo

HondaGalToo

Control Rider
Yup, Dzus are easy to install, just a matter of correctly drilling the holes. There's two kinds, one is a clip and the other is a rivet. I used the clip style on my uppers where the lower attaches. Depending on where you're attaching things, the rivet style may be needed. For attaching the ram air tubes and the draft pan under the tail, I used the stock plastic push pins.
 
mike574

mike574

Member
I had great luck with both armor bodies and sharkskins. Both hold up really well to crashes. Hotbodies I have found also to be decent, just some times harder to mount but once installed also hold up well to crashing. don't bother with the cheap stuff one crash and most of them will be wrecked
 
borislav

borislav

Control Rider
Dude AB's and Shark's are awesome no doubt but for price of one set of those you can con get yourself two sets of Optimal racing bodywork or one with plenty money left for set of tires and a track day! Optimals hold good in the crash believe me,I tested them few times!!!
 
dsmitty37

dsmitty37

Member
borislav;n593896 wrote: Dude AB's and Shark's are awesome no doubt but for price of one set of those you can con get yourself two sets of Optimal racing bodywork or one with plenty money left for set of tires and a track day! Optimals hold good in the crash believe me,I tested them few times!!!
Click to expand...
How is the fitment? Was it pretty spot on using the marks for holes to drill or did it take some finesse?
 
borislav

borislav

Control Rider
Fitment was good for Gsxr,I had to do some finessing for R6 but still not bad at all!!! Brian (streetfighter 122) is right I did not test them I put them through grind,flip,slide and everything else! ;-)
 
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