[whateva]

Hello friends.
Thanks for the help with the lowering link. I think I have that corrected. I bought a stock link and installed it. My next issue is this. I began to notice that I see more of my left arm in the rear view mirror than of my right arm in the right mirror. Also, when I'm driving straight down the highway my handle bars seem to be pointed slightly to the right. After some checking and measuring I discovered that the whole front nose piece and cowling is pushed to the left(when sitting on the bike) about a half of an inch. (therefore my handlebars seem to be going slightly to the right and I can see more of myself in the left mirror because it's angled toward me) When looking at the bike in the front you can see the front fender is not centered between the front fairing. There is no evidence of any crash or fall whatsoever on the paint. All I can think of is that it was leaning up against another bike or something during it's three week trip on a semi from Florida. My plan is to remove the cowling in the front and hopefully find a bracket that the fairings bolt to that is perhaps bent and I will be able to staighten it out. Does this sound like the right approach? Thank you...

[adnawot]

What did you use to reference that the whole front cowl is pushed to the left?

Consider this....is it possible that your rear wheel is adjusted so that the drive side is pulled forward? That will cause your rear wheel to point closer to 1 o'clock than 12 o'clock, and in order for both wheels to run straight, your forks will be turned slightly to the right while running down the highway. This would give you more visibility from your left mirror, and uncenter your front fender. Just a possibility.

And if that's not it, yes, its entirely possible your fairing stay is slightly bent. Even a garage tip-over can bend it just a little off. Unless you can see a bend, a ripple in the tubing, or cracked paint, it will be very hard to diagnose it. Best advice I have there is to purchase a new one from the dealer....you never know what's happened to a used part. Because of the triangulated design, they are extremely difficult to "adjust" back into shape.

You could remove the stay from your '97 and try it just to see if the problem persists....that wouldn't cost anything. They are different, but the attachment points for the steering head and mirror assemblies are exactly the same.

The last suggestion is simply to disassemble it and check that it was correctly put together the last time it was apart. There are several points of attachment that can warp the fairing if incorrectly connected, or if not connected.

Sorry for the long reply...just touching all the bases.

[reeseyboy]

I had this with a bike a few years back. It bugged me so badly that I bought a new fairing stay for the nosecone and found that it was exactly the same. I measured another bike and found that was out by the same amount too!

[whateva]

Thank you for all the good advise. I did think of the wheel mis-alignment actually. I checked it and found it to be correct. I took the fairings off and got the fairing stay and took it to the Honda Dealership and they checked it out. They said it looked slightly bent to them. The parts man noted that the image of the part shown on the computer didn't look exactly like what I had though. I see the same thing when I look at the microfishe that I use on the internet. I can't explain that. Everything seems to match up to it perfectly. Anyway, we thought that it could be staigtened somewhat, although not perfect. As you say, It would probably not be possible to make something shaped like that straight again. I'm laid off from my job and I didn't want to buy anything anyway. I put the part back on the bike and bent it until the image of myself in the mirrors was about even, with me standing behind the bike while it's on the centerstand. It's better now though not exact, and I'm glad to know what the problem was. I have two faring clips left after all that and I don't know where they go. I wish I had paid more attention. I guess I'm in good shape though. Thank you...