Chin fairing or no chin fairing?

[aviationfred]

IMO... definitely with the chin cowling. I really liked the look of the over sized FJ1100 Lockhart Phillips lower cowling that I used on my 89. Unfortunately you can not use the Renntec crash bars.




Fred

[Ribz0]

Gah.... very sexy!!!

The bikes Fred.... the bikes... 

[Bones]

The Japs have got a pretty good eye "most of the time" and have designed some great looking cars and bikes over the years. I reckon they did a great job on the look of the FJ, it's got a style of its own and every time I walk away I can't help but take a second glance at it and to me they just don't look complete without a chin fairing.

[great white]

Guess I'm too much of a throwback to the late 70's - early 80's superbike look where it's sans extraneous bodywork and lots of mechanical bits in full view, because I'm still digging the sans chin fairing look........

[TexasDave]

I prefer the chin fairing look and my FJ's all have it. I also don't like the full fairing look covering up that great looking motor. I have had a chin fairing for decades but it has changed color from black to grey and doesn't look as good as it used to.

Dave

[giantkiller]

I prefer the chin fairing look and my FJ's all have it. I also don't like the full fairing look covering up that great looking motor. I have had a chin fairing for decades but it has changed color from black to grey and doesn't look as good as it used to.

Dave

Yah Dave my chin fairing is turning grey too.

[great white]

Well, what we're talking about here is personal preferences. With personal preferences, no one is right.....and no one is wrong.

I'm digging the FJ without it's lower fairing right now. I might have a different feeling on it if it were the earlier, smaller fairing. But the 89 is just plain ol' BIG and that spoils the look for me. I've never been able to put my finger on it until I pulled it off to do some work on the bike. It just looks kind of "frumpy" with that big bulbous plastic thing wrapping around the frame and up the sides. Not that it's a horrible look, it just seems a bit "out of place" to me.

I think the FJ looks pretty good with a chin fairing (earlier models) but I also think they look good without:







It definitely changes the "flavor", but that's not a bad thing either.

You can think they look cool, or you can think they look like they're missing something. Both are OK, because both are simply personal opinions on what YOU like.

Personally, I'm digging them and all black is beginning to look pretty jammy to me as well:





And.....I know that technically this isn't black, but I'm also starting to groove on a black and gold paint scheme without the chin fairing:





Black and white is also running around in my brain. A PO had bolted a rack to the original tail fairing, making holes in it and causing it to crack in several places:



I swapped it out for a good one, but it was primed black:



Sitting there looking at the black tail and the white side panels got my brain going on some type of variation on an original FJ paint scheme in black and white. That's still "percolating" though.....

[ZOA NOM]

Clearly incomplete. All of them.

[TexasDave]

I want the all yellow one with speed blocks and megaphone muffler. That's the one Yamaha should have built. Chin fairing or not.

Dave

[great white]

Clearly incomplete. All of them.

your opinion....

[ZOA NOM]

Well, it's actually a fact. They are incomplete.

[moparman70]

ChINny CHIN CHIN -- fairing -- all the way -- It doesn't look complete without it.  and the motor must be seen so no of this aftermarket fairing stuff --- the fins must be seen ---

full fairing are for the liquid cooled motors that really have nothing to look at --- FJ motor different story

I have spoken...................

[great white]

Well, it's actually a fact. They are incomplete.

I restate: your opinion.

[andyoutandabout]

Turned out a hot thread.
What luck I have to own a red and white with a chin and a black and beige without.
I've no intention of removing the one that is on the red and white and equally no intention of adding one to the black and beige unless it appeared for free, which I suppose nudges me into the 'with chin' camp.
Thanks Yamaha designers for making it an easy affair to add or remove, thereby giving us owners the all important illusion of choice. Maybe I'll run a chin during the week and take it off for the weekends.

[T Legg]

I rode honda cb 750's from the mid seventies until the early eighties when I paused riding street bikes to raise a family.I started riding my cb's again in 2006 when my youngest turned 18.In 2016 I decided to  look for something more modern and powerful and found my first 84 fj1100.It was light years ahead of my cb's.It had a full fairing and was painted all black with a corbin seat I hadnt ever seen an fj before and was impressed by how modern it looked.I also saw how unsuitable (ugly) the frame was for a naked bike they require a fairing to look good.I agree the chin fairing enhances the look of the bike but I don't see much practical use for it the full fairing on the other hand does a great job of deflecting air around me (not the head area though)and for all year round riders it directs a nice stream of warm air across me during cold to moderate temperature riding.I like the modern look of my bike few guess that it is thirty five years old,most are about twenty years off.When I want to ride something nostalgic and naked with lots of chrome and a kickstarter I ride my cb-750.The fj does have a nice looking motor but not much chrome to show off.Obviously I am in the minority.