I bought a 1975 R75/6 several years ago that looked to be in very good mechanical condition, reasonable cosmetic condition, and low mileage. Within a couple of weeks I found out I was wrong about the mechanical condition--it burned oil like a two-stroke. Fixing this turned into a long and painful process of trial and error that ended happily with a good motor. Every seal, gasket, valve, valve guide, valve seat, ring, piston and cylinder had been replaced. While I was at it, I had it dual-plugged, added Dyna III ignition, 900cc jugs and high compression R90S pistons. It now burned little oil, leaked no oil, knocked, nor rattled. But it was also no longer the kind of bike I wanted--I wanted a faired bike, preferably an RS.

I had two problems--I couldn't afford the extra money I would need after selling the /6 to buy a reasonable RS, and I had this nagging feeling that I would be selling a bike I knew to be in good mechanical condition for one that I knew little about.

About this time a fellow Airhead posted a note on the club's mailing list about a wrecked but repairable RT fairing he wanted to sell. It wasn't an RS fairing but the price was right and with low bars it might be close enough. After exchanging a few email messages, I drove up to his house one Sunday in early March and picked it up. Repairable, yes, but I certainly had a project. One of the fairing lowers had broken in two pieces, both top corners of the upper fairing were badly fractured, there was road rash on one side, and a bent upper mounting bracket. It had a good OEM windshield (an aftermarket windshield was on it and destroyed when it crashed), all mounting hardware, glove boxes, lights and lenses.

My first lesson was in fiberglass repair. I have a background in dinghy sailboat racing where crack-ups occur and repairs are commonly needed. I know that a good fiberglass repair job can maintain the strength and integrity of the original, undamaged structure--but I didn't know how it was done. Very little poking around on the internet uncovered a company called Gougeon Brothers that makes an epoxy product called West System (www.westsystem.com) primarily for marine fiberglass construction and repair. The company provides ample documentation and the product is available retail at most boat yards in quantities small enough for the do-it-yourselfer. The basis of the system is a two-part epoxy, which comes in small cans with idiot-proof hand pumps--one stroke resin to one stroke hardener--and cures in eight to ten hours. Add to the epoxy mixture either an adhesive powder if you're gluing, or a fairing powder if you're filling. Use plain epoxy and fiberglass cloth if you're reinforcing. The broken fairing pieces were first glued and clamped in place, and when cured, reinforced from behind with numerous laminates of epoxy/fiberglass tape. Cracks were filled with epoxy/fairing mixture and sanded smooth. All you can see of the repair from the front is a slight waviness. The end-result seems to be very stiff. Even the busted up lower section fixed-up nicely.

I had a large /6 tank on the bike and an RS seat. I like the style of that tank but it didn't fit the seat very well--there was a half-inch gap between the RS seat and the tank. I didn't mind this too much, but when I figured out the old tank would not fit with the lower fairing mounting bracket, it was time to start looking for another tank. I bought a well-used RT tank for about $100 out of the MOA Owner's News. The outside finish was shot, so I sanded it off. The finish on the inside of the tank was flaking a bit so I decided to refinish that as well. Another browse of the Internet revealed a company called Por15 (www.por15.com). Por15 makes only metal finishing products and they have a motorcycle tank repair kit, which includes a stripper, cleaner, prep agent, and finish. I plugged the petcock holes with corks and poured the stripper in. After 10 or 12 hours, shaking occasionally, I emptied out the bilge water and rinsed. Most of the finish inside the tank was gone. I poured in the cleaner and let that work for another 10 or 12 hours, emptied it and the tank was bare to the metal. The third step was a metal etch that removed any rust and chemically "prepared" the bare metal for the sealer. This took only a half-hour but needed a thorough rinse and an overnight dry. The final step was a half-pint of silver paint. I poured that in and slowly rolled the tank around to coat all interior surfaces, set the tank on a saw horse, pulled out the corks and let the excess drain out. After a couple of days, the finish was cured. The finish is incredibly hard. I might have a different opinion five years from now, but so far it looks very good.

After hours of sanding with a palm sized orbital sander and 200 grit sandpaper, I switched to a hand-sanding block and 400 grit wet or dry. I didn't get all of the paint off the fairing but it seemed to be smooth enough. I then took the remaining bodywork off of the bike-seat cowling front and rear fenders and side panels--and sanded all that. Both fenders needed some minor fiberglass repair so I took care of that with the West System epoxy. I never liked the grab rail on the seat and the recess on the tail piece where the "100RS" decal goes--I think they detract from the flowing lines of the seat and cowling--so with a little more epoxy/fairing filler and a lot of sanding, I filled the grab rail holes and the recess. This seat must have had quite a history because there were no less than five different colors of paint on the cowling! I had a couple of small dents in the tank so I filled those with the epoxy too.

Sometime during this procedure, I picked up a couple of autobody books--one general one for any type of autobody repair and one specifically for painting motorcycles. I can't recommend either one as they both had their strengths and weaknesses, but I would say that reading both was good because you can better deduce what is really important. Probably even better was finding a good autobody repair supplier. A salesman that knows his or her products, how to use them, and can apply that knowledge to what you are trying to do will save you a lot of time and money. I opted for a two part system from PPG that included a primer-surfacer, primer-sealer, topcoat and clear-coat. All were catalyzed polyurethane. PPG publishes detailed technical bulletins for all its products which are very useful. I also bought cleaner, reducer, metal etch to prep the tank and seat cowl, a chemical mask, Tyvek coveralls and a bunch of latex gloves.

Now I needed some tools. I always wanted an air compressor so I bought a used 3 hp/30 gal/100 psi portable for about $100. I bought a new regulator and dryer, 50 feet of hose, fittings, and a siphon type automotive spray gun for less than $150 total from Home Depot. I was ready.

I set up a "spray booth" in my garage by removing all my kids toys and placing a large plastic sheet over the floor to keep dust down. I set up a couple of sawhorses to place the tank and the upper fairing on and a couple of milk crates for the smaller pieces. That was it. You can spend a lot of time and money on setting up a good spray booth, but I just couldn't see it. I kept the garage door closed, set an exhaust fan in the window and started painting. I wouldn't want to work every day in that environment but once every year or so is OK. Keep in mind that a good chemical mask is necessary. This is not a flimsy allergy mask good for pollen and large particles--but a charcoal based respirator. Your autobody store should carry several. I bought a 3M 07052 Dual Cartridge Respirator--it's reasonably comfortable, not too restrictive, and while you have it on you can't smell anything. If you've gotten this far, you should know that all modern catalyzed polyurethane paints contain isocyanate--a chemical substance that is toxic. All manufacturers of these kinds of paints warn that a forced fresh-air type of breathing apparatus be used, not just a respirator! I decided to go the respirator route and maybe I'll die from cancer in twenty years from this exposure, but I doubt it.

The first step was to clean everything. This involved soaking a rag with the PPG cleaner, rubbing parts with the rag and rubbing again with a clean and dry rag. You have to make sure that everything is really clean, so repeat this two or three times to be sure. The next step was the metal etch on the tank and seat cowling. Paint it on with a brush, thoroughly rinse off and dry. You have to seal after the etch step right away or rust will start, so mix up a pint of DP 50 sealer ahead of time, 1:1 paint and catalyst, let sit 30 minutes and spray. The DP 50 is a good all-round sealer that, combined with the metal etch, should prevent any paint from peeling around the troublesome gas filler hole. This needs to dry for an hour and then its time for the primer-surfacer on all parts. The primer-surfacer, K36 Prima, is high solids paint that will fill minor abrasions such as sanding marks. Mix 5:1:1--paint, reducer, catalyst--and let sit for 30 minutes before spraying. Four coats of this with fifteen minutes between coats and I was done for the day.

The next morning started with about three or four hours of wet sanding. 800 to 2000 grit with a soft, flexible sanding pad. This removed any dust that may have accumulated and any orange peel where I screwed up and sprayed too thin. The K36 is so thick that I had no trouble with runs. After sanding, more cleaner and then wipe of any remaining dust with a tack rag.

Now it was time for the DP50 sealer again. A sealer is important at this point as it prevents any pigment from the topcoat from migrating into the primer. The DP50 was mixed 1:1:1--paint, reducer, catalyst--and allowed to stand 30 minutes before spraying. One coat only with 30 minutes dry time and no sanding.

Now for the topcoat, a bright white Deltran 2000, mixed 1:1--paint and reducer (no catalyst)--with two coats on everything. Deltran 2000 dries flat and relies on the clearcoat for its gloss. The clearcoat product name is DCU 2020 and mixes 2:1:1--paint, reducer, catalyst. I applied two coats on top of the Deltran and let that sit overnight. Because the clearcoat has so little solids in it, you have to be careful of the quantity leaving the spray gun. Too thin and you'll get orange peel, too thick and it will run. At this point I had a lot of runs. I wet sanded all of the runs out the next day and mixed up another batch of clearcoat. This time I practiced with the clearcoat and different adjustments on the spray gun until I got a nice oval spray pattern and what seemed to be a better paint thickness. I started painting parts again and got a couple more coats on everything. I still had trouble with more runs on the fairing upper and tank, so I waited another day, wet sanded out the new runs and tried again on these parts. I was getting better, but it took a couple more days before all parts were done to a reasonable level of imperfection. I then let everything sit for a several days before assembly.

Sometime during this process, I decided to buy a Parabellum windshield for it, replace the steering head bearings and the fork seals. I did the head bearings with a lot of help from one of Ed Korn's special tools, and the seals dropped right in. I drilled and tapped the head tube for the upper fairing bracket and mounted it. I slid a steel pipe over the bent bracket arms and coaxed them back into position.

There were a couple of electrical mods that needed to be done. One was to move the key switch from the left side of the headlight shell up to the fairing. This was done with hook-up wire and heat shrink tubing. Both turn signal wires were replaced in a similar manner and a wire was run up above the headlight for the parking light. The speedo and tach instrument pod is mounted on a bracket that is about an inch taller for the RT than the unfaired /6. This is for a better viewing angle but also so the wiring harness that goes into the pod will clear the upper fairing bracket more easily. I needed to lengthen this harness to fit the higher pod, so I cut this harness under the tank and added a two-inch extension. I bought a VDO voltmeter and attached it to wires on the key switch. If I buy a clock, I can attach that there too.

At this point, the assembly was very straightforward. The uppers, lowers, lower bracket, seat and tank dropped right in and everything fit together nicely. I hadn't bought RT handle bars--I don't like its upright riding position--so I was determined to shoehorn in either my /6 Euro bars or a pair of RS bars. Neither of these would work without modifying the brake and clutch levers, so I reluctantly cut the balls off the ends of the levers, filed them smooth and touched them up with black paint. It was tight, but everything fit.

The next morning, I had my wife and kids stand by the window and watch as I rolled it out of the garage, a full three months after I brought the fairing home. After a few bows to their rounds of applause, I swung my leg over it, started up and took off. It felt like an entirely different motorcycle. Heavier, yes, but not distractingly so. Very quiet and no buffeting. I found I needed to watch my speedometer more to tell my speed. The big difference is riding two or three hours straight with much less fatigue.

Was it worth it? Dollar for dollar, these projects never add up. I would have saved money by buying a used but complete fairing for the going price of $700 to $1000. But I had a lot of fun doing it and encourage anyone with a do-it-yourself attitude to give a similar project a try.