Improving Aerodynamics on a Ninja 500R

[GasSavers_Mr_C]

cat0020:
I agree that removing the mirrors would have a greater affect than the belly pan (Especially since I haven't seen any improvement from removing the bellypan) BUT, the mirrors serve a pretty important purpose and since it is a daily driver, I kind of enjoy having them... the lower fairing, on the other hand, I don't even notice if it is there or not. Are there any other more effective mirrors that are more aerodynamic? I am not super excited about the ones I have. I seem to spend most of my time trying to see around my shoulders. I have a curved mirror, I should play with putting that behind the fairing and see if I can get that to work. (thanks for the Idea).

I currently run my tires at 42psi (max on the sidewalls) and it seems to ride pretty good. I was having some issues with them leaking, and I don't notice much drivign difference until it gets down to about 20, then it feels a little squishy sometimes. BTW, riding on them at 20 was not intentional.

philip1:
I have spent a bit of time looking at vetters stuff (but I haven't seen his video). That is the model I attracted to, except not so extreme. If I could put some gears and a dustbin on my bike and get it up around 100-125mpg that would rock. I still would have a bike that was plenty fast and drivable, and get good enough mileage that I would only burn through about a gallon to 1.5 gallons a week with my daily commute.

itjstagame:
I agree that the gearing needs to be done. It is just hard because the bike has only about 1500-2000 miles on a new chain/sprocket, so I have been waiting to get a little wear on them before replacing them. I would like to find a nice front fender that covers much more of the tire, but I haven't seen anything that would fit well, and haven't figured out how to make somethign that will be rigid enough and have nice tight tollerances. Plus, if I put a dust bin on it, I won't need a front fender.

I have seen a few sites that claim that the lip on the fairing does little more than increase wind resistance, and doesn't significantly increase the air bubble behind it. It would be nice to see some scientific data to prove/disprove that.



Thanks for the insight guys, it really helps.

-Mr_C

[Philip1]

if you keep the sprocket change the same on both you won't need a new chain

[philp100]

Are there any wheel bearings that offer a lower rolling resistance that could be installed? On an older bike would replacing them with new stock bearings help or hurt RR?

Phil