The VT250F Project: VT250F "Silver" part 06: Front fairing mesh side covers

First off I just want to say I had every intention of making a video episode about this post and the LED indicators... but unfortunately I didn't. Next time I work on the motorcycle though promise!

Okay now thats out of the way we can begin. Ever since the front fairing was mounted a massive gap on the side is visible. I dont like it, its ugly and with some automotive mesh it can be fixed.

"this needs to be covered up"

A template was made out of a piece of paper. Quite simply I folded and re folded it until it fit in the gap and looked nice. All it took was time and patience. One thing I did do once the paper template was finished was try it on the other side to make sure it would work. Since it did I was ready to move onto the next step.

The paper pattern was then traced onto some automotive mesh that I picked up from Repco, Malz is another option if you live in Western Australia. When I purchased the mesh I made sure to get silver so that I could use a permanent marker on it and still see where I had drawn my lines. The permanent marker worked a treat but I recommend you tape the template to the mesh so it doesn't move as your tracing.

I then began cutting around the mesh with about a 1cm gap. This was so I could bend the excess down 90 degress and give the final piece some strength.

"the corners were snipped to make bending the edges down easier"

I used a vice and some pliers to get an even bend around the edges. The final result turned out really good so off I went and made the other side. The mesh will eventually be painted and given some moulding along the edges but that will be done when the rest of the motorcycle has been painted.

"really glad that it accidently turned out a bit like a coffin"

The finished pieces were then inserted into there new home. I'm still unsure at this stage how they will be fixed to the fairing, currently pot rivets are winning but a creative zip tie solution is also a possibility.

And thats it! This really was a simple process, but one of the most rewarding. I say rewarding because that was the last step needed before I can begin stripping the bike down and re painting it. Oh glorious days Silver is coming along so much quicker then I thought it would.