Yes monitor color calibration can be an issue along with white balance on cameras and it’s not simple to solve fully. There are several issues as I see and they are:
- Digital Camera White Balance
- Monitor Calibration
- Hues and Luminosity
- Paints and Paint Systems
- Decal colors and placement
We are never going to fully solve all the issues as they are complex and the ideal would always be to have a piece of fairing that you can match colors and decals to for production of new parts to help solve the issues, however it’s difficult even to do this as customers are not just in NZ or Australia but they come from all over the place.
There are also risks involved in shipping parts and on occasion parts can go missing or be damaged. Thankfully if its parts we have produced for a customer we can replace lost and broken parts but the cost of replacing a lost OEM part would be a major disaster for most companies like us. Many people assume that a fairing kit and motorbike parts in general have huge markups and that any company selling parts must be making a killing but the reality is far from this. We often consume an hour or more per order organizing things to try and minimize any issues, emailing back and forth with the customers and the factory, and then we make a small living out of our business for our work as this market is highly competitive.
I know that as customers people expect a lot and when something is not exactly as we wanted it of course we won’t be happy and its happened to all of us at some point during some transaction or another. When these types of issues do happen, we do try and do the best we can for our customers to correct issues but we can’t always end up with an ideal outcome even though that is what we prefer.
We sell fairing kits at far less than OEM products and even with OEM factory fairings there are difference between batches due to paint mix variations even though the mix is technically the same, and things on occasion get broken in transit. I think that overall what we sell is good value for money and if I didn't think so and much of the feedback was bad then I would close this business and do something else.
Also, if we had loads of issues with bad or poorly produced products and were continually refunding products dues to bad quality then I would also shut the door to the business as I don't need to be annoying my customers with bad quality products. On top of that I also don't want to spend many hours dealing with products and customers to lose money. How many of you would go to work and be happy not being paid and either work for free or pay to work? I am sure nobody wants that.
Ideally we want to keep 99% of people happy and make a living doing something we are passionate about. I love motorbikes and love riding them, racing them and rebuilding them, I also get satisfaction from dealing with customers that do awesome things with their bikes and being able to be a part of that. I get pissed off with the factory and customs from time to time when things go wrong and on occasion I even get pissed off with the odd customer because sometimes customers are unreasonable, and that’s the truth of this type of business and many others.
So, what are we doing to try and minimize issues for our customers:
- We are now confirming every order with confirmation pictures before kit are sent
- We don’t guarantee a 100% paint or decal match as its simply not possible.
- We attempt to get as close a match as we can but always now advise customers it’s not a 100% science.
- We collect multiple images to make sure we have covered all bases and aspects of custom designs
- We are using a new UV paint system that delivers better results and better quality paint finish on our kits.
There are big differences also between different suppliers and different factories and the product. Just because one product costs less or more are no guarantee of quality. Paint finish, quality of plastic used and ISO ratings to stop parts melting all play a factor in the quality and longevity of the end product.
Almost everybody will say what they sell is injection moulded but this is not always true. Many older model bikes or low volume newer fairings are still press moulded and I could talk about this topic all day.
Factories often also say fit is 100% when this also is not the full truth as the factory workers and marketing people have never fitted a kit in their lives let along ridden or seen many of the bikes we ride in our free countries. Fit is often close but it’s not as simple as Lego and does require some work and technical know-how.
Some will say they put 7 coats of clear on a fairing kit but this also is not the truth and any decent painter can tell you this is utter nonsense. For one thing, most factories work in small booths at high volume throughput and hold the parts as they paint them and clearcoat them. There is never enough time to dry parts for hours between coats and 7 coats of clear would sag and create major issues.
I have worked with loads of factories and spoken with loads of customers and have heard and seen just about every issue that can be seen in the fairing kit industry.
Kits will all say they come with heat shield but in my opinion Chinese heat shields no better than tin foil and all too often in the wrong places. I always advise my customers to add more, most of all if you have an aftermarket pipe on your bike.
The use of high quality ABS beads results in a quality product that’s stronger, more resilient and resists higher temperatures. You can look up the specifications yourself, as our ABS beads used in the production of our motorcycle fairing kits are international standards compliant.
All upper fairing panels are produced from ABS - UL94 V0
All lower belly pan fairings are produced from ABS – UL94 5VB
Some say they come with free bolt kits but they don’t bother to tell you the quality is rubbish and that you wouldn’t even fit them to a lawnmower. These are just some of the differences that I can think of off the top of my head and no doubt there are others. I don’t expect to win every customer and some putters simply just want to buy the cheapest product they can find on eBay or some other place but one things for sure it’s a hit and miss game and that why there are so many comments around fairing kits with some being reasonable and some being terrible.
Originally Posted by R650R
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