What's the difference between injection and compression molded fairings?
If you have a motorbike, perhaps you are thinking about buying fairings to make it look stylish. However, like many others, perhaps you too are in a dilemma about whether a compression or injection molded fairing would be better to buy. Before we plunge into the discussion of these two kinds of motorcycle fairings, it is better to understand the differences between compression molding and injection molding.
In compression molding, the mold has to be pre-heated before the plastic is poured on it. Then pressure is applied while the pre-heated mold gets cooled down. The extra plastic that remains after the cooling period needs to be removed. Due to pressure differences, it is often seen that compression molded motorcycle fairing kits are more prone to fitting related problems.
In case of injection molded fairings, already melted ABS plastic is poured into the mold and then uniform pressure is applied all around so that proper shrinkage takes place. Once the plastic is cold and hard, you will notice uniformity throughout the entire part of the product.
The time taken to prepare compression molded is more compared to its injection molded counterparts. The use of ABS plastic in injection molded fairings makes it a little superior to its compression molded counterparts because ABS plastic is a combination of both style and strength. It is interesting to note here that most of the sport bike fairings use high grade injection molded fairings made of ABS plastic.
Fairings created with injection molding have all their holes, fasteners and cut-outs completed during the primary phase. Thus, the fairings coming out of the injection mold are complete. However, in compression molded fairings, the fasteners are installed and the holes drilled by workers in secondary operations. Due to the involvement of manual processes, you often don’t get the precise placement of the drilled holes or fasteners in them. A common issue with compression molded is that the installer must align the pieces correctly, which doesn’t happen often. Elongating holes to get proper fitment, moving the fasteners and re-gluing them in the correct drilling holes or location are other pressing issues.
No wonder that despite injection molded motorcycle fairings being more expensive than their compression molded counterparts, leading brands like Yamaha, Kawasaki, Hayabusa and Suzuki offer them to their clients for a better fit. You can buy these fairing kits at several leading online and physical stores. You may also get custom injection fairing kits in case you need them to fit some specifications that the usually available ones don’t. For instance, you can get a made-to-order Suzuki GSXR1300 Hayabusa silver and black fairing or Suzuki GSXR1300 red bull replica in case you want to sport your own unique style. Again, if you need some stylish bodywork for your racing bike such as getting hold of Yamaha YZF R1 00-01 race track lower and upper motorcycle fairing kits, you can get them customized to fit your needs.
To conclude, experts are of the opinion that injection molded motorcycle fairings are a better choice compared to compression molded ones.