Pacifico Aero-Foil Fairing
Pacifico Aero-Foil Fairing
EVALUATION
Handlebar-mount fairings have had a renaissance of sorts since the advent of plexiglass fairings. Everybody and his uncle is producing all shapes and sizes of clear and smoked plastic shields, some just tiny patches to swirl some wind past the rider, others the size of barn doors that extend from the front axle to a half foot above the rider's head. These plastic wind benders are successful because they are affordable and easy to mount on almost any motorcycle all the while being less noticeable than the biggest frame-mount fairings.
Few people claim that handlebar-mount fairings are perfect, or even free from problems. They add mass to the fork assembly and generally raise the center of pressure against the motorcycle, things that can adversely affect handling. There have been combinations of handlebarmount fairings and motorcycles that didn’t handle well. In addition, some of the all-plexiglass fairings have developed cracks around the mounting brackets where stress has been concentrated. The mounts have to be evenly adjusted to keep cracks from developing.
But in terms of wind protection per dollar, they are unbeatable.
Pacifico fits into this business in some unusual ways. Originally Pacifico made plastic parts for off-road bikes. Then because they had molding equipment, the company began building frame mount fairings. Next came a computer to help design fairings and control the machining equipment for building the molds that produced fairing parts.
Now comes the Aero-Foil. The AeroFoil is Pacifico’s entry in the plastic handlebar-mount fairing competition. It is unlike the all-plexiglass fairings in using an ABS lower section with a clear windshield attached to the main body.
It is also unusual became of some shapes and holes formed in the fairing body. Pacifico has a word for these things: Aerflo. The idea behind Pacifico’s fairing shapes is to control the air pressure on the front of the fairing. As anyone who has ever ridden all day against a strong headwind knows, there’s a lot of air pressure on the front of a motorcycle. There is also very low air pressure directly behind a fairing, so the air tries to find the easiest path to the low pressure area, which is commonly around the sides and mostly up from beneath because there’s a little angle to the fairing as it mounts on a bike. The holes in a Pacifico fairing are there to allow some of this high pressure air to fill the low pressure region behind the fairing without creating excessive turbulence getting there. It’s a noble idea. And in this application it works pretty well.
There are three vents in the Aero-Foil. At the base of the windshield is a long opening and on the sides of the fairing, behind where the signal lights on most bikes fit, are other openings. At first glance it would appear that a draft would blow right back to the rider. It doesn’t happen. Even in the shop with the air hose blasted at the holes, the air is channeled up, behind the windscreen, and it isn’t felt a foot away or where the rider would be. Ingenious.
On the road it works as well as it does in the shop. There is more still air than usual behind the Aero-Foil. There isn’t a blast on the rider and there is less air rushing forward past the rider, or rushing up around the triple clamps where it brings rain and muck from the road into the rider’s face.
As for the wind protection, it’s excellent. The frontal area of the Aero-Foil is substantial. It covers the ends of the stock handlebars of any machine, and it has small lower ears that extend down beside the fork legs. This arrangement doesn’t provide warm legs like a frame-mount fairing with lowers. But it is about a match for an average frame-mount fairing without lowers. In foul weather it is particularly nice not to have water running up through the steering head area, which most larger fairings provide.
Most handlebar fairings have simple mounts with a couple of clamps connecting from the handlebars to the fairing. So does the Aero-Foil. It also has a clamp at its lower ears connecting to the fork legs. This makes for a sturdy connection to the motorcycle. The U-clamps that fasten to the fork legs worked around some on our Suzuki GS750 and the rubber pads down there would work themselves out of position, requiring occasional work. Also, one of the U-clamps would pinch some cables beside the gas tank if the bike were turned to full left. A little work with a hacksaw would cure that problem. Otherwise the Aero-Foil mounted easily and without trouble in about a half hour. There’s plenty of adjustment and it appears to fit a wide variety of bikes, though Pacifico has a list of common bikes that the Aero-Foil is not intended to fit.
Bikes with odd shaped handlebars or lights may not be applicable. Better check with your dealer or Pacifico, 1625 S.E. Hogan Road, Gresham, Oregon 97030. List price is $149.95, all mounts included, in black. A taller windshield is optional.
