Dzus fairing fasteners.......
 

Having ummed and aaahed for the past three years or so I've finally gone & converted my ST fairing to dzus fasteners.
With a bit of a dremelling to the mounting points on the centre panels and the use of a snazzy strip of stainless steel ( sourced from Desmotimes for just over £20 the pair ) each side, it now means that I can remove the side fairings in one piece for tinkering without removing the top fairing so instead of half an hour pulling bits off, it's 6 twists, one 5mm bolt and the panel is off!
Don't know why I didn't do it sooner.....

Unless pictures, plans and a guided step-by-step 'how to' guide are featured in the next available Pronto, I won't be responsible for my actions*









*the actions in question will probably involve seeing a grown man in tears as he wrestles with his ST fairing for the umpteenth time

pleeeease do the decent thing and do as Jools said step by step guide, autoCAD drawings and photos on a CD for all ST owners

I'll do my best to sort something out over the next few days......

Better still - do the decent thing:
Offer to convert all DSC ST4s's at a rate of one bike per week over the winter months, with mine being the first. It is the only respectable thing for you to do for your fellow Ducati ST comarades.

Failing that, this none engineering dimwit would appreciate an "idiot guide".

Only problem is that the man who makes them only does them when he has enough advance orders. I originally asked him for them about six months ago.

We have the technology to replace them... in fact it would work without the brackets just as well..... watch this space.

If you're a member (or sign up to) the yahoo ST2_owners group, there's a folder with step-by-step instructions at http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/...0Fasteners%29/

HTH
Richard

OK then, the fairing mods..
As mentioned there is an excellent source of info on the ST user group on Yahoo which can be used.
The problem I had with this method was that it was too complicated & replaced fasteners that for my needs didn’t really need touching.
I wanted a simple and cheap way of doing the job and one where I can easily get hold of replacement fasteners if needed.
The parts I used are a total of 12 standard 748 / 9** fasteners & receptacles from any Ducati dealer.
You can get a set of 14 from Ebay for less than £40.
The two stainless brackets can be used but to be honest it will work without them.

Pull your fairing apart…remove the welnuts from the top of the centre section & the bottom of the lower section ( small plate & v-piece. )

Take the centre section & look at it from above… you’ll see the two tabs where two screws hold it on to the side of the bike. Now take your dremel and cut them off! You’ll need to finish up with something like the picture below.

OK, you’ve done that… now you have to do a similar cut this time to the leading edge of the fairing where it tucks behind the air dam at the front… be sure to leave a tab around the mounting hole where this section screws to the bottom of the air dam.

By means of a bit of trial & error, all of the receptacles will need the tab with the locating hole bending in until the pin can lock in place through the fairing… you’ll see what I mean when you try it.

If using the stainless brackets, they screw in to the original fairing mounting points.

I decided to leave the four screws in place which hold the centre & lower sections together…..similar to the 748 / 9** fairing, these simply stay in one piece when you remove the side from the bike & it saves on another 8 fasteners.

Once you develop the knack of sliding the sides into place which takes a few minutes, you can pop the sides on & off in two minutes meaning cleaning & fettling is now much easier.

Don’t blame me if you chop the wrong bits off!!
The bits you chop off should look a bit like this.....
As a bit of a disclaimer, this is the version I've come up with to suit my needs... it isn't the best one, it's just another way of doing the job.
( If you decide to try it & don't want to bother with the stainless strips, the receptacles clip onto the top edge of the centre section of the fairing )
Anyhow... I'm happy with the result.

Great usefull thread,....just like this board used to be.
Nice work mate.

thanks for that its a great post, am I brave enough to cut up my fairing ...... have dremel, just need Dzus thingies. Will there be a pronto version with fold out plans ?

Yep, agreed....

I will be doing this as soon as I collect the right bits....Oh, and get a dremel (never had one and not sure it's worth buying for one job so I might have to cadge one or hire one ???), mind you, looks like you could do the same thing with a coping saw?

Fortunately, I've got a road rashed panel to chop about at for practise.

One question...I always found Dzus fasteners a little bit temperemental on rally cars, do you have any problems with the ones under the engine? Considering all the salt and grime gets thrown up there, will they be OK for the job in the longrun ???

Dunno!
Soon find out though come April or so.... :)

As a prospective ST owner, the hassle of panel removal (especially after the ease of a 748) was one of things putting me off the bikes. Thanks for a very useful thread, Rushjob.

Rushjobs write up had encouraged me to get round to doing mine this winter but alas Desmotimes have discontinued the ST stainless strips. Looks I'll have to make my own (it doesn't look difficult) or do the job without them.

Works OK on a 748/99*, Jools.

Occasionally in winter I've known them get a bit gummed up, so you needed a pair of pliers to twist them rather than your fingers, but it's no big deal.

He only makes them in batches, you have to order and then wait till he's got enough. Took about six months to get the ones i ordered.

How much are they?

Not much chance of getting them for this winter then?

$35 ish for the pair from memory.

http://www.desmotimes.com/

Note the producation discontinued adition since i ordered them!

Perhaps if lots of you get together then he might make another run.

Rushjob, What length are the Dzus fastners you used?
Tasty nuts do them in stainless steel at half the price of their anodised alloy ones and I rather fancy stainless than alloy or zinc plate but they only come in 17mm length. Will these be OK or will I need 19mm?
I'm about to do this conversion in the next week or two.

I used standard Ducati ones which, when I've just measured them, from the underside of the flat on the head to the end of the fastener are 15.97mm!
I'd say use the 17mm. (this is the one they recommend for Ducatis on the website anyway.)
You will need to tweak the back of the receptacles to get the correct fit as I mentioned, or at least I did!

Great. Thanks for your prompt reply. I'll order them today.

Evening

This is a great thread, I've been thinking about converting my ss and this has given me a lot to go on. Well done and thanks for taking the time to post everything up Rushjob.