Windjammer | Brook's Airhead Garage

I’ve completed painting the tank, fenders, Windjammer fairing and the rear tail light assembly.

Here is the link to the write-up on this work.

51 BMW R75/5 Paint the Tank, Fenders, Fairing and Tail Light

I did this starting from setting up the High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) paint guns I bought through buffing and polishing the clear coat in this write-up. I had problems getting the HVLP gun to apply the primer, but found the answer to getting the gun to atomize properly. It works different than the older syphon feed style gun I had used before. I finally found some good videos about how to set up an HVLP gun and spraying techniques. Things went a lot smoother after that.

You can see how bad the second coat of primer was in these pictures.

Very Chunky Primer on Front Fender

Chunky Primer on Gas Tank 🙁

And here is the front fender and tank after polishing the clear coat along with a picture of the painted tail light assembly. I’m pleased with the outcome although it took over 2 months to get his part of the project done. I have nothing but admiration for those who make a living painting, particularly if they paint motorcycle parts.

Front Fender Polished

Gas Tank Polished

Rattle Can Painted Tail Light Housing After Sanding and Polishing

I still need to sand, buff and polish the clear coat on the fairing and to add the pin stripes. I’ll write-up how I did paint the pin stripes when I get that done.

I documented the work on the fairing in this write-up including removing the headlight assembly, turn signals and repairing cracks and the broken wiring harness tabs that held it in place.

46 BMW R75/5 Repair Windjammer II Fairing, Strip Paint

The bike has a Vetter Windjammer II model, serial #14231. According to Craig Vetter’s web site, the Windjammer II series started with serial #13648 in October 1973 and ended with #43986 in May 1974 with a little more than 30,300 units produced. This fairing is the 583rd in the series so it’s an early unit.

Name Plate With Hole for Wiring Connector – 583rd Windjammer II made

Vetter manufactured Windjammer III and SS models and sold the company in 1978. The bike itself was manufactured in May 1973, and purchased in California by a mechanic for United Airlines based in Los Angles. I think the previous owner added the Windjammer either at the time of purchase or soon thereafter. He put just about 50,000 miles on it before I bought it in August of 1978 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In keeping with the restoration goal of “close to stock”, repairing this one restores an accessory that was often found on a /5 bike. The previous owner painted the fairing the same color as the bike, Monza Blue. I’m going to do the same and ordered enough paint for the fairing. But first, I need to dissassemble it and make some repairs.

As I started work, I made an “archaeological” discovery.

Orphan Glove From Storage Compartment, Circa 1976

It was from the first pair my wife wore when she started riding with me on her first bike, a Honda 500 Four. She used this pair in the winter and it was part of her riding kit when I bought the /5 as her wedding present. Memories.

The fairing had two cracks, one pretty extensive as I found out, and a broken wiring connector where the mounting tabs had broken off. And, the headlight chrome parts and turn signals needed cleaning, rust removal and polishing. Last, I stripped the paint and primer down to the ABS plastic in preparation for painting.

Here are a couple of the photos I took with many more details in the write-up.