Gen 3 Hayabusa rear seat cowl

[KrisZ]

Wanted to install a rear seat cowl, but I wanted to retain the rear handle so that the bike is easier to put on a rear stand or move around. Normally you need to remove the handle in order to install the cowl.

To retain the handle, the cowl needs to be modified ie. cut into. I did not want to mess up an expensive OEM unit, so I got a cheap Chinese reproduction from Amazon for $70.

It’s cheap, no question about it, but I think it will serve the purpose pretty well. My only gripe is that the silver finish is in gloss instead of mat, like the OEM paint.

You can see the gloss finish vs the mat OEM paint, not a big deal for me.

On the other hand, the red accents match perfectly with the OEM color.

These are the cut outs I had to make for the handle. There is so much that I could do with small and big files to get the contour somewhat match the handle.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Looks good, too bad the silver paint wasn't a better match.

 

[KrisZ]

Looks good, too bad the silver paint wasn't a better match.

Yeah, it's a bummer. If I ever feel like it, I'm going to re-spray it with a mat finish.

 

[shortyb]

How much is the OEM piece? How often will you take off the cowl? I'm one of those super OCD, detail oriented types that I would get the OEM piece and make the modification cuts so everything matches perfectly. Especially if I would be leaving the cowl in place. That mismatched paint alone would drive me nuts .

 

[02SE]

That mod has been common on 'Busa's since '99. I personally have always removed the grab handle if putting on the solo seat cowl.

If you want to remove the gloss on the aftermarket part, you could wash it with Comet cleanser and a sponge (don't touch the red if you want it to stay as-is) to knock down the gloss. Experiment in a small area before getting carried away.

 

[KrisZ]

That mod has been common on 'Busa's since '99. I personally have always removed the grab handle if putting on the solo seat cowl.

If you want to remove the gloss on the aftermarket part, you could wash it with Comet cleanser and a sponge (don't touch the red if you want it to stay as-is) to knock down the gloss. Experiment in a small area before getting carried away.

Good to know, I may tray this first. Thanks for the tip.

 

[KrisZ]

How much is the OEM piece? How often will you take off the cowl? I'm one of those super OCD, detail oriented types that I would get the OEM piece and make the modification cuts so everything matches perfectly. Especially if I would be leaving the cowl in place. That mismatched paint alone would drive me nuts .

They are around $250-300 range on EBay.
It’s super hard to get it perfectly because the bars aren’t square, although they look like they are, plus you need to leave some clearance so that the latch mechanism will work. On top of that, it’s not easy cutting up plastic freehand.

 

[KrisZ]

I think another option that would look better is to cut everything square and use some type of foam to fill in the gaps.

 

[rydaddy]

Are you able to swap back to the rear seat with just the key?

 

[KrisZ]

Are you able to swap back to the rear seat with just the key?

Yes, you can remove the cowl with just the key and put the seat back on.

 

[rydaddy]

Yes, you can remove the cowl with just the key and put the seat back on.

Nice. I like the idea of this.
I use the handle after every ride to scoot the rear of my bike out of the way in the garage and I occasionally have a passenger.
Could you share a link of the cowl you purchased?

 

[KrisZ]

Nice. I like the idea of this.
I use the handle after every ride to scoot the rear of my bike out of the way in the garage and I occasionally have a passenger.
Could you share a link of the cowl you purchased?

Certainly. Here is the one I got from Amazon. They should have all of the color combos.
But also check out eBay, their prices are a bit better, but in my case, they only had silver cowls without the red accents, so I went with Amazon


Hayabusa cowl from Amazon