Cowl replacement.

[Devikah]

I need to replace the front windscreen cowl on my 2006 GS500F. 

I know that the GS500F was made between the years 2004-2013.

Should I assume that any cowl from any of those years would suffice as a replacement?

Or should I narrow the years to only certain years?

A friend of mine is encouraging me to turn my bike into a naked version.  A headlight replacement would be in order, he says.  But he's not too sure about what else would need to be done.

Thanks in advance.

Devi

P.S.  Disregard the part about converting it to a naked bike.  I found some very helpful info here: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=21212.0

[Iarn]

Any cowl from the GS-F line should fit. Only problem might be finding your color.

If you need a spare, I have one laying around. It's yellow.

I converted to naked and I love the look and ease of working on Eleanor.

The fairings are good if you tour a lot or if you interstate a lot. I try to avoid all that and take the long way and backroads as much as possible, so I get less benefit from fairings. However, easy to work on! 

[Devikah]

Any cowl from the GS-F line should fit. Only problem might be finding your color.

If you need a spare, I have one laying around. It's yellow.

I converted to naked and I love the look and ease of working on Eleanor.

The fairings are good if you tour a lot or if you interstate a lot. I try to avoid all that and take the long way and backroads as much as possible, so I get less benefit from fairings. However, easy to work on! 

That's good to know... that any year will fit.  Makes finding one easier.

My dad is a big fan of naked bikes as well.  He says that an exposed engine is an engine that you'll feel tempted to check and work on more often.  Kinds makes sense to me.  He also says that I can always put a windscreen around the circular GS500E headlight, if I wanted to.  He likes cafe racers a lot.

Have a pic of your fairing-less bike?

[Iarn]

Sure do! This thread: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=68873.0

Also, those windscreens that go around the circular lights for the GS's are hard to come by these days, so I hear. I have one I want to get rid of, if you have trouble finding one on your own. 

[mennobike]

You can also always make a *small* fairing above the headlight out of a five gallon bucket, if you feel inclined...

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=68542.0

[Devikah]

That's  a very interesting way to approach it, mennobike.  Thank you for sharing it.

And I'll keep that in mind, Iarn.  Thank you for the offer.  My dad likes to go on long trips via the interstate, so holding on to the fairings has its plus side.  But then again....

[Devikah]

I've decided to give the naked look a trial run, since my cowl needs to be replaced anyway.  I'll hold on to the rest of the fairings in case I want to put them back on at a later time.

I'm inclined to go with the same type of headlight that came with the GS500E.  I believe that it's a 7" one.  Is there an aftermarket one that has proven to be more durable from personal experience?  And does it come with its own bucket, or is that a separate purchase?

Ditto with the brackets that will have to be placed on the forks to hold the headlight in place.

Time for me to search the archives here to find the answers to these questions. 

[Iarn]

Be sure to pose some pics of your naked bike on here. I, at least, would like to see!

[Slack]

I'd assume the stock bucket is plenty strong. There are plenty of 89's still rocking them.
You can get headlight fork tabs (stock or aftermarket) off ebay for around $10-$20. If you want to go with an aftermarket headlight the first decision to make is if you want to stay 100% legal or not. Submitting lights for DOT testing isn't free, so while 2 different lights may perform identically, the legal one will cost 2-5 times as much. All depends on who inspects your bike, or if you foresee officer dipweed being a pain.