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Mounting Fasteners
My original plan was to use Dzus D-ring rivet type fasteners.  This would've worked fine for the upper and lower cowl connections.  But the mounting points where the uppercowl and tank cover wouldn't have worked.  The mounting tabs on the tank cover were just simply too small to fit the riveted spring.  So I then opted for the slip-on type Dzus fasteners since it had a smaller footprint.

Other mounting points used Honda parts for fastners.  Many of them were OEM parts in their OEM locations.  In other places I used an OEM part but not in its OEM location.  In all cases, additional rubber and/or plastic washers were added to absorb vibration and take up any slack due to the differences in thickness between the race fairings and the thicker stock fairings.

Here's a summary of the mounting points and what was used to secure it:

* = OEM fasterner in its OEM location
A = Pan Screw 6x14 (Honda p/n 90118-MR1-000)
B = Bolt 6x17 (Honda p/n 90085-MAJ-A20), Plain Washer 6mm (Honda p/n 90525-428-900)
C = Bolt 6x18 (Honda p/n 90021-MEE-940)
D = Truss Screw 5x15 (Honda p/n 90109-MCJ-750), Thrust Washer 5mm (Honda p/n 90504-964-000), Washer (Honda p/n 64205-166-610), Wellnut 5mm (Honda p/n 90111-KW3-003)
E = Socket Bolt 6x13 (Honda p/n 90130-MEE-000)
F = Stud 9x15 (Honda p/n 90641-MCF-000), Washer 9x20 (Honda p/n 90504-HA0-000)
G = Dzus D-Ring Panex fastener slip-on type (Lockhart Philllips p/n 236-217)

The mounting points are not reinforced with carbon or kevlar (or some combination thereof) like other brands.  Though this is often a selling point for other brands, I did not run into any issues with godfather fairings not having them during the installation.  As long as you drill slowly and with a good, sharp, gently tapered drill bit, you should be okay.

Part 2: Paint and Preparation
Let me first state....I am not an experienced painter or body repairer.  So most of this part of the review is based on discussions with my painter. 

Having said that, even to my untrained eye, it was obvious these fairings were not ready to be painted even though they came primed.  There were quite a few small gouges and pin holes in the finish.  So do expect to do at least some prep work before painting.  (From what I've read about other expensive fairings, perhaps this is one of the differences in price.  )

When the fairings first arrived, I took them out of the box.  It was making me cringe to hear them crackling as I was handling them but some pieces were sturdier than others.  As I handled the pieces more and more, cracks developed in areas that were weak.  Examples of such areas were where the upper transitions from the side panels to the windscreen, curved areas around the air vents on the upper, and areas of the tail. 

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that there was little or no "glass" in the fiberglass and that only resin was in the weak areas.  As some of the areas were sanded, what started out as small pinholes or gouges became large holes.  Obviously, these areas had to be patched rather than just filled.  These areas were patched with a fiberglass matt and fiberglass resin.  Below is a sample of the fiberglass matt used.  Its much stronger than the fiberglass cloth used  by godfather. 

The worst example of little or no glass in the fiberglass was on the left side of the tail piece that is underneath the seat.  As I was handling this piece, the right side buckled because it simply had no strength.  The pic below shows where the area was patched.

The second worst patch job area was where the upper transitioned from the side fairing panel to the windscreen "ear".  These areas cracked and got progressively worse with more handling.

There were other patches that needed to be made in the tank cover and other parts of the tail as well.

Pinholes, gouges, and cracks were filled with cut-up fiberglass matt and fiberglass resin.  The following pics show some of the areas that started out as small blemishes but then had to be filled as sanding created a larger hole due to little or no "glass".

Earlier I mentioned that the mounting tabs were not reinforced.  While this wasn't an issue during the installation, one tab did break while the fairings were at the painter.  While I don't know the details of how or why the tab broke, it does make one wonder if a reinforced mounting tab would've made a difference.  Anyway, the mounting tab was repaired in a similar manner as the patch jobs.

The original fiberglass was made up of fiberglass cloth and fiberglass resin.  The patched areas were stronger than the original due to the fiberglass matt in place of fiberglass cloth.  Once the weak areas were addressed, the fairings were much stronger and very much more durable.

Another noticeable "shortcoming" (for lack of a better word) was that some of the contours were not as smooth and straight as one would expect.  These were particularly obvious on the bottom of the lower (first pic below) and rear of the tail (second pic below) which both had slight undulations.  But these were only noticeable when you look very closely at the fairings.  They would certainly pass the "10 foot teset".

By my painter's estimate, he put in about 10 hours of prep work of patching, sanding and priming.  So you do-it-yourselfers would expect to do something similar, if not more.

Summary
Okay, so here's the bottom line (1 star = poor, 5 stars = excellent):

Installation -
In spite of the bad press that godfather racing has received, I had no issues with installation.  Though not perfect, all of the mounting points were properly located and matched up quite nicely with the mounting points on the bike.  I do wish some of the mounting tabs were larger so I could fit a riveted Dzus fasterner rather than a clip-on type.

Quality and Durability -
Let me first start by stating what we define these terms to be.  Quality will be defined as the workmanship that was put into the manufacturing of this product and how consistent that workmanship is througout each piece.  Durability will be defined as the ability handle this product and withstand breakage.

The fairings certainly weren't perfect out of the box.  Though the pieces came primed.  There were pin holes, cracks, and gouges in the fiberglass.  At this price, I'm not expecting a perfect finish (i.e. I was expecting to fill some pin holes and to sand and prime).  But I wouldn't expect to patch areas because of little or no fiberglass cloth used in the manufacturing process.  In other words, even if its low quality, I would expect low quality throughout each piece rather than low quality in some areas and no quality in others within the same piece.

It will take a good amount of prep work to get these fairings up to snuff.  It took my professional painter about 10 hours to patch, sand, and prime.

Crashability - TBD
Sorry, I don't have any data to make an evaluation here.  And I'm going to try my best not to collect any.

Customer Service -
This is one area that godfather racing has taken a lot of heat from various forums on the internet.  At least some of it is not unjustified.

Do not plan to have these fairings in a hurry.  Approximately 2 months passed between the time I ordered and when they were delivered even though I was told that lead time is 2 weeks as these fairings are made to order.  That in itself doesn't bother me.  What did bother me was that I would email or call godfather racing inquiring about the status and I was just misinformed about my order.  I was often told, "your order will ship this Friday."  I was also told that 3 Fridays in a row.  Then I was informed that the molds for my bike were damaged during their operations move from Mexico back to the US.  I just felt like I was getting the runaround.  Several times I was very tempted to just ask for my money back and get a different brand.

Email response times varied.  Usually I got a response within 24 hours but about 5% of my emails never received a response.  Phone correspondence was better.  The vice president of godfather racing, Scott, usually answered the phone when I called.  He was at least pleasant to deal with even if I didn't like the information he was giving me.  But there was a time when Scott was in the hospital and someone else was answering the phones (I didn't catch his name).  This person was just downright awful.  He was very brash and rude, and sometimes confrontative with me.  I don't know what his role is at godfather racing but he should not be allowed to interface with customers until he improves his poor attitude.

Within the next week that I received my fairings, Scott announced on another online forum that he was having a sale on this fairings.  The sale offered a 10% discount off of complete sets.  Given my long wait time and the fact that I had just received my set, I asked for the discount...... I was denied.  Very POOR!!!  Obviously, I'm not valued as a customer.

However, it was not all negative.  When I first received the fairings, I was playing with the tail and had difficulty getting it on the bike.  When I called godfather racing, Scott was willing to call other 600RR customers to find out what was involved with this part of the installation.  And he did get back to me quite promptly.  This was how I knew I needed to modify my undertray.

Godfather is trying to clean up their reputation.  For those unhappy customers, they are doing some kind of special offer to get a US-made set at a discounted price.  Only time and the court of public opinion will determine if this is an acceptable solution and change their customer's perception of them.

Conclusion
So it all comes down to two questions:  Am I happy with these fairings? and Would I recommend them to someone else?

The first one is easy.  Yes, I'm happy with them (although that opinion may change if I collect some crash data and/or I ever get a different brand for comparison).  I was quite pleasantly surprised how well they fit and how smoothly the installation process went.  I have no experience with other [more expensive] brands (e.g. Sharkskinz, Catalyst Composites, Armour Bodies, etc.), but I thought this was a good bang for the buck.  You may have heard on other online forums some of the horror stories that some have experienced when installing these fairings.  It certainly made me uneasy reading them as I was waiting for my fairings to arrive.  Luckily, those possibilities never materialized for me.  In January 2006, godfather racing moved its production from Mexico back to the US.  I suspect the quality control and assurance improved with this move which could easily explain the ease of my installation.  That would also explain the increase in price for the fairing sets (the price went from $460 to $500 for most bikes).

The second question is much more difficult to answer.  It will depend on your priorities.  From a budget perspective, this is a good buy, especially if you have experience doing body work and can prep and paint them yourself.  From the crash-ability perspective, I have no data to offer a knowledgeable opinion, unfortunately (I think ).  Other brands such as Sharkskinz get high marks from many racers and track riders but I can't offer a comparison to those brands in that regard.  From a customer service perspective, I would never want to deal with this company again!!   I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, in spite of what I've heard about them..... that bit me HARD.  Personally, even a superior product does not excuse poor customer service.  But ultimately, you'll have to answer this question for yourself.

Acknowledgements
I'd like to thank John, owner of E & E Auto Body, for his awesome paint job and his time and patience in helping me with this review.  My cousin, Nicky, for the use of his camera when I didn't have one at the time.  And, of course, this wouldn't have been possible without the support of Mrs. Fish and my two guppies.

- abadfish, June - July 2006