Shark Skinz vs. Armour Bodies

[airfreek]

I currently have Shark skinz fairings on my bike and am looking at buying a new set.  I really like the Shark skinz but have heard great things about the armour bodies plus they are alot cheaper for a complete set than the sharks.  So what does everyone recommend?? stay with shark skinz or try the armour bodies???  Thanks for the help.

[Super Dave]

Well...

In years past, Sharkskinz were THE best, in my opinion.  Honestly, the would stay together where others were just piles of parmesan cheese and rubble. 

I used Armour Bodies then in 2003, and promptly tried to destroy them immediately.  They did very well, but I was hoping for a little better. 

I believe that Armour Bodies has improved their product from that time.  I think, and I don't know this for a fact, that Sharkskinz might have had to reduce their overhead by reducing their use of some of more of their high tech, more expensive materials in a market that now has players from China offering full fairing product for under $300.  I don't think they were as good as the fairings from the perspective of surviving massive destruction like they used to, but they are still many times better than what is available and consistent from some of the lesser names.

For me, since Woodcraft was now the distributor of Armour Bodies, I went that route.  Jan, Eric, and everyone there has been great to deal with.  I still think the Sharkskinz stuff is great and Armour Bodies is right up there with them now.  Additionally, if one is budget limited, Armour Bodies has a second line.  Can offer one the opportunity to save up and have two sets ready to go, so that pieces can be swapped while maintaining your signature look along with good fitment between pieces.  Fitment issues are usually common with the very inexpensive bodies.  Shouldn't see that with either Sharkskinz or Armour Bodies.

[gixxer188]

A year ago we had 1 set of each to paint, Shark Skinz, Armour Bodies, Attack and HotBodies.  Our painter is very experienced in laying fiber glass and the construction of molds for bodywork.  He painted each set the same one after the other and then we could compare them all side-by-side.  He also gave us his impressions of each and which ones he liked better based on their construction, gel-coat and paint-ability.  They were then ranked as follows.

I must say, HotBodies are pure crap, they have terrible construction, none of the common break areas are re-enforced and the gel-coat is full of pin holes.  As for the others they were all very similar in construction and over all quality with only minor differences that would make one standout against the others.

1. Armour Bodies
2. Attack
3. Shark Skinz
4. HotBodies

[skiandclimb]

A year ago we had 1 set of each to paint, Shark Skinz, Armour Bodies, Attack and HotBodies.  Our painter is very experienced in laying fiber glass and the construction of molds for bodywork.  He painted each set the same one after the other and then we could compare them all side-by-side.  He also gave us his impressions of each and which ones he liked better based on their construction, gel-coat and paint-ability.  They were then ranked as follows.

I must say, HotBodies are pure crap, they have terrible construction, none of the common break areas are re-enforced and the gel-coat is full of pin holes.  As for the others they were all very similar in construction and over all quality with only minor differences that would make one standout against the others.

1. Armour Bodies
2. Attack
3. Shark Skinz
4. HotBodies

Glad you posted this.  Always wondered what a painter/body man would think of race glass.

[airfreek]

Thanks for the feedback guys.  Looks like i will get to try out my first set of Armour bodies.  I will let everyone know how the prep, fitment, and painting go.

[Lucas W120]

ive been doing bodywork/ painting for a number of years and ive painted two sets of armour bodies and one shark skin. so now that im racing i decided to save some money and get a set of hot bodies. great idea, because im pushing it harder than ever hoping to crash and F them up so i can get a new set of armours lol. theyre closely tied with shark skins just cheaper

[KillerCam]

I have Shark skinz and went down last year with minimal damage. Both are very good.