When buying a used bike, there are many things you need to look at to make sure the bike will perform properly. You should even look at cosmetic things to get a feel for how the bike was taken care of. One of those things is fairings.
While aftermarket vs. OEM parts have been a point of argument for car guys and bike guys alike, there are some aftermarket parts that are objectively worse. However, as long as you do your research, some aftermarket parts can be cheaper and better than OEM. If you are going to look at a bike, and you don’t know whether their aftermarket parts are quality or not.
A lot of the things that will give you information on whether they took care of their bike are in whether or not they have aftermarket fairings. If they do, spend a couple minutes doing some closer inspection. Are there dents in other parts? Scratches that look like they should continue on the fairings but abruptly stop when they start? Damaged foot pegs? Any of these things could mean the aftermarket fairings on to cover something up, and if the seller says he “never dropped it” after you see these things, don’t even think about buying it. He could be lying about other stuff too.
On the other hand, if the rest of the bike looks clean, and there are some decent looking aftermarket fairings on it, chances are they just loved the bike and liked the way the fairings looked. You should feel okay about buying the motorcycle, and in these situations, they often have the OEM fairings to go with it.
Motorcycles Aren't Dead 