fender bending?

#1
so it's come time to mount the fenders on my franken-warrior. i have the original fenders. they're kind of beat up but still solid. i was originally going to cut the fender to make it look cooler but since i've been riding in the yard (and doggo poops) i've decided that instead of trimming the fender i want to roll it forward if that makes sense. i want to have more fender covering the rear of the engine so it doesn't get mud caked on it. my issue as of now is how to ge the fender secured to the rear downtube. i'm thinking it would be really nice to put a dent in it that's the shape of the downtube so it fits more snugly. alternatively i could continue the cut from the factory and make it fit around the down tube. i'm kind of stuck with decision making at this point. anyone care to weigh in with ideas or options?
 
#2
I follow what you are wanting to do but would it be easier to do with the same fender but in plastic that came on the MB200's???? Honestly I hate to see you cut up the metal fenders. The plastic fenders look exactly the same. I have plenty of plastic fenders if you want to try them. You could heat one with a paint stripper and push it against the downtube and get the shape you want....

Doug
 
#3
sorry man, i decided to cut the fender. honestly it's in very bad condition but i was able to make what i needed out of it. didn't realize they were so rare. it has a new life now and will come in handy. i'm going to post pictures tonight of what i've done so far.
 
#4
okay guys. i didn't get enough pics, but i think i can tell a story here...

rear fender was pretty trashy looking, but still solid. i wanted to get more mileage out of it and use it's ridiculous length to cover some of the engine. the fender was hitting the rear downtube and rubbing the tire a bit. that just wouldn't do, so i decided to cut a channel into it.

here's the intial problem.



and here is a picture of the short channel that came factory


i basically just followed those lines and went back about 5 ot 6 inches. i think the width was 1 9/16"


i also cleaned up and rounded out the end of the channel, deburred the edges, and shot a quick bit of primer on it.

here is the inital test fit after the cut


looking good. the orange line is where i cut to get rid of the trashed bits of fender. between a lifetime of abuse and the reflector mount holes which were an abomination to all things on wheels it was better off without the tip.

one more tring to line up bolt holes properly.


i was able to reuse the rear bolt hole after "massaging" it out a bit. then i used a paint pen to mark where the new rear hole would be.

this is where "maximum effort" mode kicked in and i forgot to take any more pictures. basically i drilled the rear hole on each side after measuring carefully. then i took the grinder to the orange line in the previous picture. i wasn't happy with the 90 degree edges so i used the bottom of the can of spray primer to draw a slight radius on the end of the fender. it worked beautifully! deburred all new corners and edges, sanded most of the rough rusty spots, got a little carried away with the primer (i plan on stripping, sanding, re priming and painting. i just wanted to keep the rust off).

here is the finished product


and a picture of the whole bike (plus extra bikes)


i went to lowes and got some 1/4-20 3/4" bolts and locking nuts, used some washers i had laying around, and got the fender snugged up. i was planning on getting some 2 hole coduit straps (1.5") at lowes but got distracted by a new lawn mower and forgot them. right now the chain is rubbing the fender on the left side, but hopefully the conduit straps will hold them in far enough. if not, i'll be removing and chopping more.

will update after i get everything functional again.
 
#7
okay, rear fender is done. did a little more cutting, added some support and bolted it on nice and snug like.


here is roughly what i was aiming for. the backbone measures 1-7/16" so i bought 1-1/2" conduit strap. for some reason they measure 1/2" bigger than what's on the package so the 1-1/2" was way too big. went with 1" 2 hole conduit strap and it fit perfectly.


another angle. here you can see that i'm using my truck bed as a work table.


the chain was too close for comfort. if i pushed it over it would hit and catch on the fender. no bueno. i decided to chop it because america and stuff. also, i really wanted the straps to go behind the fender. again, i was lucky and they fit almost like they were made for it. i should've bent the tabs on the top one, but it's on there and who cares. blah blah.


here is the b side all buttoned up. also put the front fender on so i could stop getting water in the face when the yard is wet.


and the a side. the front fender really kills the looks imo. i'll be trying to figure out soething better to do there. suggestions are welcome. thanks for viewing.
 
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T-Town Mini

Well-Known Member
#8
Your fender work looks good. :thumbsup:
You could make the front match by copying the cut on the rear to give it the same look.
Just bob both flared ends off the front fender and cut the same profile you made on the back end of the rear fender.
 
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