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Tourer
Posts: 395
Moravia, IA | I hosed my stock front fender by mounting to large a tire.....wasnt pretty.
The stock fender is kinda pricey.....and in the end I was still going to have to modify it somehow to get it to fit, since Im not changing a perfectly good tire (and I kinda like have more tire size options).
There are metal fenders available, from KewlMetal I think....again, pricey. Its almost Christmas.....Im kinda broke.....and if Im going to spend money its going to be on an improvement.
Out in my garage I had a front fender I got given to me by a buddy before he closed up shop. I eyeballed it and I was pretty sure it would look OK on the Vision.
A few hours with some metal strapping.......an overpriced can of paint from Victory (holy crap whats that shit made out of).....and this is the result.
 �
� 
Here is a close up of my homemade brackets.....  �
total cost - $70 fender:free metal stock: $10 (got TONS of it left....planned for a few screw ups) paint: $60 (dealer told me you HAD to order 2 cans.....only used 1/2 of a single can, tons left over) Took me about 3 hours to build the bracket and fit.......a couple more hours to prep and paint......and 5 minutes to mount.� Uses the stock mounting holes and bolts.
Took it out for its maiden voyage today (Christmas Eve.....its 46 degrees in Iowa and not a smidge of snow in sight). � Two "issues"..... The fender makes a bit of a howling noise in the wind at high speeds, slight but it is there. If the radio is on you dont even notice. It makes slight contact with the bottom of the fairing/headlight housing under hard braking. I didnt notice till I checked it out when I was done with my ride and found some slight scuffs (rubbed them out).....hmm. So I go out in front of my house and just hammer the front brakes a half dozen times.......the front tire locked up and howling.....release. That SHOULD be full compression Id think. Yep....scuffs are back. They are slight.....and my bike is a rider, not a show bike.....Im going to file it under "dont give a shit" and go on. ........so ends my budget metal fender.
Edited by aaronrkelly 2011-12-24 3:28 PM
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Iron Butt
Posts: 804
Perry Hall, MD | Price is right (well $60 for paint might be pushing it) - nice job. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 222
Barefoot Bay, FL United States | You never mentioned the size of the front tire you used. Any chance of that? '08 Vision Tour Premium Mid Cherry BTW...."Chrome IS a color!!" |
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Central Wisconsin |
I like the new look. Nice work on recycling a metal fender. I haven't had the fork apart on the Vision, just wondering if a small spacer could be made to firm up the spring a little bit? Or if you have enough tire/fender clearance you could always make some new fender brackets.
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Tourer
Posts: 395
Moravia, IA | witchbiker - 2011-12-25 4:30 PM
You never mentioned the size of the front tire you used. Any chance of that? '08 Vision Tour Premium Mid Cherry BTW...."Chrome IS a color!!" Its a 120/90-18.... Thomas - 2011-12-25 9:46 PM
I like the new look. Nice work on recycling a metal fender. I haven't had the fork apart on the Vision, just wondering if a small spacer could be made to firm up the spring a little bit? Or if you have enough tire/fender clearance you could always make some new fender brackets.
Found a stamping inside the fender....its a Russ Wernimont Designs Rambler fender.....guess at one point it cost someone almost $250. Lucky me for fining it in the pile. I just grabbed something. I think from the look of the pictures Ive got plenty of tire clearance....so Im just going to move the fender down with some new brackets.
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Iron Butt
Posts: 721
| One question about the tire you used, is it a RADIAL tire?
There is one VERY bad thing to do when running motorcycle tires and that is to mix front/back radial/bias ply. I've personally seen what can happen when this is done when a Goldwing riding buddy of mine replaced the tires on his GL1800 Goldwing at the dealership and they screwed up and mounted a bias ply front with a radial rear, the front tire ended up forming bubbles on the sidewalls after an extended highway run during a western trip. The reason there is a problem in mixing types of tires is because of the difference in sidewall flex between the two types of tires, radials tend to have stiffer sidewalls compared to bias ply tires. |
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Tourer
Posts: 395
Moravia, IA | Travelin Man - 2011-12-25 11:41 PM
One question about the tire you used, is it a RADIAL tire?
There is one VERY bad thing to do when running motorcycle tires and that is to mix front/back radial/bias ply. I've personally seen what can happen when this is done when a Goldwing riding buddy of mine replaced the tires on his GL1800 Goldwing at the dealership and they screwed up and mounted a bias ply front with a radial rear, the front tire ended up forming bubbles on the sidewalls after an extended highway run during a western trip. The reason there is a problem in mixing types of tires is because of the difference in sidewall flex between the two types of tires, radials tend to have stiffer sidewalls compared to bias ply tires.
Im running a radial car tire on the rear.....the Kenda is a bias-ply.
Ive run bias and radial up front with a car tire and never had an issue with either one. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1340
Gainesville Fl Home of the Gators | Ply front, Radial rear has become common even on manufacture bikes like the JackPot. Personally I'm not a fan of dropping the envelope by running that mix on my own bikes, but I'm not riding it. Not feeling the look of this, but always happy to see people working outside the box!!! |
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Visionary
Posts: 1290
Ruskin, Fl | I have a 21" up front on my VV. Options are very limited for radial front. It's E3 or a bias up front. Shop claims it's not a problem and that factory bikes from HD are coming that way. Just because Harley does it... Anyway, I have another E3. lol |
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Visionary
Posts: 1340
Gainesville Fl Home of the Gators | cw1115 - 2011-12-26 11:38 AM
I have a 21" up front on my VV. Options are very limited for radial front. It's E3 or a bias up front. Shop claims it's not a problem and that factory bikes from HD are coming that way. Just because Harley does it... Anyway, I have another E3. lol
Avon makes a 120/70R/21, but it costs an extra $100 over the E3 |
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Visionary
Posts: 1229
Rancho Cucamonga, CA | When repoositioning your fender, remember that bias tires tend to get taller at rotational speeds compaired to a radial. So leave a little extra room. |
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Tourer
Posts: 395
Moravia, IA | Problem solved.....I flipped the fender around and moved the fender down closer to hug the tire. I had WAY to much room between the tire and the fender. Went out and "road tested" it - no rubbing. ......metal Vision fender....$70 
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new metal front fender.......on the cheap