SuzukiSavage.com - LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay?

PerrydaSavage

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LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay?
08/12/09 at 11:49:16

One of the things that has always bothered me about the front fender of the LS650 is that the slightly valanced sides of the fender tend to give it a too “weighty” look and hide the sides of the tire (these valanced sides were probably engineered into the fender to give it greater structural rigidity, enabling it to function as a rudimentary fork brace?) … visually I have always preferred the more minimalist look of a Sportster-styled front fender which show off more of the front tire and have liked the results I have seen pics of the Sporty fender fitted to the Savage/S40. From what I have read though, the Sporty fender is not a direct bolt-on and involves some cutting and fabricating to achieve the right look …

That said, it seems like one might be able to create an “illusion” of a more slender LS fender with a bit of paint work … particularly by making the valanced sides of the Savage/S40’s front fender “invisible” with some flat-black paint? I can see in my mind’s eye that this might work well for those with lighter colored paint jobs?
What say you all? Anyone ever try this? Anyone have pics of the completed result?

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dinsdale Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 186 Ottawa, Canada Gender:	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #1 - 08/12/09 at 13:15:36 Take the fender off.
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PerrydaSavage Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Riding "The Rock"! Posts: 3522 Republic of Newfoundland Gender:	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #2 - 08/12/09 at 13:30:30 LOL dinsdale!! Yeah, I s'pose one could do that ... but not everyone wants to ... especially if their Bike hasn't been Bobberized
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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28884 L.A. California Gender:	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #3 - 08/12/09 at 13:49:52 That would be rocco's paint job applied to the fender.
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Savage_Amusement Serious Thumper Offline On this steel horse I ride. Posts: 1004 Omaha, NE Gender:	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #4 - 08/12/09 at 13:55:12 I wish it was longer on the bottom. Have you ever ridden in rain on this bike?? All the fender does it spray it out RIGHT on the feet, sucks. I love my bike with it off, but then it doesn't feel right.
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bill67 Serious Thumper Offline old tired Posts: 8517 genoa city wisconsin Gender:	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #5 - 08/12/09 at 15:27:24 You could take some black electrical tape,Put it on and see how you like it,When you figure out what you like it could be painted.
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justin_o_guy2

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Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay?
Reply #6 - 08/12/09 at 17:28:42

Ive seen some mud guards on bikes. The Savage could stand it. A clever camouflage of the fender could make it look more trim. Put whitewalls on the bike, paint the bike black & paint the "whitewall" on the fender? Ther are other ways, like was suggested, play with tape till you get the look you want. You are right about the fender adding rigidity to the forks. I wonder if thats not part of the reason for the design of the fender.I like the fenderless look, but all the crap the tire tosses & splashes would just be too much for me. I dont like how much I get now. I would like a nice little mud guard back there. I have some thin stainless sheet, maybe Ill cut a strip & fab one up out of some heavy rubber sheet.

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mikestrikes Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 236 Decatur, AL Gender:	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #7 - 08/12/09 at 18:47:42 Just take it off.
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Rocco Serious Thumper Offline addicted 2 riding TcB Posts: 1049 south florida Gender:	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #8 - 08/12/09 at 21:00:18 lol i assume it looks like mine is gone @ night since it's flat black! verslagen1 you're the man! i'd love to take mine off! but i don't want to get wet everytime i hit a puddle AND my paint came out so nice lol i'm about to post a rear fender ? so i'll be looking for everyone's expertise!
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Charon Serious Thumper Offline Posts: 1811 Harvard, NE Gender:	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #9 - 08/12/09 at 21:04:18 Actually, I'd prefer to get a set of fenders from a Kawasaki Drifter for it.
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PerrydaSavage

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Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay?
Reply #10 - 08/13/09 at 01:08:53

I am a Bobber fanatic and LOVE the fenderless look of the front wheel, but praticality and the fact that we get a lot of wet weather up here necessitates that my front fender will stay on ... am toying with the idea of camoflagueing (sp?) the sides of the fender though, to give it that "trimmer" look ... will wait and see if any pics of this treatment show up ...

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dasch Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1137	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #11 - 08/13/09 at 06:31:51 Or just trim it for real with angle grinder?
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sakara Senior Member 2005 No Login Offline Thumpalicious Posts: 313 Lockport, NY Gender:	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #12 - 08/13/09 at 08:28:30 Take it off or trim it up, imho.
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Reelthing Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Fish or ride that is the question Posts: 5397 Houston,Tx Gender:	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #13 - 08/13/09 at 12:49:30 In heavy traffic I ran over a little left over road kill one day and had a pretty good goob hanging on the back of the front fender - no telling where it would have went otherwise.
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Duane Senior Member Offline Creatively Maladjusted Posts: 335 Terra Plane Gender:	Re: LS650 Front Fender Yay or Nay? Reply #14 - 08/13/09 at 13:22:26 Too bad what looks good and what feels good are not usally the same.
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