SuzukiSavage.com - Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fender

Badass94Cad

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Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fender
06/18/12 at 06:01:50

Let me preface this by saying I don't have the time, place, equipment, or skill to make my own rear fender.

I love the design of the rear fender. It's short and contoured to the tire. But the downside is you "must" run the stock size tire (140/80-15). That's great, if you like blackwall, but for those of us who want a whitewall, all the stock sized whitewalls have been discontinued, leaving a multitude of 150/90-15, and one 140/90-15 that I managed to find.

So I contacted Lance to inquire about what it would take to run one of the bigger options. At best, the 140/90 is about 1/4" more in sidewall. I asked if there was a way to re-drill or slot the fender brace to raise it and accommodate the difference in height. (I also suggested that they reconsider the design to accommodate whitewall tire options).

He replied:

"The problem isn't the rear struts as much as the front bracket and the clearance from the fender to the frame when the suspension is bottomed. There just isn't much room in the small area back there. Suzuki made the bike small and light and it's a tough one to get everything to fit."

Maybe those of you who got it or have seen it can elaborate...Based on the pictures, I was under the assumption that the fender mounts to the swingarm to hug the tire tight. Is this incorrect? Can you describe or show a better picture of how it mounts? I'm assuming too that it doesn't connect to the stock fender frame mounts.

Does anybody think this is possible to redrill or slot their fender struts, or fab new ones to raise the fender height by about 1/4"? It's a lot easier to do that than make a new fender that looks like theirs. Cool

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Badass94Cad Senior Member Offline This space for rent Posts: 313 Mass-->Jerz-->PA! Gender:	Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen Reply #1 - 06/18/12 at 06:04:05 He also said that Bike Bandit has the stock tire in whitewall, and he was sure the Suzuki dealer could get the right tire as well. Unfortunately, neither is true.
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justin_o_guy2

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Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen
Reply #2 - 06/18/12 at 07:05:33

If the problem only arises when its bottomed out,, then, not bottoming the shocks could be a good plan, I dont think Ive ever done it, A guy could strap a stick on the shock & a black marker on the swingarm & measure max travel in a normal day. Or, easier would be a stick on the swingarm & a marker on the seat. I think I could measure it if I cared to.,

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Bubba

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Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen
Reply #3 - 06/18/12 at 09:10:07

I too, am interested in how this might be accomplished with the BCB fender. I'm running a pirelli right now and was also told by BCB that this fender won't fit. Without having to buy the fender I'd like to see how this thing mounts. It sure seems to me that if the fender mounts to the swingarm and the arms for the struts were just a bit longer you wouldn't run into having it bottom out....BUT, I've neve seen closeups of how it's mounted...

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skeebo Senior Member Offline Ride It Like U Stole It........ Posts: 328 Fresno, Cali Gender:	Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen Reply #4 - 06/18/12 at 11:00:03 You can limit the the travel of the stock shocks by adding a spacer to the bumpstop. A 1/4 inch spacer stopped my tire rub and I didn't notice a difference in the ride at all. BCB is just not going to tell you to do that.
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Badass94Cad

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Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen
Reply #5 - 06/18/12 at 12:09:07

skeebo wrote on 06/18/12 at 11:00:03:

You can limit the the travel of the stock shocks by adding a spacer to the bumpstop. A 1/4 inch spacer stopped my tire rub and I didn't notice a difference in the ride at all. BCB is just not going to tell you to do that.

I was thinking a spacer might work, so I'm glad you suggested that.

You didn't use the BCB fender on your bike though, right? If I remember, I thought you went in a different direction.

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Greg

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Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen
Reply #6 - 06/18/12 at 12:19:34

skeebo wrote on 06/18/12 at 11:00:03:

You can limit the the travel of the stock shocks by adding a spacer to the bumpstop. A 1/4 inch spacer stopped my tire rub and I didn't notice a difference in the ride at all. BCB is just not going to tell you to do that.

How is this done? I searched but couldn't find any instructions.

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skeebo Senior Member Offline Ride It Like U Stole It........ Posts: 328 Fresno, Cali Gender:	Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen Reply #7 - 06/18/12 at 13:17:57 This is my fiberglass fender. My shocks travel about 1 5/8 which gives me about 2 3/8 of travel at the wheel. The principals the same if you mount a hugger type fender. I use a f/glass fender which is about 3 times as thick as a steel one.
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spacepirates

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Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen
Reply #8 - 06/18/12 at 14:37:30

skeebo wrote on 06/18/12 at 13:17:57:

This is my fiberglass fender. My shocks travel about 1 5/8 which gives me about 2 3/8 of travel at the wheel. The principals the same if you mount a hugger type fender. I use a f/glass fender which is about 3 times as thick as a steel one.

Do you have a source for that, or did you make it?

Hugger fenders (in my opinion) look fantastic, but they are hard to find and are typically really expensive when you do find them. Some people have used front fenders from other bikes but it is kind of hard to pick those up without knowing for sure if they'd work.

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skeebo Senior Member Offline Ride It Like U Stole It........ Posts: 328 Fresno, Cali Gender:	Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen Reply #9 - 06/18/12 at 15:38:00 It's a 15 dollar fender from a swap meet...It was a lot a bigger before I started carving on it, could have left a lot more on if that was the look I wanted. Great thing about f/glass is strength to weight is high, and it's super stiff.......no struts for that roadster look.
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Badass94Cad

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Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen
Reply #10 - 06/18/12 at 16:36:37

Skeebo (or others), do you have to disassemble the shock to get a spacer on the shaft under the bumpstop, I assume? IDK...

And for those with the BCB kit - any idea on clearance, or if moving the fender up is possible? The sidewall is actually .6" higher when I did the calculation so please help me figure out what kind of space or mods are possible before I drop a bunch of coin on a fender and a tire that won't work together. Wink

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spacepirates

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Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen
Reply #11 - 06/18/12 at 18:21:20

skeebo wrote on 06/18/12 at 15:38:00:

It's a 15 dollar fender from a swap meet...It was a lot a bigger before I started carving on it, could have left a lot more on if that was the look I wanted. Great thing about f/glass is strength to weight is high, and it's super stiff.......no struts for that roadster look.

I wonder.... I see these fiberglass body repair kits for <$20. Could I use the existing tire to form the fiberglass and make my own perfect fender with a bit of sanding and painting? I've never dealt with fiberglass. maybe they have some "fiberglass for idiots" thing I can look up....

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SimonTuffGuy

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Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen
Reply #12 - 06/18/12 at 18:42:01

I picked up a BCB fender by itself and plan on making mounts for it myself...

So, if you picked up that from BCB, why couldn't you mount it whatever way you wanted and move the mounts where you need them to accomodate a bigger tire (taller, not necessarily wider)? The BCB kit puts the fender right at the back of the swingarm (where their clamp piece mounts around)... So, you could make it so that it mounted further up on the swingarm to give more clearance... Or make longer mounts to raise the fender up a bit taller.

I'm almost considering buying their full kit just to have the parts that I need, and then sell of the seat mount and whatnot as extras to cover some of the expense. That's the easy way to make it work... But I'd like to craft something myself too.

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skeebo

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Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen
Reply #13 - 06/18/12 at 19:29:01

Badass94Cad wrote on 06/18/12 at 16:36:37:

Skeebo (or others), do you have to disassemble the shock to get a spacer on the shaft under the bumpstop, I assume? IDK...

And for those with the BCB kit - any idea on clearance, or if moving the fender up is possible? The sidewall is actually .6" higher when I did the calculation so please help me figure out what kind of space or mods are possible before I drop a bunch of coin on a fender and a tire that won't work together. Wink

progressive..and others sell stops that are two halves, I'm not sure what's available for our shock.

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skeebo

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Re: Let's talk about Blue Collar Bobbers' rear fen
Reply #14 - 06/18/12 at 21:44:30

spacepirates wrote on 06/18/12 at 18:21:20:

skeebo wrote on 06/18/12 at 15:38:00:

It's a 15 dollar fender from a swap meet...It was a lot a bigger before I started carving on it, could have left a lot more on if that was the look I wanted. Great thing about f/glass is strength to weight is high, and it's super stiff.......no struts for that roadster look.

I wonder.... I see these fiberglass body repair kits for <$20. Could I use the existing tire to form the fiberglass and make my own perfect fender with a bit of sanding and painting? I've never dealt with fiberglass. maybe they have some "fiberglass for idiots" thing I can look up....

Don't waste your money on those kits....It's a waxed resin which wont laminate or build layers without a lot of work in between applications.

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