VN800 Bobber project

[CustomVN]

Now it's time for the second part of the job, making the struts to hold the rear of the fender.

12. First step was to cut two lengths approximately as long as I think I needed, drilled 12mm holes in one end and bolted them in place. The flat bar I've used here is 6mm thick and 25mm across, so very sturdy!





13. You can see here that we've got a bit of bending to do to grab the fender. I'll concentrate on the left side first as clearing the chain guard is the biggest obstacle.





14. I've now got them bent to shape and clearing everything nicely. I paid close attention to make sure they were both bent at the same point so it looked even from behind.





15. Now they're both bolted in place.





16. And here you can see the struts completed, cut to size and the ends have been rounded off, although I still need to hand file the edges and sand them down to clean them up before chroming. I was thinking about drilling a series of holes down them for looks, but once chrome I think they'll look great as they are. By using a series of washers between all the joining surfaces I can adjust the alignment of the fender too.

[CustomVN]

And here's the bike outside after finishing up the rear fender at 5:00pm on Sunday afternoon just in time to catch the last of the afternoon light.

I think this is pretty much the completed mock up. The rest is out of my hands now, paint, trim and chrome.

[Wharfy]

Was going to suggest placing the struts on the inside of the swingarm and under the rear fender. Would look tidier IMO

Apart from that, looking good so far. Well done

[CustomVN]

^^^ That was my plan originally Wharfy, but the sides of the fender aren't actually flat which makes it a little painful, and given the thickness of the struts I just don't have the clearance to get them in there. If the fender was 1/2 inch wider I would have tried it.

It will look better once the struts are chromed. I might even use some big wing-nuts on the bolts holding the struts to the fender just to make it look more interesting.

[Wharfy]

Bet you haven't resisted the urge to take it for a blat around the block, even with the seat yet to be finished!

If you haven't, I would've!

[CustomVN]

Well I rode it off the driveway and back, that was about as far as I was willing to go with the bolts holding the fender together just finger tight and the back brake not connected. I've yet to connect up the wiring for the tail light too.

[btob]

Originally Posted by CustomVN

^^^ That was my plan originally Wharfy, but the sides of the fender aren't actually flat which makes it a little painful, and given the thickness of the struts I just don't have the clearance to get them in there. If the fender was 1/2 inch wider I would have tried it.

It will look better once the struts are chromed. I might even use some big wing-nuts on the bolts holding the struts to the fender just to make it look more interesting.

Think about this, if it's the tight clearance that you want to the tire, why not get one long piece of the stock that you are using for the struts, have it bent over the fender to it's exact contour, weld it over the outside of the fender, mould it in ever so slightly, and you'd have a one off fender that would challenge the best builder's designs out there.

[CustomVN]

Originally Posted by btob

Think about this, if it's the tight clearance that you want to the tire, why not get one long piece of the stock that you are using for the struts, have it bent over the fender to it's exact contour, weld it over the outside of the fender, mould it in ever so slightly, and you'd have a one off fender that would challenge the best builder's designs out there.

Something like that was one of my original ideas, but I thought the top of the fender would look a little crowded with the tail light on there too and I would have had to run the strut more vertically which wouldn't have looked right.

At least now I can decorate the top of the fender with scalloping and pin striping in the paint work which is something I've always wanted to do.

[btob]

Originally Posted by CustomVN

Something like that was one of my original ideas, but I thought the top of the fender would look a little crowded with the tail light on there too and I would have had to run the strut more vertically which wouldn't have looked right.

At least now I can decorate the top of the fender with scalloping and pin striping in the paint work which is something I've always wanted to do.

You still could do that. After your fender/ strut assembly was fitted and welded, you could mold it in with plastic lightly so you wouldn't see the strut metal on the top of the fender. It would look factory, and then add whatever you want after the assembly is painted. As long as you welded it solid, you would never have any cracking. And the mold would be so subtle, it wouldn't be noticed.

[btob]

Originally Posted by btob

You still could do that. After your fender/ strut assembly was fitted and welded, you could mold it in with plastic lightly so you wouldn't see the strut metal on the top of the fender. It would look factory, and then add whatever you want after the assembly is painted. As long as you welded it solid, you would never have any cracking. And the mold would be so subtle, it wouldn't be noticed.

You could fit it below the taillight right where the plate is mounted, and being molded in, your pin striping plans would not be affected. It will have the illusion of being one piece, which it will be.

[btob]

Your front rear fender mounting is nothing less than genious. That's some righteous engeneering.

[CustomVN]

Originally Posted by btob

Your front rear fender mounting is nothing less than genious. That's some righteous engeneering.

Thanks mate Although I'm am still a little nervous about how close my tire is to the fender. There's probably enough clearance and the very front and very rear, but the curvature of the fender doesn't follow the tire perfectly and it gets down to around 3/8 of an inch midway between the two point.

It's a little touch and go...

[btob]

Originally Posted by CustomVN

Thanks mate Although I'm am still a little nervous about how close my tire is to the fender. There's probably enough clearance and the very front and very rear, but the curvature of the fender doesn't follow the tire perfectly and it gets down to around 3/8 of an inch midway between the two point.

It's a little touch and go...

3/8's is more than adequate........

[Dudester]

Well I can't give any mechanical advice because I'm not in the same league as some of you here. But I will say this....................WOW !!!! (Big time drool and jaw wide open here ) Absolutely fantastic job. Hope you post a pic of the beast completely finished.

[CustomVN]

Originally Posted by Dudester

Well I can't give any mechanical advice because I'm not in the same league as some of you here. But I will say this....................WOW !!!! (Big time drool and jaw wide open here ) Absolutely fantastic job. Hope you post a pic of the beast completely finished.

Thanks mate, but in all honestly I'd never put a spanner to a bike before I started this project, this is my very first attempt at it, and I've also got no experience when it comes to working with metal either. Well I did do a metal work subject way back in High School, but that was so so long ago and very basic.

Btob, I'm currently hearing stories on the Chopper Forums of guys successfully running Metzelers with 5/16 of tire clearance and less!

[btob]

Originally Posted by CustomVN

Thanks mate, but in all honestly I'd never put a spanner to a bike before I started this project, this is my very first attempt at it, and I've also got no experience when it comes to working with metal either. Well I did do a metal work subject way back in High School, but that was so so long ago and very basic.

Btob, I'm currently hearing stories on the Chopper Forums of guys successfully running Metzelers with 5/16 of tire clearance and less!

I've gone as little as a 1/4 inch. I wouldn't advise that little if your'e doing a lot of highway driving, but it's been done. You well within the limits.

[CustomVN]

Well I've just pulled the front of the fender off and can see that if I make a mounting plate that bolts to where I have the fender now, and then bolt the fender to that (albiet in a higher position) I can achieve a consistent clearance of just over 1/2 an inch around the tire and the fender would look to follow the curve of the tire a little better too.

I'll play with this on the weekend and see how I feel about it. If it works out then great, I never have to worry about the clearance no matter how far and hard I ride the bike. If not I'll take btob's word for it (and many others) that it will be fine regardless.

[CustomVN]

Well I decided to see if I could put some more clearance between this rear fender and the tire for better peace of mind, and thankfully I was successful. All it involved was to push the front of the fender a little higher as it had obviously been too low compared to the back.

So I made up a spacer plate from the left over 3mm steel plate from making the seat pans.





Bolted that to the front of the rear fender, and also put a little bend in it at that point, as I was trying to push the front of the fender upwards, not extend the fender further around the tire. Sure I could have welded this on, but I don't want to twist the fender, it's taking no load and I like the fact it gives me adjustment later if I need it. Oh and it's worth pointing out that all the bolts I'm using are high tensile.





Here you can see the spacer plate is now mounted to the swing arm, and the fender bolts to it, so I'm still using my original mounting idea, I just needed to tweak it a little. Oh well it was my first attempt so I guess you can't always expect to nail everything first time every time.





And here it is all bolted in place, with a nice consistent radius off the tire as opposed to getting closer towards the front like it did previously. I've now increased my spacing from a little under 3/8", to a little over 5/8" so I now have more than enough clearance, given that 1/2" is the generally accepted minimum.





Oh and I also picked up my new license plate on Friday so I had to throw that on. I still can't believe no one already had this...

[A2rider]

Watching this is truly amazing. Thanks for the new pics, and keep going, you're doing a great job.

[anamosity]

freaking good looking thats all I can say.