Custom Fender Eliminator (Lots of Pics!!)

[BearZ]

Fender eliminators are expensive! I don't know about you, but I'd rather spend my money on other things! So I decided to make my own! I have almost no knowledge of how to fabricate things, but I'm pretty smart, so I took on this project. I also have access to power tools like a bandsaw, grinder, drill etc at work which made my decision to go ahead easier.

Materials used:
Bike tool kit (duh)
Blue painters tape and Aluminum foil tape
20 gauge aluminum sheet 6"X18" from Home Depot
4 - M6 X 1 Screws and nuts from Lowes
Band Saw (to cut the aluminum)
Scissors, Box cutter/exacto knife
Sharpie
Card Stock paper for mockup

First I took off the existing ugly ass fender; if you do not know how to do this, there are plenty of video online that explain how. Be careful while doing this and keep all your hardware in a place where you won't lose it.
Took off the tail light from the plastic mudgaurd. I taped one half of the inside of the plastic part with blue tape, then went over it with foil tape, then pulled it off the part. This gave me a template to work with. I transferred the template to card stock, folded it in half and then cut it to get symmetrical sides. I marked the spots where the holes would go to hold it in place.



I put it up to the back where the fender used to be and tweaked it until it fit and I was happy with it. I realized that the piece of aluminum that I had was too small to make the whole piece with one sheet, so I decided to make it in halves. I realized after that it was the best way to do it since I could put both pieces up together to make sure they match, even drill the holes together.



Stopped by Lowes on the way back home and got M6 X 1 Nuts, brought the piece back home and did a test fit on the bike. Ran into a few problems. I had drilled some of the holes too small and had to go back and re-drill them and the stock screws were too short, so I had to go get longer ones. Got back home and did a test fit and voila!





Next, I had to figure out a way to mount the license plate on there. I knew I was going to use the existing license plate mount, which worked out really well.
I took a leftover piece of aluminum sheet and drilled 2 holes using the tail light bracket (black part) as a guide.



I drilled 2 other holes using the existing licence plate mount as a guide, getting the holes to center as much as possible. Then I bent the aluminum plate at an angle. I used existing hardware to screw and bolt everything into place.



I could have stopped there, but I wanted to go on a ride on account of the beautiful weather, and since I don't have my integrated LED tail light yet, I had to put the signal lights back on. I took off the reflectors from the existing license plate mount, took off the turn signals from the plastic fender and immediately ran into a problem- The hole was too small for the wire to go through. No worries, since this is just a temporary thing, I used the existing holes that the reflector went through and existing hardware to mount the turn signals. They point down a bit but you could still see them. They were kinda loose even after tightening the nut, so I use black zip ties to hold them in place in case the nut were to come loose.

And there you have it! Custom Fender eliminator. I think it cleaned up the back a whole lot.



For those who want to try this themselves, I can get you the dimensions of the template and probably even make a scaled printable copy (no promises on when though)

Next step is to take it back apart, clean up corners with a grinder, take out burrs and get it ready for paint.
I want to paint it black, of course. I can't decide if I want to get it powder coated or just spray paint it myself. I'm leaning more towards powder coat right now, hope it doesn't cost an arm and a leg though.

[csmith12]

Hey! That is pretty cool.

[broilmebk]

The rear signals are pointing down?

[BearZ]

Originally Posted by broilmebk

The rear signals are pointing down?

they were pointing down. I got my integrated tail light in last night, so no need for the turn signals!

[Mowgli]

Current pics of it with the new tail light?

[cerberusrex25]

Looking good, homie.

[psych0hans]

Love what you've done... Looks absolutely fantastic!!! I'm sure you've cleaned it up a lot from the current pics, so please post the new ones if possible. I really wanted to do this too, but got too lazy... lol I just cut off my fender while still on the bike and in the process broke a lot of things... I'll probably follow what you've done. If you can post a template for the same it'd be awesome.

[BearZ]

Set up the seamless paper and some lights and did a quick shoot the other night, here are some of the highlights. enjoy!







I will eventually get around to painting/powder coating the fender eliminator. I actually fabricated a new one with a brand new design, this time I used sheet metal instead of aluminum, a little harder to bend and cut. I went through about 8 cutting wheels on my Dremel tool. Pretty cheap to make if you already own a Dremel tool, I didn't so I spent $80 on that, but it will be useful on future projects.

I installed LED license plate lights but haven't figure out a way to hide those wires yet. Unfortunately the design is not water proof by any means, maybe I could add a gasket or something to prevent water from entering the rear end.

@Hans, I can post a drawing up, it's the original one I made on the computer before mocking it up on the bike and changing it a bit. I have not update the drawing since, I can still post it, just be sure you mock it up in paper or cardboard before you cut any sheet metal. maybe I will go back and redraw it for everyone with a proper tutorial, however I am short on free time these days.

Extra goodie:



Link to Drawing: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/25018889/fe...m_A1_PRINT.pdf
This is laid out on A1 size paper for large format printers, if you can figure out a way to print it on a desktop printer, good on you, if not, sorry... I have all the dimensions on there so you can make a drawing from scratch if you really feel up to it.

Disclaimer: I take not responsibility if you mess things up, the drawing is for reference only and in no way should be used for monetary gain.
I am releasing this drawing under a Creative Commons license.

[subxero]

paint it black and i think it will be even nicer. JMO

But yeah, i am not going to spring for a kit, I will just do a quick mod of the factory fender when i finally get around to it.

[Kstorm21]

agreed^^^ paint it black!

[subxero]

Better yet, Cerakote it!! hell ya. Not sure what the material you used was? but Cerakote should work on it.

http://cerakote.net/

[BearZ]

Originally Posted by subxero

Better yet, Cerakote it!! hell ya. Not sure what the material you used was? but Cerakote should work on it.

http://cerakote.net/

that looks expensive. I used stainless steel sheet metal. The company I work at sends a lot of stuff to powder coat, a lot of which is Black, and they charge in bulk, so a small piece like that shouldn't cost anything... I need to talk to my boss about it and the powder coat people.

[blackkknight]

Hey that's a really sick write up! I'm new to the forums here and actually new to riding in general. I just purchased a bike a few months back and this was going to be my first mod. I work for a custom laser cutting company and run a Cincinnati laser. I've been working on designing one of these as well so hopefully here in a couple weeks I can show you what mine looks like. I plan to cut it out of 16ga aircraft grade aluminum and weld on a license plate holder. Your drawing looks pretty accurate, I think I may copy some of it. Did you end up powder coating it then?

[Kstorm21]

Where'd you get the yellow cap things in the middle? What are they called. Wanted to get some new ones for my bike but don't know where to find them.

[BearZ]

Originally Posted by blackkknight

Hey that's a really sick write up! I'm new to the forums here and actually new to riding in general. I just purchased a bike a few months back and this was going to be my first mod. I work for a custom laser cutting company and run a Cincinnati laser. I've been working on designing one of these as well so hopefully here in a couple weeks I can show you what mine looks like. I plan to cut it out of 16ga aircraft grade aluminum and weld on a license plate holder. Your drawing looks pretty accurate, I think I may copy some of it. Did you end up powder coating it then?

That's awesome! You wanna send me one?

[BearZ]

Originally Posted by Kstorm21

Where'd you get the yellow cap things in the middle? What are they called. Wanted to get some new ones for my bike but don't know where to find them.

I just spray painted the stock ones yellow. You can find them on ebay for like $15 I think.

[slowninja]

i'd buy it. would you make me one? paint it black. it would look nicer.

[gwilo]

Nice work,

I would paint it yellow

[BearZ]

Originally Posted by slowninja

i'd buy it. would you make me one? paint it black. it would look nicer.

FINALLY got around to painting it black, I used Plasti-dip, I'll post pictures when I get home tonight. I would make you one if I more time, also I'm afraid if I made a second one it'll come out much better than mine :P Just out of curiosity though, how much would you be willing to pay for it?