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Old September 14th, 2018, 04:38 AM   #1
InvisiBill
EX500 full of EX250 parts
 
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Name: Bill
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Motorcycle(s): '18 Ninja 400 • '09 Ninja 500R (selling) • '98 VFR800 (project) • '85 Vulcan VN700 (sold)

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MOTM - Aug '15
Vagabond Motorsports Fender Eliminator VM-KN410

Everyone hates the look of the rear fender on modern sportbikes, though some tolerate it for its functionality. My bike is a toy, not my sole form of transportation or even a daily commuter, so I planned to remove it right away.

They seem to have realized that everyone removes them. The stock fender comes off with just 4 allen head screws in the trunk. No sawing undertail plastic or anything crazy like that.



After looking at a few of the options, I decided on the Vagabond VM-KN410. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's perfect for the way I like to do things. Oddly enough, it's one of the cheaper options too.

The bracket is aluminum with an epoxy coating. It has pressed in bolts that fit through the factory holes and secure with nuts inside the trunk. Sort of backwards compared to the factory fender mounting, but it means the threads are all inside the tail, not right above the tire. It has holes cut out on the rear and sides to match the factory turn signals and plate light. You unscrew the lights from the stock fender, and install them into the Vagabond piece exactly the same way. The fit was perfect, and as easy as working on the stock parts. A grommet is included for sealing up the hole in the tail where the wires pass through. There are rubber bumpers for the bottom of the plate to rest against. They have great instructions posted online and included in the package. You do have to reuse whatever plate mounting screws you currently have

The most difficult step was removing the screws on the turn signal backing plates (step 9) - there's not much space so a right-angle driver works better, and they're technically JIS screws, so a Phillips bit tends to cam out and strip the screw. Vagabond actually includes replacement screws because it's easy to mess them up. I used channel-locks on the outside of the screw heads to break them loose, with no damage other than some marks on the edge of the screw. Four screws to remove the fender from the bike, four more to remove the plastic cover from the steel frame, two on the plate light, and one on each turn signal. This was my first time taking apart anything on the bike, and I completed the entire R&R in under an hour.





I'm very happy with this item. High quality part, good instructions, easy to swap, it looks good enough to be OEM, and it somehow costs less than many competitors. If you want to replace/remove the stock lights, this may not be the best option. If you want to keep the stockers and not mess with buying/figuring out other lighting, this is a great way to go.
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Old September 14th, 2018, 12:52 PM   #2
adouglas
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MOTM - Jul '18, Nov '16, Aug '14, May '13
That's really nice. Good find.

A lot of these things aren't that well executed. I like stuff that re-uses factory parts like turn signals. I've seen way too many crappy replacements that are useless. The eliminator I got for my GSX-R has really thin wires for its plate light... way too susceptible to damage.

I remember going on a ride with a guy on a CBR600 who had aftermarket LED turn signals. They were so small and weak that I was looking right at them for a minute or two before I realized that they were blinking!
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