Topic: Okay to run without a front fender? + some new pics

[jdigga]

My bike is running pretty well so I've started the cafe process on the cheap, mostly by getting rid of a bunch of parts, including the front fender.  I like how it looks without it, but is it okay to ride it that way?  Should I consider a fork brace (it seems as though the fender adds a measure of rigidity)?  I also lowered the front end 1/2" hoping for a little quicker turn-in; I'll find out how it handles tomorrow.  My cable routing is a disaster too, largely because of the brake line which is about twice as long as it needs to be.

Some pics for your consideration:







And yes, the seat really has to go. 

[svenD]

looks cool! I think the air restance on wheel is greater without the fender though , at full chat of course.

[Jugghead]

Hey , couple of things I thought of when looking at this post.
1: Nice Bike! Looks really great!
2: I would put a fork brace on there, based on what I have read in other posts.  Terry in Australia sells them.
3: That seat looks like a perfect candidate to remove the covering and reshape the foam around the passenger spot to look like a Giuliari seat.
I don't have photoshop, but imagine a line from the license plate diagonal up to the back of the hump (right where the patterning for the passenger starts.)
good luck and keep us posted on your progress (with pics and tips, and problems along the way)
good luck!

[eldar]

You WILL want a brace of some type. Others have tried it and reported the forks twisting without one.  Must be nice to go without a fairing. I would rather keep water and dirt out of my face some though   Around here, roads get very dirty.

I would also leave something on for a front brace, mainly since dirt will get in there as well and then act like sandpaper.

As for your seat. It sure does not for for a cafe. If you decide to lose it and not use the pan, let me know. If it is decent shape, I would buy it off you.

[Jugghead]

As for your seat. It sure does not for for a cafe.

  Not quite sure I understand this:"It sure does not for for a cafe."

[Bodi]

I strongly suggest some sort of fork brace. I tried with nothing, like you show, on a 400F. It was fine... until it suddenly decided to give me the wildest tank slapper shorts-soiling ride of my life. Nasty. If your fender is junk you can remove the bridge section and install it to have the stock brace again, or get a telefix or equivalent fork brace. The bike will be unsafe with nothing.
I think he meant the seat doesn't look right for a cafe. The suggestion to make a rounded back hump from the queen seat part is pretty good.

[333]

A fender will go a long way to keeping your engine cleaner.  Every puddle or moist dirt will be thrown into the fins and will be hell getting clean.  And it will act as some sort of a brace if it is metal.

[TwoTired]

A fork brace is recommended.  It helps keep the forks parrallel.  This is important leaned over in a turn and hitting a bump in the road, as the bike is more likely to change direction when you want it to do so least.

Cheers,

[jesusno2]

YES!! a fork brace is much needed. I run a fenderless early goldwing front end on my sohc and you can feel the flex in the tubes if i push it to hard in a turn or hard braking soon as i can find a damn brace to fit the gold winger forks it's going on! I personally hate the stock fenders on any type of mild cafe, custom or whatever ya wanna call it. I have seen a few with front fenders that were tastefull but i doubt they did much as far as bracing, being made from fiberglass.

[mrbreeze]

I am going fenderless for the first time here in a couple of weeks but will use the stock brace for now (bought an extra from Chadwick.......not butchering my perfect fender).........Terry.........I'm ready for one of your REAL fork braces!!!

[eurban]

YES!! a fork brace is much needed. I run a fenderless early goldwing front end on my sohc and you can feel the flex in the tubes if i push it to hard in a turn or hard braking soon as i can find a damn brace to fit the gold winger forks it's going on! I personally hate the stock fenders on any type of mild cafe, custom or whatever ya wanna call it. I have seen a few with front fenders that were tastefull but i doubt they did much as far as bracing, being made from fiberglass.

I have a aluminum fork brace designed to fit the early GL front end.  I thought I was going to use it till I actually slapped the stock GL fender on my 78 750K project (more of a muscle bike than a cafe) and really dug the look.  Tasteful??  Alot of the crap on so called cafes is far from it . . . .Let me know if want the brace . . . .

[jdigga]

Thanks, guys.  Hmm, maybe I won't go for a ride until I put that fender back on.

My original fender is in fine shape, but I took it off to facilitate removing the headlight ears and I liked how it looked without it. 

But function is more important than form any day.

[KB02]

And a note on cables...
   You're going to want to look around get some shorter cables. A lot of manufacturers will make custom cables. Just do a search for "shorter cables" and you should find some great information. I've done the same thing you have and just kept the stock cables. You really have to get creative with the routing and it doesn't always work. One thing of significant note is the speedo cable. If you are running without a fender, the cable is going to rub on the front wheel, eventually wearing through. - just something to keep in mind. I love the fenderless look, but it has it's problems.

Bike is lookin' good, though. Don't get me wrong. 

[kuyarico]

JD, your bike is looking great, but you are in need of a café seat bro.

[eldar]

Hey JD, for the time being, use your stock front fender BUT that little tiny brace that wraps around the back of the front tire, remove that. It is one little piece and all it does is stabilize the front fender on the back. It is not needed and you would be surprised at what a difference that little thing makes in looks.  I removed mine and havent looked back.

[kuyarico]

Eldar, do you have a pic to show us? thx

[martini]

I can only add to what the others have already said, without the fender you wil need a brace. I ran without either and also had some very scary tank slap wobble at about 80 miles an hour! On the same trip I also got caught out in the rain and without the fender, that is not a pleasant experience either. I had so much water being thrown up into my face that I could barely see. For what its worth.

[Schultz]

The stock fender should have a pretty robust brace built into it. If you remove the fender your bike's handling will certainly suffer. However, you can remove the brace from the fender and then attach a fiberglass  blade style fender to it. Aeorotech sells them. I think the brace is attached to the fender by a couple of rivets but I'm not too sure. It's been a while since I've seen one. I usually throw them away or put them up on eBay if they're clean. Another option is to use the style of fork brace that clamps to the two fork lowers. These work pretty well but if they're not clamped on tight and checked regularly they can actually come loose and end up twisting your forks which will make your bike handle horrible. No kidding, I've seen it happen a couple of times. The most effective style of fork brace is a hoop style which looks pretty agricultural but works well. Two plates are mounted to the fender mounts on the lowers and then a tube is bent from one plate to the other over the tire. One tube in front of the tire, one behind. I usually weld tabs to mount a fender onto the hoops. Works well, can interfere with dual discs. If you ride without a fender your tire will throw water straight up into the air and you'll run into it. It's annoying. I got caught in the rain once on a fenderless KZ1000 I had once. I had to stop at a gas station and pull and empty plastic Peak antifreeze jug out of the dumpster which I cut up and used for a fender. Worked so good I left it on there for a couple of weeks.

[snyquist53]

here what i did.  helps tons and looks neeto.  i got another but i got a 16 whell in front.  i don't know if it would work for a 19 or 18.  i'll check

[jdigga]

Let me see if I can respond to all the points brought up...

1) Seat: yes, I think this winter I'm going to pull off the cover and reshape the foam, probably following the Giuliari style.  My mom is pretty handy with the sewing machine; maybe I can talk her into making a new cover.

2) Cables: I've managed to route most of them decently with the exception of the brake line--that definitely needs to be a custom length.  I routed the speedo cable straight up through the left hole in the lower tree, then crossed over behind the headlight.  Hopefully those two bends in there aren't too severe for it.  Otherwise it's not touching the tire or wheel at all.

3) Brace types: I've seen the hoop style on XS650's and mountain bikes; I like that solution.  Just a matter of finding one, or fabbing one up like snyquist53 did.

4) Fenderless causes more problems than it's worth?: Safety and stability is definitely an issue, and so is inclement weather.  Maybe bobbing the fender would be the best compromise?

[eldar]

Well I can try to get a pic. Might have enough juice for a pic in my camera.

[jdigga]

I know what you're referring to, eldar.  I'll try that.

Which begs the next question--painting over chrome: proper prep, primer, paint?  

The theme here is "cheap bastard cafe"    The money I was going to spend on my bike, I just spent on fixing the A/C at the house. 

[DME]

Am i the only one who hasn´t had a near death experience without a forkbrace?

I´ve been running my 750 with a flimsy Rickman-replica front fender that is only attached with hoseclamps.
No problems.


Make sure your chassis is good:
- true wheels
- good wheelbearings
- steering head bearings
- swingarm bushes
- rear shocks
 etc...

I´ve been pushing my bike quite hard with not as much as a tendency to a wobble.
Certainly a forkbrace will stabilize the forks and that is good, but I don´t agree that a CB750 is a deathtrap without one.

Personally I don´t like the look of them.

Cheers
Dan

[dustyc]

Here is a pic of mine without the fender braces until Eldar gets his.  (I'm still working on getting the bike where I want it. I know she's not beautiful, but she rides for now.)

[chud]

I've ridden my 750 for the last year without a front fender or brace and have had no scary wobbles.  Maybe I'll see if i can rig up a brace after reading these stories though.

[kuyarico]

Nice work on that fender and bike in general.

[Al_Aaraaf]

I just recently removed the fender and kept the stock brace. I was surprised to see it had a chrome finish on all surfaces. It was a simple job-- just take a cutting tool to the 4 rivets holding the fender to the brace. A little careful prying and it all snaps loose. I like the slightly trashy look of the stock brace on the bike, and it keeps the brake line bracket in place. It's a bit flimsy in my opinion though. As soon as my other little projects are finished up, I'm sure I'll buy another.

[jdigga]

When I put the fender back on without that lower horizontal brace piece, I noticed the fender was a bit floppy.  Does it really provide that much extra rigidity?

[Al_Aaraaf]

When I put the fender back on without that lower horizontal brace piece, I noticed the fender was a bit floppy.  Does it really provide that much extra rigidity?

Well, it seems to me the brace doesn't need to be that stiff after all, since its primary function is to keep the struts from twisting and torquing around each other. As far as the floppy fender goes, I'm sure lopping three inches off each end, like eldar did, would go a long way.

By the way, what the hell do you call a rooster tail that's coming off the front tire? A rooster head? If I were any more juvenile, I'd call it something else.

[eldar]

Actually I did NOT cut anything off my fender. I got a couple extra washers for the side with the rubber grommets and used those to provide some extra rigidity. yes it does flex some but if I remove the rubber grommets, it would be much more rigid. I do not have an issue with it hitting my tire though. I will try to get a pic tomorrow. I got to see Transformers tonight!!!!! And it seriously kicked some ASS!!!!

[cbr-eric]

Thanks, looked like this when it was given to me...

Thats a sweet luggage rack   you could carry a rebel on the back of that thing in case the cb ran out of gas   nice work on the transformation for sure!
back on topic, the brace is a very good idea to have, even if you chop all the fender away, leave something as a brace. looks good with the fender though, I think