Topic: Front fenders/ fork braces

[Floshenbarnical]

I have a 77 F2 cafe with no front fender, for obvious previous owner reasons, nor do I have a fork brace. I don't feel the stock fender matches the look of my bike, although it is a beautiful part in its own right.

Option 1: buy reputable fork brace and make custom fender out of fiberglass to be mounted on underside of fork brace.
Option 2: Buy old stock fender, and cut off the fender part leaving the bracket/ brace section, and attach custom fender to that.

I prefer option 2 for cost and look. My question: will the bracket/ brace section provide enough stability to act as a fork brace? Or does the bracing effect of the stock fender rely on having the rest of the fender attached to it?

Thanks friends

[Tracksnblades1]

I think you’ve already got it figured out…

You know engineers, I’m going with the sum of the total (parts)..

[Floshenbarnical]

I think you’ve already got it figured out…

You know engineers, I’m going with the sum of the total (parts)..

I don't have it figured out, lol, hence the question

[BenelliSEI]

In theory the riveted on fender and single rear brace do add some rigidity to the “fork brace” bracket. In reality it might be +10-15%. Maybe trim the fender off and leave the section directly above the brace in place?

If your new fender doesn’t hide it, knock it off and move on. You could always search for a bolt on brace and clamp it on (above your fender) later. Good luck.

[Rookster]

If the fender is mounted through grommets on one or both sides then it does not offer any stiffness to the front end.  If it is solid mounted then it offers some stiffness to the front end.  I don't know anything about the K7/8 bikes but the 73 on K bikes used grommets to hold one side of the fender bracket to the fork leg.  Scottly  did some testing on this and can give you actual data about grommet v no grommet.  You can also just eliminate the grommets and use larger washers to hold the fender to the fork.   This mod adds the stiffness back in to the front end. 

With all of this said a proper fork brace that is installed correctly will give you a much stiffer front end than anything Honda did.   Frank designed an egli style fork brace that you could make at home.  They aren't the best looking braces but they work.  Here's his drawing and a picture of it on one of his bikes.





Scott

[Floshenbarnical]

Thanks for the replies everyone. My plan is to try butchering a #$%*ty old fender and keeping the piece of the fender that appears to be welded to the bracket, and then attach a fiberglass fender to that. I will then give it the old wheel-between-the-knees dance to see how it worked. If it’s not noticeable I will just get a good fork brace. A clapped-out fender is like $39 on eBay, lol.

My only issue so far is actually finding a fork brace to fit the 77 F2. I know FFTP and others have them but none of them seem to match my bike in their product descriptions.

[Don R]

 They don't have the fork braces anymore. I found the Italian source and they don't list them either. There is one made in England though. 

[Deltarider]

Caution. It has been decades and decades, that I read about mixed results with braces in a German motormagazine. Some claimed improvement, some no change and others reported things got worse...

[stocky]

I chopped two equal section off both sides of the brace for it to sit lower, shortened the front and back and trimmed the sides of the fender. 





A more current picture of the ride.

[grcamna2]

Have you considered doubling-up on the fender mount by welding two together? get another fender mount from a donor and fit it underneath your original. 

[Floshenbarnical]

I chopped two equal section off both sides of the brace for it to sit lower, shortened the front and back and trimmed the sides of the fender. 





A more current picture of the ride.

Haha, why didn’t I think of shaping and painting a stock fender??? I’m doing this.

[Gurp]

great looking bike.
Im not sure the difference in for spacing if any between the 500/550 and the 750 but i have a extra 550 fork brace atm