Mudguard solution sought.

[stinkwheel]

Right. Got a set of 17" cast wheels fitted to my KLE500. Need to find some way of fitting a front mudguard. As ever with custom bike making, there are difficulties.

Options and problems:
use standard lugs Too close to front tyre, no room (have to deflate tyre to get wheel out past them).
fit high level guard on bottom yoke No mounting points, lack of clearance between bottom yoke and radiator.
Fit fork brace with attached mudguard Seems the most elegant solution. Difficulty sourcing one, I think a telefix KLR one should fit but not certain. They are also £90 and that seems a bit steep for the amount of material/engineering in one.

Here's a picture of the bike:
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[G]

Could you not make some risers that go up from the standard lugs?

Race bikes often have similar problems when higher profile front tyres are used, though it usually just means you have a sligtly thinner mudguard .

[stinkwheel]

Not really, there is about 4mm clearance between the sidewall of the tyre and the casting of the lug, not even enough room for the head of a bolt. As I say, you couldn't remove the wheel without deflating the tyre to get it past the lugs.

I don't really want to start grinding down the lugs, I have thus far managed to avoid doing anything that would prevent me putting the bike back to standard.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[stevo as b4]

A high mount front gaurd seems to be the only solution i would say, and that would look the best IMO. Have you got a fork brace for it? if so what type is it and where did you get it? Im thinking of putting a brace on my KMX200 when i supermoto it, as im going to use a KLE500 disc and possibly the caliper, and i dont want my forks twisting from the effects of a decent front brake.

[lilredmachine]

Hmm.. yeah, you gotta go high. There is simply no room to have a low level front mudguard and as Steve said, it would look the best.
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.

[stinkwheel]

https://www.dual-star.com/index2/Images%20JPG/Fork%20Brace%20Rear%20Left%20Sm.jpg

I want that one!

But they are in the USA
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Aikman666]

Hmmm

I have a cunning plan. What you need is a steel tube the length of your fork and big enough so it will fit over it (the height you want your muddy to go up to) Cut it down the middle to produce two halfs. Now drill a hole so that they can be held over the forks by your wheel axel. Then you can weld brakets onto this new peice of metal, and bolt your new muddy onto that! I dont see why it shouldent work. Post back if you dont get what i mean!
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Will work for petrol
My Design Blog

[stinkwheel]

It is an interesting idea. I suspect it would add a lot of unsprung weight to the bike though and act as a bit of a corrosion trap. The other problem is that the fixing will be a long way from the mudguard itself. At 115mph, there is quite a lot of force applied to the mudguard by the wind blast, if the thing managed to pivot itself round, I would be in trouble.

I did consider a similar thing (making a bracket attaching to the spindle) but discarded the idea due to the reason mentioned above (ie the mounting being too far from the point of force).

Keep them coming though.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[map]

[G]

I was wondering about something like a jubilee clip on either fork leg. Get decent ones and do 'em up tight (maybe with some rubber inside to add grip and stop it damaging the fork etc)

Could have some metal acting as a bracket with bolt holes and protrusions to be stuck inside the jubilee clip.

Alternatively, if you have a friendly local CNC'er, could you not get a brace made up fairly cheaply?
(Or even get it made up from a block of solid metal with a big metal drill of some kind with out CNC stuff.)

[stinkwheel]

No using the lugs, out of the question. I am maybe not making myself clear, there is a 4mm gap between the lugs and the tyre sidewall, no way that you could even get a bit of alloy plate in there, never mind a bolt.

G. Not bad, maybe use exhaust clamps? I have a friendly local machinist (who only charged me £50 to make up two wheel spacers and the billet alloy bracket to move the brake calliper) but he is very busy just now.

I could make a brace myself but you really need a milling machine to take-out a hole that big in alloy.

Another idea I had was that I could use a hole-saw and make some clamps out of a block of nylon using my own tools, just not sure where I would get a big block of nylon. Make two like in the picture then bolt an alloy plate between them. No reason why that shouldn't both brace the forks and hold a mudguard.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[G]

[byke95]

This is like watching an episode of The Crystal Maze, I can't wait to see if Stinkwheel can figure out the problem!

Hope this doesn't seem like a pointless (aka redundant) post: unfortunately I don't posess the handyman skills to come up something productive but if the stress of it all gets to you Stinkwheel just give me a shout and I'll sort you out with some therapy

Good luck!

[map]

[stinkwheel]

I taker your point Map and it is valid. The actual cost is not a major issue. I would pay £90 for a micron fork brace or something like the one in the picture I posted above, they are elegantly engineered and well finished.

It is just that I have looked at the telefix ones (which is all that seems to be available 'off the shelf' in this country) and they do not seem to me to be of a standard that justifies the price. I will spend money but I will not spend more than I think something is worth. I'm going to the breakers this weekend to see if they have a micron one that will modify to fit.

See what I mean?
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[cagiva gezzer]

[map]

[stinkwheel]

Right. Found someone who will make me some brace clamps out of billet as a homer. Simple design.

I will try to get an ascerbis mudguard like my MZ had. Failing that an early RGV250 or GSX600 one should go on there.

EDIT: I have noticed that the overall length of the whole block is wrong on my drawing
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.