Designing a new rear fender - winter project

Idaho Red Rocket 3 said:
Nothing wrong with this. Looks good. If we wanted to commission you like an artist to make 1 of these fender extender front kits, how much would you need ?
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Thank you for your positive comments.
Regarding the question....I think it's not a feasible option. The cost for me to produce these things wouldn't be low enough for anyone to accept.
For the numbers to get anywhere close to something reasonable i'd need to invest into making a hundred or so, at least. I don't have the time or the facilities to be making serial production so that means subcontracting out to a company that has production capability. That in turn, just makes things complicated.
The best solution from my point of view would be to sell the cad data and let someone else produce it without me being involved.
 
Gimlet said:
I think it looks fine. Of course, your bodywork is red but mine is black. If I had the same arrangement on mine, with a black extender and the wire stabilisers blacked out in some way as well, I don't think you'd even see it without looking hard.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your positive comments.
I agree with the point about blacking out the rod. I think it would help to reduce it's appearance. I would do just that but I'm not sure how to do it at the moment.
Paint will scratch off over time, I reckon. Powder coat would be more durable, but not worth the cost/effort unless i'm getting other parts done.
Hmm....I do have a client over in Scandinavia that has a powder coat facility, so that could be an option. I'm sure they would put it through the line for me when i'm visiting some time. Food for thought.

Has anyone out there got any suggestions on how to make stainless go black?
 
Blacken it with heat shrink tubing. I have done this with other parts over the years and it holds up well.

Found this post and read through it...**** this is some really nice professional looking mods that follow Chip Foose philosophy... it should look like the factor designed it to be there. You have done just that!
 
I had the same idea for the fender, but dont have the 3D printer. I bought a 9" wide fender on ebay and cut the sides and end off, then just got 4 long bolts to hold it in place. I've done this twice now as a lady crunched me last year, she said she thought the light was green. The little screw on the fender holds the wiring. You can see it in action on this nice video journeyman made at the last R3 rally I went to in '23, especially at 2:08

 
I wouldn't worry too much about the stainless struts. There are other polished stainless highlights on the Rocket anyway so those little bits don't look out of place.
I think if the extender was painted the same colour as the fender that would tie it in enough to make it look factory. Maybe with black rather than stainless fasteners. Though stainless is more practical.

I went through a phase a few years ago of replacing all the external black and anodised fasteners I could with stainless, partly for practicality to prevent the dreaded ferrous/non-ferrous seizing and partly to create a visual contrast. But that was back in the day when you could buy a vast bucket of assorted stainless facteners through the classifieds in Back Street Heros for about £50. Going full stainless is an expensive business now.

Edit: if you really want to black out the stainless struts, ceramic coating will work.
 
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@509GT @Gimlet
Thanks for the suggestions and feedback.
Much appreciated.

I think the shinkwrap idea is a really good one. ...... Simple, low cost & effective.....
Now why didn't I think of that?....Lol... Just goes to show, 'no man is an island'.

I'll do a test on an off-cut of wire and evaluate the end result.

That's the great thing about forums like this.
Share ideas, focus minds, get stuff done, educate & build interest in all aspects of improving, maintaining and riding these wonderful bikes.
 


Great minds think alike !
 
Hi, this has inspired me to create a similar rack for my R as well. Thanks a lot.
I'm quite late to this thread, but I want to ask what did you do about the space underneath the rack. After removing the infills, looks like there is a wide gap. Did you put something there to keep water out for ride in the rains ?
 
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