Input please...

The Butcher · #1 12-07-2006, 12:19 AM

Not sure if you guys can help me...I am custom building a 76 Ironhead into a flat track/cafe racer-type look. I have no front fender and am going to be installing clip-on hadlebars right under the upper tree for that low, stocky look. Now here is the tricky part...I am thinking of eliminating the rear fender and the rear fender struts....I have a sprung solo seat, so no need for the fender for that purpose. It has rigid struts for shocks and I was wondering if any of you have chopped an Ironhead to this extent and how it looks. I can't seem to fuly vision it, but I think it would look tough. With the style whe has going so far, she has almost that street-fighter/little pitbull look and I think the absence of a rear fender would really set it off. (By the way, as far as the tail light I can custom side-mount it to one of the rigid struts........
Any thoughts?

pococj · #2 12-07-2006, 12:34 AM

Personal opinions abound, and all of 'em stink, but mine!

I don't care for the no-fender look on the rear. I do like the looks with a short one, though. I think that even an extra-short one would look better than none. What about a ribbed one that started at about 3 o'clock, and stopped at about 1 o'clock, or maybe even shorter?

The Butcher · #3 12-07-2006, 12:42 AM

Pococj....I am not sure about what you mean....can you give me an example or attach a pic? I would like to send a picture of it as she sits now with a chopped rear fender, but it tells me my file is too large and I don't know how to adjust it.....do you know how I can attach it?

piniongear · #4 12-07-2006, 01:12 AM

Hey Gino...
I think what poco is talking about is something like the crude sketch I drew up and scanned here (See below)
I have to agree with poco on that fender business. The old school way to treat a rear fender is something similar to which I have tried to depict on the crude sketch. I saw a panhead up close and personal awhile back and the guy was riding it and it had no rear or front fender. The bike looked anything but good to me. OK, he was trying to make it as rat as possible, but something about having no fenders on his scooter just went over the top with me. I have seen no fenders before many years back, and they look as bad now as they did then. By Bad, I mean not bad as in bad but rather bad as in very poorly built.
It makes me wonder....Does the guy even own fenders for his ride? I think he must not because the machine just looks like he lacks something (besides the missing tin). As usual, to each their own, but I gotta draw the line there..............Blake

[IMG]local://upfiles/8331/E7A9780F768345F9B54461484AC995D8.jpg[/IMG]

The Butcher · #5 12-07-2006, 01:23 AM

I respect those opinions....If I do chop up a fender like what you fellas are saying, I may just still do the side-mounted rear tailight and keep the rear fender clean and plain. I have a sparto tailight assembly on it now with a 59 Caddy tailight lens and it makes that rear end look kind of "tall" or something. Maybe I am just out of my mind! I can't stop thinking about customizing and making it different than anything else out there. piniongear....thanks for the sketch, another kind gesture. How's the shoulder?

piniongear · #6 12-07-2006, 02:49 AM

Gino....
Yes, I think if you chop the fender (in any manner you desire) you are going to be happy having some kind of fender(s) on the machine. The side mount tailight will work, and especially with a bobbed rear tin. I have seen machines without a front fender, and some really look good. But no rear fender has always failed to leave me with good feelings.
I know from experience that chopping a fender is best done in small bites. You can always remove more, but it is a real pain if you suddenly find you have gone too short.
I recently saw a Dyna post over on that page that had a 21 inch front wheel on it, installed to replace the 19 that came on the machine. This bike has a narrowglide front end, but something looks really good (and different) about it. What the heck is the reason?
I ask the gent about some details because I would like to put one on my Dyna. It turns out that he did not replace the 19 inch fender. The 21 inch wheel has about a 1 inch difference in diameter over the 19, so the top of the tire was 1/2 inch deeper into that fender. It filled the air space up yet left plenty room for clearance. That was the reason it looked so different to me. Most 21 inch wheels I have seen on FX machines sit in a pair of wideglide forks. Ho-Hum. Little details can have a great overall effect on the look of a finished scooter.

This reminds me of when I was a kid and rode BSA twins. We would always remove the factory fenders, which were big boxy looking things and replace them with the $8 aluminum fenders. These came undrilled and so you put them where you wanted them and chopped them as you desired. Where to end the fender was always a challenge to me.
I had a 1954 BSA Road Rocket at the time. This 650cc twin was a really nice bike and I was doing the aluminum fender change out. I too wanted something that looked different......so-o-o-o....I took the 4.00 x 19 inch knobby off the rear rim and mounted it up front. And yes, I then took off the 3.00 x 19 ribbed tire and stuck it on back.
Well, that swap made it look different than ANY OTHER bike I had ever seen. I said different, not good. I had too run with it for a while because my pride would not let me admit to my buddies that I had made a huge mistake. It sure would lay a lo-ong strip of rubber though!
So, I guess moral of story is...be different, but be careful at the same time.

Shoulder is doing well, thank you. Stitches were pulled today and three weeks of physical theraphy began today...........B.

The Butcher · #7 12-07-2006, 09:26 AM

B...
I appreciate your imput, as always and I think the rear fender will stay (in some shape or form).....Glad the shoulder is better and hope to talk more soon.

83XLX · #8 12-07-2006, 10:57 AM

Here are a couple of pics I lifted from www.sportster.org - my preferred look for bobbed 70's Sportster rear fenders (except the tail light on the second pic!).

[IMG]local://upfiles/21410/6951CDE8E762422B9167B058B32A10B3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/21410/C8DE04B768EC4D1C8B75E6DEEA1617EA.jpg[/IMG]

fdny37 · #9 12-07-2006, 06:13 PM

I'd hate to think about what would happen if you slip off the seat with no rear fender. Just not a good idea.

pococj · #10 12-07-2006, 08:41 PM

Here's more of what I had in mind. This fender on my old '72 CH runs from the top frame rails to just barely past 12 o'clock. If I were building what you are, I think I'd probably start about 8 or 9 o'clock and stop at 11 or maybe 11:30.

Check out Image Shack. It's a picture hosting site. You upload your pictures to the site, then you can link to them when you want to post them on a forum. They have an automatic resizer available when you upload, too.