You guys ever pick up one of those fenders not on the bike? Not sure where all this talk of cheap tin metal is coming from, the fender on my 2005 is heavy and sturdy. That said back to the OP, lots of guys running NO fender and still alive to tell the story. I wouldn't sweat it one way or the other. But if concerned, look for something similar in steel. Good luck.

 

Exactly! The pre-Rushmores WERE heavy-duty and sturdy. The new design is very thin, light and weak in comparison. Just something the MoCo can apply their orange-peel paint finishes to and call it good.

Neither one provides any real bracing, though.

 

I may not have worded my response correctly. The fender shown, is a Klockwerks "Slicer" front fender. It is at least 2-3 times thicker/stronger than the cheap *** stock fender it replaced.

 

No question the fender off my 2016 is light. I guess I was just being optimistic that maybe there was some engineering involved - reinforced around the mounting points. Silly thinking I guess.

The Klockworks fender does look very nice. I'll have a look. Thanks!

 

Perhaps one like this, if made for touring models:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RSD-Tracker-...arley-Davidson

I do feel that mine did make a difference.

 

I saw that, but what I read on R Sand's website is that it is designed for those who completely remove the front fender. Don't think I could squeeze it between a fender and the sliders. Thanks though.

Moot at this point. Just clicked 'buy' on the Klock werks 'level' fender on Revzilla.com. Looks perfect. Will have to add paint and clear to the cost, but I paid a body shop $200 to paint a Dyna tank once, and they did a perfect job. So I expect to pay the same. All in, it'll still be less then the HD wrap fender I was also looking at.

I'll post a photo when it's done. Pretty excited. The one thing I never liked on my bike is the clunky front fender.

This (mine'll be black)

 

I don't know if you've ordered the new fender yet, but, I forgot to mention that I bought mine from TheFactoryMatch.com They painted it and pin stripped it for me, and it is perfect.

 

It's a shame I missed this. Oh well. Ordered the fender from Revzilla and paid a local shop $100 to paint it. Just got it back today. They only sprayed it this morning (baked it of course) so I'm going to let it sit overnight and install it tomorrow.



What's interesting is that the fender comes with about 5/16 thick spacers that go between the fender and the fork. I wonder if I could use one of the previously mentioned RSD fork braces instead of the spacer, or use some washers to make up any difference in thickness.



Could have the best of both worlds - more rigid fender AND a fork brace.

Hmm...

 

yeah, I used to put fork braces on my bikes. I then figured out I simply didn't push the bikes hard enough to notice...and these were sport bikes I ran pretty hard (on the street, not track). No way I'd ever notice a fork brace the way I ride my Ltd. (as I'm cruising/touring and not ballz out red-lining). Pretty sure 99% of the riders here wouldn't notice one way or the other either.

Lol at Klock Werks (or their dealer) claiming their steel fender acts like a fork brace. These are the same people that claim their Flare windshield adds downforce to the front end for improved stability. Maybe if you're a highly skilled pro racing at land speed records on the salt flats you might notice but not in my world, not how I ride. But hey...whatever. There's always something to spend your excess cash on I guess.

 

True. I don't generally push the road glide. The Low Rider i definitely push more offer. But the road glide does get some action once in a while. I figure it's like a gun: I'd rather have it and not need it, then need it and not have it...