Both the front & rear mudflaps on my machine keep alot of dirt off of the machine, alot. Maybe because they are made out or heavy rigid leather and only 1" off of the ground.

For the front one, I measured all the way around the fender skirt and that's how I got the width of the leather. Then measure from the ground to the skirt for length, minus 1/2" to keep off of the ground. The other 1/2" goes inside the skirt. Then take the skirt off (or not, up to you) drill small holes along bottom and attach with stainless nuts, bolts & washers.

I think by wrapping the front mudflap all the way around it helps more catching the dirt. I do not have an oil cooler, but I'm sure this would help keep the crap off of it.

Pic attached of rear. As you can see, I'm pretty well covered.

 

A while back I recall seeing a stainless steel mesh guard that fit on the down-tubes on the front end of your bike and I thought that was a very cool idea, and it cost right at $100 bux, but I haven't seen one for a while. I looked on ebay and could no longer find it, but that would be the ticket. I wished that I would have bought one now..
Anybody know what I'm talkin' about?

 

No but that sounds interesting. There are a lot of very creative people on here, maybe if we keep this thread alive long enough, we will get some good ideas and suggestions. I literally have a silver spot on my oil cooler, about 2 1/2 in diameter, where the paint is worn off from being peppered by road grit, not to mention all the little gravel pieces stuck in the fins.

 

A friend of mine cut the top off an old black leather boot, turned it upside down, and made a nice mud flap. Cost him nothing except a couple of pop rivets to put it on. It looks like a custom piece with a nice stitching on the down side.