Just wanting to know how common it is that the rear section of the front fender melts.
I assume it's due to extended road time and heat from the pipes.
Any way to prevent this from happening to a replacement fender?
Jet Hot the pipes maybe?
Thanks for your input.
The fender melts during warm up with the bike sitting still and the wheel turned straight forward. In this position the fender is closest to the heat/pipes. When the bike is moving air is forcing nearly all the heat rearward, away from the fender. I have about 30 to 40K miles on my 86' in the South West (SoCal), long iron butt rides to San Jose and back in hot weather. I always have my wheel turned during warm up, no melted fender yet. If you perform long warm ups you might want to get some floor fans to help air cool a non-moving bike.
Mine is melted a little too. Best thing to do is ignore it and ride the bike. :drinks:
Quote from: junkyardroad on March 21, 2010, 09:15:24 PM
Mine is melted a little too. Best thing to do is ignore it and ride the bike. :drinks:
Mine is melted to the point that is rubbing the tire badly so I have cut the lower black section off.
Crude but effective, but I'm still looking for a nice replacement.
Quote from: 1tinindian on March 21, 2010, 11:25:43 PM
Quote from: junkyardroad on March 21, 2010, 09:15:24 PM
Mine is melted a little too. Best thing to do is ignore it and ride the bike. :drinks:
Mine is melted to the point that is rubbing the tire badly so I have cut the lower black section off.
Crude but effective, but I'm still looking for a nice replacement.
Cutting the rear part of the fender will get the plastic parts a little further from the pipes, less likely to melt it any more. Just don't melt your front tire. :empathy2:
Has anyone tried removing the fender and heating it slightly with a heat gun, then forming it back into shape?
p.s. be very careful with the heat
Yep, turn your wheel all the way to the left when you warm up... and.... when you park after a ride.
DO not leave your wheel straight.
I notice that I never had the heat problem with my oem double walled header on my '84, but I did melt the fender on my '92 with the Kerker. Fortunately I could still buy a new '92 fender from Yamaha.