G
Guyver
Guest
I should have done a step by step in progress photo montage; however, I didn't so here is a work-up after I was done. The goal was to get rid of the rear fender skirt on my GS1150ES along with the outrigger style turn signals and still retain the ability to replace them. I also wanted no modifications to the outward appearance if the original set-up were ever reinstalled. So here is what I came up with:
First after looking around for what would work I used the plastic rear fender off a 1985 Yamaha XT600 Enduro. I just happened to have a bunch of spare parts after buying my son the Enduro and when I saw the fender I knew it could work. I had to cut and shave it to fit properly yet it was the perfect width and arc to fit snugly under the rear seat and tuck in under the taillight assembly. In the picture you can see on the sides that the new inner fender actually had flush portions with a mount hole that lined right up to the original inner fender mounts. With slight trimming the rear of the fender was made to follow the bottom of the taillight assembly line for line.
Once it was cut and trimmed I installed it with the hardware you see. I then made a license plate mount out of a T-strap from the hardware store and secured it to the new inner fender with hardware and fender washers for a wide surface grip. Next I cut and shaped two turn signal mounts out of some steel strapping from the hardware store and after painting them I mounted them between the grab rail and the frame utilizing the grab rail allen bolts that were already in place. I had to grind the rear frame rails along the bottom so they would remain out of view after the conversion was done. I didn't have to take off much, just a little and it won't affect the strength of the rails at all.
After some further tweaking and testing I got it all to where I liked it. Now the bike looks a lot different. I thought about picking up a front fender from a YZ490 and reworking this to make a little fender protrude from under the taillight; however, I like how this came out. It looks cool to me.
First after looking around for what would work I used the plastic rear fender off a 1985 Yamaha XT600 Enduro. I just happened to have a bunch of spare parts after buying my son the Enduro and when I saw the fender I knew it could work. I had to cut and shave it to fit properly yet it was the perfect width and arc to fit snugly under the rear seat and tuck in under the taillight assembly. In the picture you can see on the sides that the new inner fender actually had flush portions with a mount hole that lined right up to the original inner fender mounts. With slight trimming the rear of the fender was made to follow the bottom of the taillight assembly line for line.
Once it was cut and trimmed I installed it with the hardware you see. I then made a license plate mount out of a T-strap from the hardware store and secured it to the new inner fender with hardware and fender washers for a wide surface grip. Next I cut and shaped two turn signal mounts out of some steel strapping from the hardware store and after painting them I mounted them between the grab rail and the frame utilizing the grab rail allen bolts that were already in place. I had to grind the rear frame rails along the bottom so they would remain out of view after the conversion was done. I didn't have to take off much, just a little and it won't affect the strength of the rails at all.
After some further tweaking and testing I got it all to where I liked it. Now the bike looks a lot different. I thought about picking up a front fender from a YZ490 and reworking this to make a little fender protrude from under the taillight; however, I like how this came out. It looks cool to me.
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