Broken Rear fender supports (again) RS

[Pincushion]

Anyone have a set of rear fender support brackets that they want to relocate to California? I know some owners have removed the rear fender all together, if that is the case, let me take those old support brackets off your hands.
I am now in need of my third set, since my current set is showing cracks, (first set replaced under warrantee at 20K miles)
I now have 57K miles and this set is nearly shot.

Does anyone have a fix for this (other than removing them all together)

Thanks in advance for your help.
-George

[Lamonster]

I had good luck just welding them back up. :doorag:

[Pincushion]

Lamont,
Is that something any welding shop can do?
Do you have any recommendations here in San Diego?

Or I can ship them to you? I understand you are the MASTER Welder ;)

[Lamonster]

Pretty much any weld shop can do it for you. You might call GS Parsons and tell them you have a small welding job and ask if they can recommend anyone in your area.

[flamingobabe]

we welded mine back together...works great

[coz]

Anyone have a set of rear fender support brackets that they want to relocate to California? I know some owners have removed the rear fender all together, if that is the case, let me take those old support brackets off your hands.
I am now in need of my third set, since my current set is showing cracks, (first set replaced under warrantee at 20K miles)
I now have 57K miles and this set is nearly shot.

Does anyone have a fix for this (other than removing them all together)

Thanks in advance for your help.
-George
could you post some pics of the cracks? i'd like to see what to keep an eye on. i agree, welding them would be the cheap and easy solution.:thumbup:

[Pincushion]

I will try to get some picture up tomorrow.

[hotglue]

we welded mine back together...works great

WE????? LOL.... pulled the supports, cleaned off the paint, dye/penetrant to find the ends of the cracks, drill the ends of the cracks to keep them from propagating..... welded them up, repainted and put them back on.


WE???????:shemademe_smilie::clap:

[Blue Star]

WE????? LOL.... pulled the supports, cleaned off the paint, dye/penetrant to find the ends of the cracks, drill the ends of the cracks to keep them from propagating..... welded them up, repainted and put them back on.


WE???????:shemademe_smilie::clap:

Somebody had to watch :roflblack:

[Neez]

Bouncing up and down on the trailing arm cracks them up. I got tired of it so I did a bit of eye-ball engineering and relocated the fender to hang from above, like a motorcycle fender. Added a third brakelight while I was at it. It's been a while since I did it and I have had no problem with it since.

[sabunim5]

Interesting solution mounting the fender from above. Different machines seem to have different harmonics and of course we all drive a little different. I know some machines with a lot more miles that have had no cracking at all and others that have less miles and have given up and gone fenderless. I don't want to give up my rear fender as that might get my wife wet. If Mama is not happy nobody is happy. My first cracked set got replaced under warranty. The second cracked set got the big NO from BRP. I welded mine as Lamont did, but I also reinforced them on the inside and did two other things. 1. Reduced the weight that the brackets have to carry in three ways A. I cut out as much metal as possible from the metal plate under the fender B. removed the aftermarket lighted license plate frame I was using and C. removed the stock reflector/tag light, replacing both lights with lightweight LED tail/brake/tag light units. 2. I reoriented my mounting bolts so that the head of the bolt is on the inside of the fender and have "acorn" nuts on the outside of the fender. We shall see if this gets me any more miles before they crack again; if they do. If they crack again I going to look into the mounting from above option that you did, a lot more seriously. Always good to see people thinking out of the box and coming up with novel solutions. Thanks. :thumbup:
I forgot, I also lowered my rear tire air pressure.

[Pincushion]

WE????? LOL.... pulled the supports, cleaned off the paint, dye/penetrant to find the ends of the cracks, drill the ends of the cracks to keep them from propagating..... welded them up, repainted and put them back on.


WE???????:shemademe_smilie::clap:

I'm sending mine to you!

[goeasy]

I bought a pre-owned 2008 RS about 16 months ago. The bike has Corbin saddle bags attached which cover the supports. I would check the bolts to make sure they were tight but never thought about taking off the mud guard and checking the supports. This past Thursday the whole support plate area disintegrated while returning from the dealer after having the fuel vent hose replaced. The mud guard did some damage to the tire, part of the wiring harness along the swing arm and the rear fender itself. As an added bonus the bike went into limp home mode, threw ABS, VSS and DPS error messages, has no brake lights and only one headlight will work. BRP is sticking to the story that this is not covered under the BEST warranty. Do you guys have any idea how much I should expect repairs to run? Do you folks have any suggestions (other than walking everywhere I need to get to)?

[docdoru]

BRP is sticking to the story that this is not covered under the BEST warranty.
If it was not a manufacturer design flaw, why they did "this" on the 2013 models? :lecturef_smilie:

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm136/docdoru/20121110_121237.jpg

[Kmort44]

"If it was not a manufacturer design flaw, why they did "this" on the 2013 models? :lecturef_smilie:"

I agree with you on this one, why modify the bracket if there isn't a problem, that's an admission if I ever heard one! I'm surprised that BRP wouldn't cover this item as a recall before someone gets hurt by a broken bracket getting trapped in the rear wheel and causing an injury. If someone would get hurt its been well documented right here on SpyderLovers.
Not a attorney, just a SpyderLover who does what is right! (most of the time;))

Love my Spyder

[aka1004]

Brp covers it, I don't know if there ever was a case which brp didn't cover this. Mine was replaced twice and whole swing arm because one of tab broke, on Brp.
It's the Best that wouldn't cover this. Isn't Best warranty offered by a third party vendor?

By the way, mine broke again but my warranty expired so I just trimmed bracket to retain the upper belt guard and going fender less.

I think parts were like $500 and its a pretty easy install. Put fender and brackets together, undo upper belt guard if not done do already then it's just 2 bolts on each side(nuts are a bit$h to get to :)),reconnect the license plate light. Cost will be much less if you can still use the fender itself. As far as your fault light goes, resetting ecu most likely will get rid of it. I disconnected negative post over night get rid of few fault lights.

AND check headlight bulb??? Since only one is out.
I am guessing shorted wire caused a havoc.

[Tx web rider]

mine are bad also cracked in several places

[DrewNJ]

Anyone try adding the support pieces to their fender?
It's part #'s
705006070 and 705006136

[Spyder Chief]

My wife used to work for a small welding company in El Cajon. They are good welders but it might be too small of a job for them; however they would have good referrals.
H & R Steel1710 Magnolia Ave, El Cajon
(619) 562-1840 (tel:(619) 562-1840)

[PistonBlown]

Things that are supposed to help stop this problem:

Make sure you have a metal triangular bracket behind the supports on each side (my 2011 RS does but apparently some don't).
Regularly check all related bolts are very tight including those that hold the number plate
Use locking nuts AND Loctite thread locker on all
Reduce the size of the rear light
Reduce size/weight of number plate
Pack out with washers between the supports and where they mount to remove any 'spring' when you loosen the bolts


The idea of the last item is to try and remove the inward stress on the stays - the suggestion is that it's this combined with the vibration causes the problem. There is supposed to be some revised dealer instructions from BRP on this. Someone on the NZ forum said they had a copy but have not posted it yet, if they do I'll stick a copy on this site as well.

I know that numerous people have said BRP have replaced theirs even out of warranty so that may be worth a go.