Mudguard not strong enough

[biker1]

New thread to give a lead on a problem we have had in Ireland and others have had previously.
At the join between the mudguard and its side support, after some time, or perhaps rough road conditions, the mudguard starts to crack along the seam. This is both from the bottom upwards and from the top downwards. patirish brought up this issue recently with me and we checked both bikes and sure enough, cracks on both of them.
Since then, both mudguards and side brackets have been removed and are currently with a panel beater who is going to weld a support in the corner area to strengthen the corner and avoid further splitting.
I have seen threads before about guys who have had their mudguards fall off, either on one side, or fall off completely.
Have a look at your own bike for this problem and take action if you see any metal splitting at the intersection. It may save you from a serious problem in the future.

 

[SpyderWolf]

By mud guard, are you referring to the rear fender and the brackets that hold it on cracking? Unfortunately, that is an issue that many on here know very well.

 

[Dudley]

Loose nuts/bolts contribute to the cracking. The 2 sections of the mud guard and the bracket need to be absolutely tight to make them work as one piece. When loose, the vibrations will cause metal fatigue and the metal will crack. I had that happen on our 2008 SE5 and the tech told me about the nuts/bolts. I would suggest putting lock nuts and tighten them really hard. After that, check them every 5000 miles.

 

[musicarcade]

Thanks for the suggestion Dudley!:thumbup:

 

[109spyder]

Yes I know it's an old post, I just discovered this today, looking at the shadow of the bike while riding, the back guard was bouncing around, sure enough it was split both sides. I'll weld it up at work next week.
Ive only got 12000 kms on my cicyle

 

[PistonBlown]

Yes I know it's an old post, I just discovered this today, looking at the shadow of the bike while riding, the back guard was bouncing around, sure enough it was split both sides. I'll weld it up at work next week.
Ive only got 12000 kms on my cicyle

Very common problem with the RS's

I tried to stop it on my RS by sticking Sugru along where they normally crack (Sugru can be molded and stuck onto things like like play-doo but it dries to a very hard rubber - it's great stuff. This did stop the cracks forming in the normal place but I had a couple start elsewhere. They did stop once they hit the sugru so at least it stopped them spreading but meant I didn't trust them to stay intact.

What I did today was remove the read fender altogether and have replaced it with one off a Kawasaki ZX14. You can do this with either a C14 or a ZX14. I used a ZX14 because it has a bracket on either side that I could mount some LED indicators on having removed the normal ones when fitting some panniers. Here's a couple of shots, excuse the quality as I just popped out to the shed when I read you post.

I cut down the left guard strut before putting it back on so it could still hold the belt guard.

 

[109spyder]

As expected, cracked and a piece missing, very piss poor materials. Time to double plate and weld it back up, and finished off with wrinkle finish paint.

 

[109spyder]

Very common problem with the RS's

I tried to stop it on my RS by sticking Sugru along where they normally crack (Sugru can be molded and stuck onto things like like play-doo but it dries to a very hard rubber - it's great stuff. This did stop the cracks forming in the normal place but I had a couple start elsewhere. They did stop once they hit the sugru so at least it stopped them spreading but meant I didn't trust them to stay intact.

What I did today was remove the read fender altogether and have replaced it with one off a Kawasaki ZX14. You can do this with either a C14 or a ZX14. I used a ZX14 because it has a bracket on either side that I could mount some LED indicators on having removed the normal ones when fitting some panniers. Here's a couple of shots, excuse the quality as I just popped out to the shed when I read you post.

I cut down the left guard strut before putting it back on so it could still hold the belt guard.

Can you show a picture of the other side? Want to see how you have all the wiring running.

 

[PistonBlown]

Can you show a picture of the other side? Want to see how you have all the wiring running.

Not much to see on the other side either. I've run the wiring under the guard and then into the back of the Spyder.

I've taken a photo from under the mudguard to make it clearer:

• The circles are where I've bolted the Kawasaki one to the standard Spyder cover - I used the two bolt mounts that come with Kawasaki one, these got up close to the lights on either side (just far enough away to get a lock nuts on). Added 3 more to make it really solid (a bit over the top).
• A is where drilled it out so I could get to the rear most screw for the standard guard in place.
• B is where I ran through the cables, there's a hole here already on the Kawasaki guard. I'll fill this with my old friend Sugru to seal it, just run out at the moment.

Third photo just shows where I ran the wiring from the indicators on the outside, you can just see where it goes into the guard on either side though a hole I drilled. This could be tidied up further by cable tying them to the brackets the indicators are mounted to. These brackets are standard on the ZX14 guards and normally have side reflectors on them, if you don't want them then the C14 guard doesn't have them.

Had to fabricate a bracket for the number plate as the angle was wrong.

 

[109spyder]

Not much to see on the other side either. I've run the wiring under the guard and then into the back of the Spyder.

I've taken a photo from under the mudguard to make it clearer:

• The circles are where I've bolted the Kawasaki one to the standard Spyder cover - I used the two bolt mounts that come with Kawasaki one, these got up close to the lights on either side (just far enough away to get a lock nuts on). Added 3 more to make it really solid (a bit over the top).
• A is where drilled it out so I could get to the rear most screw for the standard guard in place.
• B is where I ran through the cables, there's a hole here already on the Kawasaki guard. I'll fill this with my old friend Sugru to seal it, just run out at the moment.

Third photo just shows where I ran the wiring from the indicators on the outside, you can just see where it goes into the guard on either side though a hole I drilled. This could be tidied up further by cable tying them to the brackets the indicators are mounted to. These brackets are standard on the ZX14 guards and normally have side reflectors on them, if you don't want them then the C14 guard doesn't have them.

Had to fabricate a bracket for the number plate as the angle was wrong.

Just repaired my brackets ready for
Paint tomorrow, if they break again I'll go your route.

 

[109spyder]

Like a bought one! Only stronger now [emoji3]