750 front fender alternatives

TeddyG

TeddyG

Senior member
Location
Portland Oregon
While the front fender w/ brackets on my 750SF is nice looking, I find accessing the mounting bolts to be a PITA. What other chrome fender w/o brackets fit? It looks like a Kawasaki might work -I'll keep the originals for the next owner
 
If you have the front wheel on yes the bolts are a problem. But once the fender is on the bike without the wheel, you never need to touch them again. So what is the problem?
 
No idea but watching other make bikes that don't have braces isolating like crazy to me would result in the guard mount work hardening and cracking really quickly. Bonnies I owned would idle and have the front wheel bounce up and down like crazy, and move about on the centrestand with a good rev. My understanding of how this progressed was the first guards were not rubber-mounted and cracked, so the later ones got the grommets to stop that happening. Later bikes had plastic guards, I guess to make them look more modern.
 
I've seen Kwaka chrome guards without the bracket mounted to Laverdas, but I think they still have two or four bolts each side mounted from the inside. I had a Duke 750/900SS fibreglass replica on my bike. All you need to avoid the grief is a 13mm ratcheting ring spanner and fitting and removing is a whole lot easier. Even the 'modern' USD front end and guard I have on the SFQ has inward mounted M6 (10mm head) bolts - the ratchet spanner makes it a breeze.

As others have said, once it's on (after fitting with the wheel off) you have little reason to touch it.
 
As per others, I don't really see the problem, but no worries. Any other type of guard using the original mounting points is going to be exactly as difficult to fit if the wheel is in.
An alternative that comes to mind is an SFC fibreglass guard, just attached with hose clamps. Know it will fit, replicas are cheap and easy to source, but will need to be painted.
 
TeddyG said:
I’ll rephrase my question:
Has anybody replaced the front fender of a 750 SF with a chrome one w/o brackets?
Thank you
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I have. Kawasaki H1 or H2 guard fits nicely using existing mounting on my 35mm Cerani forks. Still have the same problem you mentioned though. Not really a problem when the front wheel is removed . I also like the look of it as opposed to the original ones with struts.
 

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Thank you Black Jota! I was thinking a Kawi fender would fit but wasn't sure. Do the Kawi bracket holes align w/ the Cerriani holes, or were extra holes needed? The Kawi repros aren't too expensive. What shocks are those and are those bars flatter than OEM?
 
TeddyG said:
Thank you Black Jota! I was thinking a Kawi fender would fit but wasn't sure. Do the Kawi bracket holes align w/ the Cerriani holes, or were extra holes needed? The Kawi repros aren't too expensive. What shocks are those and are those bars flatter than OEM?
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Fender bolted straight on existing holes. Rear shocks are "Gazi Classic".
Handlebars are laverda brevettato adjustable as fitted to triples.
 
Tippie said:
Do SFC have some non-slip stuff on the fork leg to stop it slipping? I rode and SF1 with that system and the guard kept working it's way down onto the tyre, creating an effective smoke screen.
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Yes, bits of rubber, inner tube for example.
Paul
 
Tippie said:
Do SFC have some non-slip stuff on the fork leg to stop it slipping? I rode and SF1 with that system and the guard kept working it's way down onto the tyre, creating an effective smoke screen.
Click to expand...
I use Neoprene strip with self adhesive backing, works a treat.

Marnix
 
martymoose said:
SFC fibreglass replica job with hose clamps
Click to expand...
Sorry, I've always viewed that method as something an 8-year-old would attempt on his billy-cart... simply doesn't cut it for me.

I can imagine following, early '70s, after arriving somewhere remote for a race event...

Augusto: Where's the friggin' front guard??
Cico: Fuck, forgot it, and the spare. I'll head into town and find/steal something and rig that up for ya...
Augusto: Yeah, but hurry the fuck up!! Practice starts in 20 minutes and it's raining cats and dogs!
17 minutes and 15 seconds later...
Augusto: OK, that'll have to do.

Nothing lasts as long as a provisional arrangement.

piet
 
On the drum brake SFCs in the early 70ies, the fibreglass mudguards were bolted to the forks, because they could stay in place when removing the front wheel.
Then when in the disc brakes came you either would have to remove the whole mudguard or both Brembo calipers before removing the wheel. By using the jubilee clips, you could turn the fork legs and remove the wheel with calipers still bolted on.

In later years this construction was refined by other endurance teams, but Laverda’s solution was functional and simple.

Marnix
 
Fair enough, Marnix, but it remains a bodge in my view. If secured from slipping with a rubber pad, the jubilee clip would need to be loosened... and tightened afterwards! A quite dangerous and obvious source for things to go wrong.

Front wheel swaps in the early/mid '70s? With 280mm discs and TT100s? Maybe one, two(?), during a 24 hour event. How many mechanics were allowed to work on the bikes during pit stops back then? Three would be required to perform this swiftly, two would be fumbling quite a bit. Not at all sure that fiddling and fumbling with pads in mounted calipers while slotting the wheel back in would be much quicker than removing/replacing the calipers completely.

Their tank-swap strategy, instead of filling up, was probably far more effective, especially before quick-fill dump-type canisters became the norm.

piet
 
If mounted properly it the mudguard couldn’t slide downwards, so clip didn’t need to be very tight. Admittedly, with the neoprene I use it won’t work, but with the rubber pads they were using, turning the fork legs was doable.

Using the correct stainless clips it looks quite tidy, but maybe I’m biased.

Marnix
 

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I'd always wondered about those clips. They look like a bodge but now that Marnix has explained the rationale it makes sense. Although I loved Piet's imagined conversation between Cico and Augusto! 😁
 
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