I've been looking for a new front fender for awhile now. I found one and figured I'd throw up a review.

My main reason for wanting a new fender is more utilitarian than looks. Wisconsin riding seasons aren't the longest and to get as much riding in as possible I end up riding in the rain a lot more than I'd like. The front fender on my Wide Glide (and Dynas in general) offers little protection from debris and water. I wanted a longer fender like the touring bikes have to keep legs a bit drier if possible.

I thought about buying a touring fender and chopping it up to get what I needed but with a 21" wheel that wasn't going to work too well. Plus with all the modifying involved to get the fender to fit... what people are asking for their fenders it wasn't cost effective. I'm not fabrication specialist and my metal working/welding skills leave a lot to be desired. I would have spent the rest of the riding season working on this thing.

I ended up finding Oldy's Composites and the prices were great I thought ($69 + shipping for my front fender). I found a few reviews here on HDForums and figured I'd give it a shot.

Gary Oldenkamp (owner?) was really helpful. He entertained all my questions via email with patience and responded quickly. Once we got the details worked out I placed the order. It arrived well packed, undamaged and only 8 business days from when I made payment (8/19). They do not stock fenders from what I understand so it was made to order.

The fenders come unfinished. There looks to be a generic white primer applied to the outside. The inside still shows signs of all the fiberglass/resin. So there is a good amount of prep work needed prior to paint time and I knew this before placing the order. Not a problem.

My only complaint is the fender is not perfectly symmetric. I ordered the Bear Claw fender in the link above. The flanges that hang down in the middle of the fender (mounting area) were not identical. One side bowed out like it was warped, where the other side was nice and straight. It made mounting a pain in the ***. After a **** load of trips to Ace I was able to get things straightened up with some creative use of spacers and mounting hardware.

I used the technique I saw Joe Knapp use to mount the fender -- the extension cord method:



Here's the final product after getting things marked, drilled, aligned and mounted. It turned out ok and I'd order from Oldys again. His prices are great, but understand you might need to get creative to get things aligned properly unless this warping issue is an isolated event.



Now it's time to learn how to paint. I'm going the rattle can route with rattle can clear. I'm even going to give a whirl at putting the silver pin stripe on the fender to match the rest of my HD paint job. Wish me luck.

 

very nice! sharp fender bud... if you have any ?s painting let me know... if you get a good base coat on there and use this clear it is a 2 stage clear, you will never know it was not shot from a gun
http://www.repaintsupply.com/pd_2_part_2k_aerosol.cfm

 

Looks decent. What about learning to paint during the winter...I know you'll have plenty of time. Hahaha Give it a whirl. Good luck.

 

Joe thanks for the offer of help I'm sure come time to paint I'll have plenty of questions. That clear you mention is one I have bookmarked already -- I saw you talk about it a few months ago in a thread and have decided to go that route.

GREENO -- you'd think I'd have plenty of time in the winter but I snowmobile like a **** and ice fish just as much! Plus, I'm impatient I can't wait that long! This needs to be done before Tomahawk Fall Ride!

 

I hear ya on that. Went to school @ UW-Stevens Point and know about the snowmobiling. I thought ice fishing was just to...drink??????

Good luck.

 

you snowmobile?! i did not know that where you go? we head up north (michigan and upper wis) every other weekend!
I used to have a race sled... but then used a tree to stop myself... now i rock a indy trail that we got completely total'd rebuilt the whole thing and i love it, not as much UMPH as my old sled but she is so nice to ride

here is a shot of the wife and i in the upper UP last year... ya she rocks an brand new Vector


sad when all my buddies rock race sleds


My dad has an 05' RX1 that i think he is looking at upgrading this year... so with any luck i can pick that up off him pretty cheap... my buddies are not such fans of my trail sled, i cant do deep powder with them on it (but the vector is great in it) so i am due for a new one this year

 

Yeah man we sled anywhere the trails open first! I tour the north-central and northern half of the state and like you I'm not rockin a race sled -- ain't in the budget for me! Plus man the seasons just suck too many years to invest that kinda cash. If I could trailer out west and run the deep powder I'd totally dump the cash in a nice new sled.

 

ya i agree. plus i like my geezer sled, back rest is nice, full wind protection, plenty fast for the trails, extended track digs in when i need it to... only think i have done to mod it is, ski skins, HID, and brake light mods, that is all, (granted we had to do a full rebuid cause the belly pan was touching the handle bars when we go it) but only paid 300 for the sled from a buddy that got it as a rental and totaled it, found out that he now owned that sled! ha ha ha was horrible, well for him, worked out well for me. was a bad year for it last year as i had to redo the full suspension, all new bogy wheels and bearings, and the inner case bearing failed so i had to tear that all open, but got it done and back on the trailer ready for next year! who knows maybe we will see ya up there!

 

You have a touring sled with a long track? Is it 2-up?

I usually don't do anything to a sled I own besides fix something that breaks or improve something that's worn out. I spend a lot of time buying/selling sleds from craigslist so I never know what I'll be riding during the season! Sometimes it's a complete PILE and sometimes it's the ****! Never know... one of these days I'll hunker down and pick one up I plan to keep but I just can't hold on to something if I know I can make money.

Now I tell ya what..... after your HID thread the other day and considering you put one on your sled... I bet that's KILLER for night riding! Blinding the **** outta oncoming though!

 

ooh ya it is stupid bright! mine is a 2 up touring sled so i have hte extra travel suspension and the long track, haveing that extra seat is nice when someone breaks down or we do a back pack trip. on my HID on the sled i wired it to the low beams (on the polaris i have the middle light is your low beam and the outside 2 are your high), so when i have a sled coming i can click the brights and the HID turns off and the outside lights turn on, can still see fine and not be a D#$K on the trail. had a dear jump right over me about 2-3 years ago that i could not see on the trail, after that went HID. i put a single stage HID in the bike and sled, just on, no high low... i love it, and they last forever, all the high low ones i have worked with never lasted long