Leo, Does this eliminate the loads that might cause the plastic fender to crack? How about in a crash - is the fender now pretty much isolated from damage ? (hard to tell from the picture). Tom
Glad it wasnt just mine like that.. I did visit R&G and told them about the holes being too small and the indicator holes not being tapped...they are going to modify future kits so they should be a bit easier to get on.......
The breakage issue should be ZERO now but recall that this eliminator was deigned for the Strada which isn't going to be taken off-road as much as the Terra so there is little that will keep mud and gunk from flying up but it shouldn't break! and, it looks great!
Here's my solution. The 2 pound chunk of steel is the issue, the way I see it. It's freaking heavy. The plastic should be able to take a fair amount of jostling and still be fine...as long as that weight isn't adding too much momentum to it. That said, I was going to go with the tail tidy, but the wait wasn't something I was interested in. Anyway, a 7" (roughly I don't recall the exact measurement) length of 1x1/8 flat aluminum stock, some m5 and m6 machine screws, a 10 pack of m5 washers, and nylocks for both. This cleaned up the back end, should make it more durable and still keep me mostly clean (still had spray up the back of my jacket from riding in the rain Saturday, but it really wasn't bad. I ran a similar setup on my KTM 450 SMR and never had an issue. I do have the screws on it drilled and safety wired rather than relying on nylock nuts. Total cost was about $10, and I still have 3 feet of aluminum left over, so figure realistic price under $5, or $2 had I remembered I already have a few feet of this stuff laying around. My pictures are pretty rough, and no I didn't wash my bike after the gravel road, rain, etc ride from this weekend. But at least you can see what I did. The aluminum bar has the m5 screws through it, with 4 washers to space it from the fender (you'll see why with the side shot of the plate below). Then bolt those through the reflecter holes. No change made to the fender. Traced the shape of the license plate out and went to town with a hack saw and a file (I haven't been able to find my dremal since I moved a year ago ) My original plan was to make two bars, one for the bottom as well, but two hold it sufficiently and allow it to flex a bit more.
And I didn't get a decent enough shot to show it from the back with the plate on. Not enough light in my garage and the plate is way too reflective for the flash. But the bottom holes from the license plate are very close to being in like with the original bracket holes. The m6 hardware I mentioned above isn't pictured, but that's what is securing the license plate rather than the cheap plastic screws that were easier to take off for the pictures.
The pictures of fender breaks were further forward than just the plate area. What I'd be concerned about is long-term vibration stresses causing cracks in the plastic fender even with reduced plate area weight. My WR250R has a steel connector from the frame to the plate/turn signal area that also supports the plastic fender - a very strong and efficient design. I'd like that same metal load-bearing concept to work on the Terra - then I'd not worry about grabbing the wrong area lifting the bike, or whatever. If the R&G racing tidy does that I'll get one. If not I'll probably cobble something up myself maybe an aluminum plate fender? Does the tidy provide a steel connection from the frame to the back fender where the license plate/turn signals mount? Thanks, Tom
I also have been pondering over this broken fender thing. Not only is it an excessive weight issue that the back fender has to carry, I also wanted to address the fender itself for weak points. I like the idea of the “Tail Tidy” but really don’t want the possibility of mud and stuff up my back from lack of a rear fender. First how much weight can we take off the back end. 1- Steel bracket with reflectors 311gr. 2- Signal lights with bolts 131gr. 1- Reflector 21gr. 1- Chunk of plastic fender 50gr. Total we can get rid of. 513grams Now add 56 grams for these left over small signal lights I had from Eletrasport. (Never did mount them on my TE510) That’s around 457grams we can remove from the tail assembly… Well that's pretty close to 1 LB in my books. Here is what I did with the fender itself. First I removed it and marked where the cracks on the fender were posted by Big T and krussel. Thx Made some cardboard templates for the pieces I wanted to add to the fender to strengthen it. The shape on the bottom is so it does not interfere with the rest of the internal parts of the fender once mounted on the bike again. I used 3/16” aluminum and a couple of bends here and there to make them fit good. And of course I used my favorite adhesive (Goop) to clamp in place. Once mounted back in place it does move the License plate up a bit but still keeping most of the rear fender for muddy trails.
It appears you even impressed your dog Can I assume you also cut the fender? (scurries out to look at bike..) edit: never mind, I see what you did.
mssmith35's solution is almost exactly the same thing I did to my TE 310's low hanging setup. I moved everything up and used the Enduro Engineering backing plastic piece. I agree that the heavy metal piece swinging like a hyperactive pendulum is creating the cracking - and that a relatively simple fix will take care of it. Get shot of the weight, move the plate mass up closer to the attachment points, and the stress induced on the plastic piece will be eased by a sufficient amount to keep the plastic/resin piece intact. I checked the plastic/resin fender for stiffness - and it looks like it has stiffening pieces and bends in the right places, that it should be fine if it isn't subjected to a long lever arm shaking it constantly. I came back from a long ride in the southern New Mexico desert on my 2012 TE 310 and that 'low hanging fruit' had all but shaken itself to death. I shortened it up, used the EE plate and it was good to go.
Last Saturday I did about 8 miles on a semi rough dirt road, with some washboard, a few holes/bumps, and embedded rocks to navigate. I wasn't being particularly aggressive but was not babying it either. I did hit a couple of bumps hard enough to likely bottom the rear shock. When I got home you can see what happened below. The portion of the fender where the license plate mounts snapped off and it is broken on the right side where the fender meets the body work. My initial thought was that the pounding from the bumps fatigued it causing failure. But one of my more astute riding buddies suggested that the plate hit the rear tire during compression causing it to snap off. This is the likely failure mode, as it appears this is possible from eye balling what's left, and that the fender assembly was pulled away from where it snaps into the body work. I will explore getting a new one under warranty, but am more concerned about how long it might take to get a replacement. Anyone else had this happen? Any other theories? Kinda disappointing... Thanks Rich in PLacitas
Before I had the suspension reworked for my size - my 310 did eat it's plate bracket, but that was on a super rugged 140 mile desert ride with some deep whoops and the rear using a ton of travel. Not out of the realm of possibility that it grabbed it and folded it back...but does the TR have enough suspension travel? Watching my TR idle with the metal bracket wagging around like a pendulum looking to do some vibration damage... I put an Enduro Engineering plastic plate holder back there. Hardly any weight now, it doesn't look like the plastic structure back there will die of vibration poisoning - but only time will tell.
I put on 150 KM a couple days ago 90% off road and it was rough. I'm sure mined bottomed out a few times. No damage... I better go look just to make sure... Edit yes it's fine. Read post #70...that's what I did.
IPA, was the metal bracket on? I've rallied the hell out of mine with the enduro engineering plate from day one. So far, so good.... Also, after breaking stuff in a crash, my dealer priced and ordered plastics. Had it at my door in 2 weeks.
First thing I did when I got my Terra was to take the heavy lic plate bracket off and bolt the lic plate directly to the fender. I also used a stainless steel hose clamp through the luggage rack and underneath the fender to support it. It didn't help. Yesterday about 50 miles up a rough road this is what happened: The fender completely broke off, the left turn signal and tail light lens was smashed, and the seat lock cable latch was broken. I used baling wire to hold it all together until I got home. When the new parts arrive I'll try to reinforce it so this doesn't happen again. The dealer was closed today (Monday) so I don't know if the parts will be covered under warranty or not, but they should be. This is an obvious design flaw.
I'm looking at the Tail Tidy, and it is nice. However, I don't see where it is $180 worth of nice (for me). I feel like I could come up with a reasonably similar solution with a little redneck engineering and a sheet of aluminum. A 12x12" sheet of 7075 (aircraft grade) at .19" thick will run you around $30. That gives you enough to make at least two brackets, and should be strong enough to hold the plate and lights. The question is if you'll end up with mud on your back when you are done.
I did the same thing others have done, I like the tidy tail and might buy it someday. For now I just can't justify 185 for something that's not performance or pleasure enhancing.
