With my new factory racks, I did a simple mod that significantly stiffens up the rear fender. I just used some thin metal strap found in the framing section at the hardware store. It was thin enough to bend by hand and use tin snips to shape. But it's plenty strong for this short length. Best thing is you don't even know it's there. And I think I spent about $1.50.
Not sure if I believe this. Especially if the 12 pound license plate bracket/fender weight is removed. And to re-ask a question asked earlier, has this happened to a bike with said bracket/weight removed? My bike has 1,000 miles with no problems yet. And that weight was removed as soon as I got home from the dealer.
After mine self-destructed on a trip across some minor washboards with about 150 mi on the bike the boat anchor/ bracket was never reinstalled on the new fender and I haven't had any issues since. I've ridden the bike much harder since then, crossed the same washboards, bottomed the rear suspension quite a few times and generally given it hell without a problem.
Do you think it is just the weight of the big licence bracket or is the tire catching it or its mounting bolts? BTW, do the Terra and Strada have different exhaust? I have only noticed square hole outlets on Stradas.
Do you have the metal license plate carrier attached to the rear fender? I'm sure this was a major contributing factor in why mine broke.
I think it's both. The weight of the bracket is definitely a big contributor but it looks like the tire is still hitting my license plate when it bottoms because the plate is bent in half when I get home a lot of times. This is after the bracket has been removed.
I think the big license bracket by itself is a problem, but I think it can also act as a pendulum and if the right bouncing happens then it can interact with the tire and then it's all over, I bet. The terra does have a different exhaust than the Strada. The terra has spark arresters.
FWIW there has been at least one broken fender where the licence bracket was not installed. http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/tr...der-eliminator-ideas.28894/page-4#post-293771 This is a major bummer for me. I am not really riding my bike like I want to because I am fearful of breaking the fender. I dont have a dealer within 400 miles of me. If mine breaks and takes out anything like the link above I have spend 2 full days trucking the damn thing back & forth (1600 miles total) to get it fixed under warranty. Honestly, I am better off paying for new parts out of pocket for what it would cost in fuel, not to mention the time.
I knew there was at least one that broke. In retrospect, I should have tied a bungee from the back of the rear rack to the fender. Bungee them together. I was extremely careful and monitored the vibration of the rack and fender off road, that vibration did not instill confidence.
Just out of interest. Under the tail of the Terra is this plastic piece, which I have seen referred to as "the secret compartment" which doesn't appear to do anything except possibly reinforce the tail section of the bike around the point where these have been prone to braking. I'd be interested to know whether the bikes which have suffered fractured tails have this part installed, or whether this was an improvement which was introduced after the production run had commenced.
FWIW... My rear fender broke and it never had the metal license plate holder fitted and it does have the hidden compartment. It's unlikely to break when you're on the road but off-road is a different matter. In my case, the fender to frame attach points broke (under the rear side plastics) causing the fender to become loose & bouncy and increase the damage. If I get a new rear fender then I will reinforce these fender to frame joining points and really doubt I would have fender breakage problems after that. I am curious to know if anyone had a broken fender where these fender to frame joins remained unbroken. The main problem with the stock rack is the bouncing around it does, causing the mounting bolts to vibrate loose, causing more vibration & movement in the rack. Ultimately this leads to bolt shear or rack breakage (I've had both). Just ask someone to ride behind you & tell you what they see. Even securing the rack to the fender didn't work as the rack bolts sheared off and the rack bounced so badly it caused my rear brake light to smash. Beefy rear rack needed for me. Until then, check the bolts regularly and change them out at the first sign of wear. Over 22,000 km's on my Terra so far and plenty of dirt in the mix. These are only minor complaints compared to the sheer joy of riding this bike.
I was wondering a somewhat similar thing. The rear-most screw that holds that vented plastic (secret compartment) to the rear fender has a nut that can easily turn on you when tightening. If this nut turns, then it seemed to me that the vented plastic was not doing nearly as good a job of helping strengthen the fender. I was wondering if broken fenders had this nut turned out of place. I think the boat anchor license plate holder would still be too much even with the vented plastic correctly attached, so this theory is really only for broken fenders without the boat anchor.
Every TR650 I've seen has a 'secret compartment' so to speak. While obviously that does not mean a lot, I've seen several TR650s.
The TCI rack should address the fender breakage and weak rack syndrome. Not sure what shipping to Australia would be though.
