TR650 fender/license plate holder eliminator ideas

[Kenneth Webb]

Those little tabs near the tail light are obviously worthless. The designer thought that they would provide support? Looks like someone needs to open up the back of the bike, that is, remove the plastic top bottom and sides, to see what is in there. We are going to have to find a way to tie this stuff to the sub frame, or provide alternate support. These breaks are happening at the same place so it is an obvious design flaw. Not holding my breath for Husky to do something about it, but wouldn't it be nice!

 

[TerraCzar]

I wonder if exhaust heat is playing a factor in this?

 

[Kenneth Webb]

I don't think so. Although the cans get very hot, that is a fatigue break. It appears, stress appears, that the fender is attached only at the front and supported on those little tabs at the back near the light. If the tabs are loose, or come disconnected as in the photo above, then something has to give. More support, farther back, is needed. For the time being I have a strap around the fender and up to the luggage rack. Hopefully that will take some load off until a better solution is found. Even getting rid of the plate holder just helps. There is still a lot of plastic back there, and with the turn signals out to the side I suspect that there is a lot of constant twist type ocillation going on too. That may be a big contributor to this problem. On my WRR I have an Edge tail light with built in signal. It's not the best from a safety standpoint as I think the separate blinkers are move visible, and in fact it might not be legal in some states. Nobody has stopped me yet though. It sure would cut down on the weight hanging off the side of the fender though.

 

[FabOneUp]

Wow...Do you guys still have that metal license plate bracket on your bikes? Wondering if that is causing more vibration?

Gunnr brings up a good point. Maybe just eliminate the metal bracket and add some fiberglass layers to the weak section.

 

[Kenneth Webb]

I don't think that will do it. The rear is not connected to anything! We are going to be looking at that in a few weeks Jason. One way, or another....

 

[FabOneUp]

I don't think that will do it. The rear is not connected to anything! We are going to be looking at that in a few weeks Jason. One way, or another....

Ok then...we will just add it to the list!

 

[Kenneth Webb]

I looked at my TE630 this morning to see the rear fender extension is supported and fastened. The 630 extension looks similar to the one on the 650, BUT, it has a built-in sub-bracket that attaches to the frame forward and to the top fender in the back. Four well spaced fasteners, bolts, to carry the load. That is missing on the 650. That's what we need on the Terra.

 

[HARDER1]

Can we get a pic?

Not that this is THE solution to cracking, but the Enduro Engineering holder is very versatile, light, and cheap.

 

[FabOneUp]

Not that this is THE solution to cracking, but the Enduro Engineering holder is very versatile, light, and cheap.
View attachment 22233View attachment 22234

Nice! Thanks for taking the time to do that. That is a nice clean look and I see you finally got that back tire put on.

 

[Kenneth Webb]

Here is what I'm doing with the rear fender until something better comes along. Neither pretty nor sophisticated, but hopefully it will hold up the end of the bike for a while.

 

[scottinAZ]

The fender eliminator looks good, but no fender! Lots of crap going to be tossed up without it. BigDog and scottinAZ's fixes seem best for now. Get the weight off. On my WRR I used some horse mat to make a flexible fender but on that bike there was somewhere strong to make attachment. Not so on the Terra, at least at first glance. I like having something back there to deflect the roost. Until I have time to look into something that provides more substantial and permanent fender support, I am going to just use some 1/8" black cording to make some suspenders up to the tail rack. Yeah, it will look dumb but it might prevent that nasty break and I will be riding some nasty washboards out west soon. At least forewarned is forearmed.

During my first off road excursion I heard strange things coming from my rear (my terra), turned my head and noticed that the rear license/fender was going side to side pretty hard, so when I got home the first thing was to lighten the load on that fender, removed the metal plate mount and cut down the fender, now I don't hear or see that happening anymore.....hope I prevented the problem of breakage before it happens.

 

[gscrasher]

I was just riding in Big Bend National Park for a few days with friends. This is the result of riding on the Old Ore Road. This road is pretty rocky and rough. The Terra on
the right remained unscathed.

Everything from from above the tail light on down was hanging by the wires and key cable. The bottom piece with the license plate had broken off and got jambed between the tire and the swing-arm and put a slice in the tire.

Here is my work around using duct tape and zip ties. I didn't notice till later that the chain guard was also gone.

 

[HARDER1]

I wonder if your tire grabbed your plate when the suspension compressed and munched the whole assembly? Either way, that sucks!

 

[infinitipearl]

http://www.rg-racing.com/browseBike/Husqvarna/TR650_Strada/2012/LP0129BK.aspx

they have one. as well as a radiator guard, and crash protectors. from hampshire.

 

[gscrasher]

Infinitipearl, thanks. That tail tidy looks like it hooks up to the mufflers.

Harder1, yeah maybe. Or maybe the tire grabbed the plate when the the whole contraption dropped. It does seem like there is quite a bit of room between the tire and the end of the fender, but I'll never know for sure.

 

[mario33]

That tail tidy looks like it hooks up to the mufflers.

If so, that is a 'no-go' to myself as I'm planning to eliminate one can in the future...

 

[kjackbrown]

Infinitipearl, thanks. That tail tidy looks like it hooks up to the mufflers.

Harder1, yeah maybe. Or maybe the tire grabbed the plate when the the whole contraption dropped. It does seem like there is quite a bit of room between the tire and the end of the fender, but I'll never know for sure.

Those black straps in the pics are not apart of the tidy tail.

 

[Mike Carson]

My bike is the Terra without the broken rear fender. Prior to the Big Bend Ride I removed the reflectors and installed the hard plastic license plate mount from Enduro Engineering. Not sure if thats why mine didnt break off.

 

[TerraCzar]

I did a slight variation. I notched the license plate, bent it, and slid it under the rear facing reflector, using it's screws and bolts to hold it on. Eliminated the metal bracket, kept the plastic fender extending below the plate. Need ideas on keeping the 2 side reflectors, and the light does not illuminate the month and year stickers too well. Thinking of shimming the plate light out further to light up those stickers.

 

[dangslow]

TerraCzar...I used a heat gun and warmed up the plate the reflectors were on. They came off easily. Stuck 'em on the side of a small Pelican case attached to the rack.