Stiffening the rear fender with a brace? (05 EC250)

[Koko]

I'm wondering if anyone has a solution to fix the "floppiness" of the rear fender an 05 EC250. The previous owner put a regular old plain Gas Gas rear mx style fender.

But now I would like to add a rear tail/brake light kit. I plan to use one of the many offered from Polisport, Acerbis or Tusk. My fear is already floppy and I suspect the added weight of the light/plate holder assembly will only make it worse. Never mind the added weight of mud etc.

I found an old thread talking about an rear fender brace made by Acerbis, but I do not think that part is made any longer.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Nick]

05 bikes came with a brace, see if you can find someone that has one laying around.

 

[Koko]

Thank you. I'll post it up in the wtb section of the forum. Among my other parts I'm looking for. Ha. I had no idea these had a bracerom the factory.

 

[bowhunter007]

I'm wondering if anyone has a solution to fix the "floppiness" of the rear fender an 05 EC250. The previous owner put a regular old plain Gas Gas rear mx style fender.

But now I would like to add a rear tail/brake light kit. I plan to use one of the many offered from Polisport, Acerbis or Tusk. My fear is already floppy and I suspect the added weight of the light/plate holder assembly will only make it worse. Never mind the added weight of mud etc.

I found an old thread talking about an rear fender brace made by Acerbis, but I do not think that part is made any longer.

Any help would be appreciated.

Trim an old fender to stack underneath it. It should be rigid enough to support the taillight & still have some flex. The subframe extensions concern me, as a side impact could damage the subframe, and fender. I believe one our local GG riders does this to his 300.

 

[Koko]

I read that in this post http://gasgasrider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6992&highlight=floppy+fender as well.

That's why I liked the idea of the Acerbis support.

Sounds the old rear fender would work too if I hacked one up.

 

[GMP]

That is a good solution and what I used on my '00 and '03. The alloy "loop" support that came with some bikes is a bad idea, as it puts a lot of force on the subframe and causes it to be easily bent in a crash that involves the rear fender. No such problems with the plastic brace.

 

[Koko]

I'm having no luck locating one of these. Anyone with any leads...it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[GMP]

I thought they were discontinued a few years ago, but some old stock might be around. You could make one easily from some Nylon 66 stock. The Acerbis part is thin with stiffening ribs molded in, so you would have to go with thicker stock, say .25". A lot stronger than an old fender.

 

[eff]

I just broke my alum. loop and bought one off a friend. I couldn't find that Acerbis one either. Good luck.

 

[Koko]

Maybe I'll try cutting up some delrin I have at the house. It's an old set of skid plates from a former atv I owned.

 

[GMP]

There you go, best use of ATV parts I've heard of in awhile.

 

[Koko]

There you go, best use of ATV parts I've heard of in awhile.

I agree.

 

[motorhead]

Let us know how it turns out, have the same problem. I trimmed down an Acerbis led tailight as much as possible but it's still too much weight for back fender. Can hear it rubbing back tire on G-outs,eventually they get weak at seat junction and snap off.

 

[Moto7man]

I just bought this 2 weeks ago. It is oem GasGas. I bought it along with some other stuff from Motocross Center. It was like 40 Euros or so including the turn signals and all wiring with connectors. It is straight plug and play. It conects with two bolts to the subframe and two screws to the fender. I received it in 7 days. It is made of a very durable almost rubbery plastic. My rear fender always moved due to vibration, this solves that problem. The parts are very strong but not strong enough to damage the subframe in a crash. It is very well thought out and well made.

http://s1185.photobucket.com/albums/z358/Moto7man/?action=view&current=DSC02043.jpg

http://s1185.photobucket.com/albums/z358/Moto7man/?action=view&current=DSC02044.jpg

 

[Nick]

His bike is an 05 and uses a different fender than that. Thats 07 and newer.

 

[Moto7man]

Didn't GasGas make an Euro spec assembly like this for the 05? The GoFasters page under "plastics" for the 05 show a #8 "Racing License Plate Holder" and #18 "Rear License Plate Holder"(no actual part number numbers on page).

The GoFaster image shows the assembly for my bike but no price. Gosfasters does list the tag light for the assembly FOR 69.00 DOLLARS! I bought mine from Motocross Center along with some other parts and it was very cheap . For Euro spec only parts, Motocross Center is worth the extra shipping b/c their prices are so cheap and their customer service is excellent.

http://www.motocrosscenter.com/ecommerce/index.php

 

[Koko]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll keep you posted with what I come up with!

 

[motorhead]

I should have added in above post that I stopped running the oem fender brace after replacing the subframe (don't wanna do that again). I received both styles of tailight's in my parts kit when I purchased the bike, the smaller of the two lasted maybe a season of enduro's even running the brace, although the added weight of a license plate probably added to its demise. Now I run the tag on the back of my flak jac.

GMP Any suggestions on where one might find nylon 66 stock? I'll check Menards or Home Depot Monday.

 

[GMP]

I got that large Euro tallight assy with my '07. I cut most of it away on the line you see right under the taillight. It has been excellent on the '07 bike, especally the hand holds.

I had a '00 XC250 I used the Acerbis brace on and never tweaked the subframe. My '03 came with that loop and was bent several times before dumping it and returning to the plastic part. I think many of the complaints about the older subframes were due to that loop.

I find everything I need for small custom projects like this at Mcmaster.com. Its close to me at work so I get stuff sometimes the same day. There is also a Chicago location I beleive. Nylon66 is one option, the Acerbis part was nylon. You could also use HDPE (high density polyethelene). Just not ABS or anything too rigid or brittle. I got some HDPE from them to extend the Hyde combo to protect the linkage pivot on the '12 frame, and will now be coming up with some type of linkage skid.