Fender fortification fun

[Dan]

Got a new Schwinn The bike came with nice but chintzy fenders. Wanted to keep em even the fronts but am still a lil gun shy after me fall down an' go boom with my face. (That was fun with fender failure) Any way, came up with this (pics below) Uber simple and as needed with useing springers, can rotate. I am sure some one else must have thought of this. Let me know if it has already been posted. Is just 2 U-bolts and drilled 4 holes. Ended up looking good too. Well, like they belong there. I love u-bolts. Is there any thing they can't do? Duct tape, hose clamps and u-bolts. emmmmmmm.

Looking at pics here, not as good looking as in person. Blends in better not omni focused on em. But main part is I am not as worried about front wheel stopping and me and rear wheel not.

 

[Dan]

Oh, and the floral gardening glove is Carol's. I put it there so I could swing the forks left and right. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I do not like to put on pretty things and prance around the yard. ..and almost never do.

 

[Kevlarr]

That'll never fail!
A simple thing to do to keep fenders from rotating is a small eyebolt through the top of the fender just behind the forks with a piece of threaded rod through it that extends just beyond the fork legs.

I ended up lucky on mine, my fenders are so wide I had to bend divots on each side to clear the forks so rotation is a near impossibility.

 

[chainmaker]

Those fenders look sweet on a bike..which ones did you decide to go with?

Cheers

 

[Mac]

Dan,
I re-enforced the fenders on both my Schwinn's. I got some 10Ga .750 flat stock from Home cheapo, also some .750 hollow round stock for the struts(steel), used the flat stock to radius the rear fender mount, welded strut to flat stock, bolted to bike in front, for a top mount, put a compound curve in the flat stock, kinda folded it like in 1/2, then did a bit of beating with a ball peen hammer to get my secondary radius(to conform to fender front to rear), welded a tab to the vertical to mount in original 6mm hole, used self locking hardware for the rest. Re-reading this, even though I made it, I couldn't make it again LOL!! Anyway, I used a bit of overkill material, but it ain't comming off. If you would like a fender brace, I will send you one, it was a pro-type, you'll have to dress it a bit, let me know.
Mac

 

[Kevlarr]

Hey Mac, I made a bottom bracket for my rear fender the same way. About 3" x 8" and I was kind of amazed at how nice of a compound curve I got just with the ball peen and the anvil on my bench vice.

Made me think for a second (very brief second that was) that I could possibly beat out a pair of fenders on my own.

 

[Mac]

Kevlarr,
I went a bit overboard with the fender mounts, I think they add about 3 lbs to each fender. As far as making your own, having rolled my thumb in an English wheel working on small stuff, I'm all for paying $25 for a fender! How one gets the proper radius and symetery on a long fender is well above my scope or attention span. I feel the gauge of material needed for such aggressive curvature makes it almost counter-productive. Besides, I get tired just watching "Orange County Choppers" LOL!
Mac

 

[Dan]

Dan,
I re-enforced the fenders on both my Schwinn's. I got some 10Ga .750 flat stock from Home cheapo, also some .750 hollow round stock for the struts(steel), used the flat stock to radius the rear fender mount, welded strut to flat stock, bolted to bike in front, for a top mount, put a compound curve in the flat stock, kinda folded it like in 1/2, then did a bit of beating with a ball peen hammer to get my secondary radius(to conform to fender front to rear), welded a tab to the vertical to mount in original 6mm hole, used self locking hardware for the rest. Re-reading this, even though I made it, I couldn't make it again LOL!! Anyway, I used a bit of overkill material, but it ain't comming off. If you would like a fender brace, I will send you one, it was a pro-type, you'll have to dress it a bit, let me know.
Mac

Sounds awesome Mac. And thank you for the kind offer. I just finished mine so must decline but is greatly appreciated! Did you post any pics? MB folks, the world should have more of them.

Made a strap just now. The original one was to short and the front/top of the fender rode so high, it looked like a scoop. got $6 flat stock bent in the middle. That put the lower too far back. I had already drilled the holes for the wheel so just hand bent it so it bowed out while I took a break. I figured for 6 bucks, I could get another if I couldn't get it bent back str8. Dumb luck, it looks awesome. Like the straps are side bumpers. lol. Sort of post WWII English looking. Primer is now drying on it and, again dumb luck, came out so both sides match. I took pics but couldn't see it bare steel. Will post when I get the final coat of chrome paint on it.

I have never enjoyed a build more. This was what I saw in my head when I first discovered China Girl kits.


.

 

[Dan]

Oh and OUCH! thumb in an English wheel? My hands hurt just picturing that.

 

[Dan]

That'll never fail!
A simple thing to do to keep fenders from rotating is a small eyebolt through the top of the fender just behind the forks with a piece of threaded rod through it that extends just beyond the fork legs.

That's great. Simple and works!

Those fenders look sweet on a bike..which ones did you decide to go with?

Cheers

Thanks! Which springers ChainMaker? The Monarchs.

Been so happily occupied I am slow at responding. Or just slow, lol.

 

[Allen_Wrench]

Braggin' on my vintage Higgins build again: I'll be keeping the sturdy fender braces it came with, but it also has a nice way of bolting the fender on with a large bolt that runs through something like a fender washer, straight up through a hole in the fender from underneath, and into a threaded hole in the bottom of the stem tube. It's along the same axis as the handlebar stem from above. The fender bolts solidly to the inside/bottom of the fork. With the addition of a thin rubber gasket, the odds of it ever rusting out enough to pull off the bolt and fender washer and cause trouble would be rather slim.

 

[chainmaker]

With the Springers, I meant the Beefy ones or the regular ones.