Front fender droop 82-83 GS1100E

[metalfab]

I am painting a 82 GS1100E. Every 82-83 GD1100E front fender I have seems to have a deformation from age. The straps in the front of the fender under the triangle cutout seem to bulge outward from the weight of the front fender. I looked at all 5 I have and they all have a varying degree from to significant to a slight slight outward bulge. Is a new fender the only cure, and are they available. I was thinking about epoxying some thin metal straps inside the fender to eliminate the bulge. Has anyone dealt with this.

[Rob S.]

Picture(s), please?

[mmattockx]

I am painting a 82 GS1100E. Every 82-83 GD1100E front fender I have seems to have a deformation from age. The straps in the front of the fender under the triangle cutout seem to bulge outward from the weight of the front fender. I looked at all 5 I have and they all have a varying degree from to significant to a slight slight outward bulge. Is a new fender the only cure, and are they available. I was thinking about epoxying some thin metal straps inside the fender to eliminate the bulge. Has anyone dealt with this.

I suspect it is wind loads that are deforming the fender but I agree that they all seem to have it. Mine certainly does. You might have a hard time getting metal strips to stay glued to the fender but I would say that is worth a shot. Make sure you extend them up into the curved portion of the top of the fender a bit to prevent a sudden stiffness change that might cause cracking issues.

Picture(s), please?

This is the best one I could find from when I was repainting things. It is the two slender pieces that extend forward that bow and you can see a bit of it in this shot. Ignore the grotty paint, there were experiments in progress and that is not how it finished.




Mark

[GSXR7ED]

I have one of those front fenders and wondered why it's made out of soft material...other than metal.

Interesting topic.

Ed

[Grimly]

I have the 1100 fender on the 850, because it fitted perfectly and there's a humungous brace built-in under it. Does the job really well, to the point I don't think I need to bother putting an additional brace on.