Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Rear Mudguard Removal

OK, what's the trick? I disconnected the wiring and plug is swinging free (unobstucted) and I removed the back four chrome 12mm bolts. Also removed the two 12mm bolts under the seat. Front two chrome bolts obviously don't connect to the mudguard. The damm thing just doesn't want to come free. Do you pull it up? Straight back? Drop and pull? It just seems to want to rock where the middle two bolts were connected. Already scratched the paint where the aft left hole is (unnoticible as its covered by the brace}. Don't want to scrape it up in a noticible spot. Shouldn't be this difficult. What's the trick?

Regards,

Tom

Don't the two bolts under the fender that hold on the air box attach the fender? Never had mine off.. just guessing...

According to the manual:
1. remove the seat
2. disconnect the battery (wow, there's a surprise)
3. remove airbox top cover
4. disconnect rear light and indicator wiring
5. unscrew 4 screws and washers securing mudguard to frame brackets (diagram shows 4 bolts, 2 on either side connecting fender to chrome frame brackets)
6. unscrew the 2 screws securing mudguard to frame crosstube (shows the fender 2 forward screws from the top)

and that's it. sounds like you got it all.

Looking at the parts diagram and the maintenance manual, it should come off at this point. Maybe take off the side rails and once you get everything off, you can see whats holding it to the rails.

I just finished replacing all of the tins on my bike after a full repaint. Since it was going to paint, I wasn't too worried about a scratch in pulling it out and frankly don't remember what I did to remove it.

I can say that when I put it back on yesterday I rotated it into position. What I mean is that I placed the mudguard against the back tire with the tail light almost touching the ground and then rotated it up around the tire into place. Not the easiest thing to explain, but I had no struggles with getting into place. In theory the opposite should also be true. Remove the six bolts as described above and just rotate the mudguard back towards the ground until you have enough clearance to pull it away from the bike. My bike has been lowered and I still had plenty of clearance.

Hope this helps,
Steven

push it down on tyre then move backward!! do not pull it up !!

Steven is right how to do this

Quote:

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What he said. I had my fender off in a well lit parking lot at 9 pm one night after a kindly Knoxville, TN officer stopped me to let me know I had no taillights.

He made no mention of 85 in a 65, wearing earplugs, and a Valentine One up on the handlebars. He also let me run the shoulder to the next exit to make the repairs. Had that been uptight CT, I would have had at least three charges, (speed, no lights, earplugs) and the vehicle would have been towed, no question about it.

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Bit of southern hospitality here in Knoxvegas

I wish I'd got his name now, to write a letter to his shift supervisor about high level of professionalism or something like that. I owe him one. I was kind of wrapped up in the light repair planning, with traffic whizzing by us at 70, three feet away.

Thanks guys I got it. I just needed more confidence on the "push down to tire and rotate out" scenario. A little extra Polish grunt and it slid down to the tire. Paint is scraped at all four points where the side bars connect, but the bars cover it.

LJ, Just for curiosity do you remember what exit, I-40 I assume?
The local yokels can been friendly at times, just depends who pulls you over. I once was ticketed for doing 60 in a 55 on I-40 in Knoxville, well let me explain.
The office had a car pulled over on the shoulder and I did not merge over to another lane, state law.
I buzzed by him pretty good just as he was getting back into his cruiser
Cost something like $98.00 bucks, oops!
Mike

Sorry for the late reply, internet has been up & down and getting on this site has been particuarly tough.
I removed and installed my rear fender with the tire off the bike and believe that is the best way to avoid nicking the paint. Pretty tight clearance with those side posts.

Just for future reference. When installing the fender, I also removed the two chrome forward bolts. Though they don't attach to the fender, both chrome "arms" opened up a pubimeter more making installation or subsequent removal much easier. I'm not sure why this isn't called out in the workshop or Haynes manual, but it should be.