timothy st.john
Cruisin' Guzzisti
Hello everyone,
Last night I removed the bulky obtrusive rear fender from my brand new V7 Racer, and replaced it with the MAS Chrome Racing Fender. I was going to use a fender eliminator kit as some of you did, and likely would have if it had proposed a convenient solution. None of the available kits make provisions for accommodating lighting while leaving the seat cowl on; which is something I'm committed to doing. So, I thought I would try something that no one else has posted about, in order to get that information out into the community. If it doesn't work, I'll try something else. That's what makes a hobby a hobby: its something you can throw an endless amount of money at, and never complete your discovery of, or defeat your enthusiasm for it.
Although this is a fare weather bike, I feel that you need something to keep the underside of the bike clean. Yes I know, its adding more chrome, but it is actually almost invisible now, in terms of adding visual mass to the Racer's back end. The fender all but disappears now, or recedes into the background; just so, it was originally in my mind that a wall does the same thing when you put mirror on it in your home.
Now the black seat cowl stands out beautifully (yes I know, many of you also removed you seat cowls too to avoid having to find the courage and confidence to suffer the disdainful stairs of hardcore bobbers, who themselves are too insecure to escort a beauty in public, for fear of challenge by other men who might lust after her).
I only completed the surgery a few hours ago, so I don't have an actual picture of it on the Racer (sorry), but the image below from the manufacturer will give you a sense of how much smaller it is. The proportions are completely different. Remember as you ponder this, that the seat cowl extends back further than the solo seat, and the number plates drop down to further obscure what little there is of the new fender in profile. There is just enough tail showing to handle the sighting of a legal lighting array.
This fender makes no provisions for lights, so I will have to drill no matter what option I pursue. That being the case, anything goes; as it is just as easy to attach one light as might be any other. What do you suggest? Originally, I thought I might just transfer the lighting assembly from the Racer to keep it more Guzzi, but its far too architecturally expansive; more so even than the Motor Vehicle Act in my area requires. It occupies too much space in absolutely every plane; including metaphysical ones.
The obvious place (though not the necessary place) to start is with a Lucas style tail light and turn signals. Has anyone else adapted these lights to a V7 of any kind? The picture below is the one that New Bonneville sells but there are lots of them available in various incarnations and subtle variations. They also come in gloss black, which might tie in nicely with the Racer's tale section.
Whatever light I decide on (hopefully as you direct me to others ideas), it needs to have a small base plate, preferably hollow, so that the rubber flange can more easily accomodate the rounded contour of this particular fender. Most tail lights are designed for fenders that have a flat plane of some width at what would otherwise be the apex of the contours curve. In my region, the lights (all of them) must be between 38 mm and 1.83 m from the ground, and there must be a single rear facing red reflector. The plate must be horizontally mounted, and lit. No individual light can serve two functions (running and brake), unless it has the necessary element/filaments do stand full service in both functions at the same time (i.e. a running light or a brake light can not abstain from that service to become a yellow turn signal, as sometimes happens with the minimalist LED setups).
I'll take a picture of the raw fender on the bike to better advise your consideration. Thank you in advance for any suggestions that might facilitate productive discourse on this forum.
Timothy St. John
Last night I removed the bulky obtrusive rear fender from my brand new V7 Racer, and replaced it with the MAS Chrome Racing Fender. I was going to use a fender eliminator kit as some of you did, and likely would have if it had proposed a convenient solution. None of the available kits make provisions for accommodating lighting while leaving the seat cowl on; which is something I'm committed to doing. So, I thought I would try something that no one else has posted about, in order to get that information out into the community. If it doesn't work, I'll try something else. That's what makes a hobby a hobby: its something you can throw an endless amount of money at, and never complete your discovery of, or defeat your enthusiasm for it.
Although this is a fare weather bike, I feel that you need something to keep the underside of the bike clean. Yes I know, its adding more chrome, but it is actually almost invisible now, in terms of adding visual mass to the Racer's back end. The fender all but disappears now, or recedes into the background; just so, it was originally in my mind that a wall does the same thing when you put mirror on it in your home.
Now the black seat cowl stands out beautifully (yes I know, many of you also removed you seat cowls too to avoid having to find the courage and confidence to suffer the disdainful stairs of hardcore bobbers, who themselves are too insecure to escort a beauty in public, for fear of challenge by other men who might lust after her).
I only completed the surgery a few hours ago, so I don't have an actual picture of it on the Racer (sorry), but the image below from the manufacturer will give you a sense of how much smaller it is. The proportions are completely different. Remember as you ponder this, that the seat cowl extends back further than the solo seat, and the number plates drop down to further obscure what little there is of the new fender in profile. There is just enough tail showing to handle the sighting of a legal lighting array.
This fender makes no provisions for lights, so I will have to drill no matter what option I pursue. That being the case, anything goes; as it is just as easy to attach one light as might be any other. What do you suggest? Originally, I thought I might just transfer the lighting assembly from the Racer to keep it more Guzzi, but its far too architecturally expansive; more so even than the Motor Vehicle Act in my area requires. It occupies too much space in absolutely every plane; including metaphysical ones.
The obvious place (though not the necessary place) to start is with a Lucas style tail light and turn signals. Has anyone else adapted these lights to a V7 of any kind? The picture below is the one that New Bonneville sells but there are lots of them available in various incarnations and subtle variations. They also come in gloss black, which might tie in nicely with the Racer's tale section.
Whatever light I decide on (hopefully as you direct me to others ideas), it needs to have a small base plate, preferably hollow, so that the rubber flange can more easily accomodate the rounded contour of this particular fender. Most tail lights are designed for fenders that have a flat plane of some width at what would otherwise be the apex of the contours curve. In my region, the lights (all of them) must be between 38 mm and 1.83 m from the ground, and there must be a single rear facing red reflector. The plate must be horizontally mounted, and lit. No individual light can serve two functions (running and brake), unless it has the necessary element/filaments do stand full service in both functions at the same time (i.e. a running light or a brake light can not abstain from that service to become a yellow turn signal, as sometimes happens with the minimalist LED setups).
I'll take a picture of the raw fender on the bike to better advise your consideration. Thank you in advance for any suggestions that might facilitate productive discourse on this forum.
Timothy St. John
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