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Hi all,
Just joined the forum. I'm not quite in the Cafe Racer league (yet) but I own a pair of Suzuki GT750 Kettles, and a 1998 Triumph Thunderbird Sport. I have done some mild customizing on the red Kettle, and the other (the green one) is undergoing a restoration back to stock. As you can see the Red Kettle has no front fender. I found a very nice custom front fender on the MikesXS website but I need to find out the measurement between the XS650 front forks at the fender attachment points to see if it is the same as or close to the Kettle (4 7/8 inches). Can any XS650 owners help me out? Thanks in advance.
I've got an XS650 that I can measure up later tonight. Might not be exact measurements as it's on the road and it's difficult to get a good measurement between those points but I'll try.
I've actually got a GT750 4LS front brake on my XS. Had to shave a few mm off the hub to fit between the forks but it's in there nicely.
Tim, thanks a lot. Doesn't have to be an exact measurement. I just stuck a steel rule across between the spokes to measure the Kettle, so that wasn't what you would call a precision measurement!
Tim,
If you can please also measure the vertical from the center of the fender mounting holes to the top of the fork leg just underneath the dust seal. That way I'll know for sure if this fender will fit. Again, doesn't have to be exact.
Cheers!
OK - from center of fender mounting bolt to bottom edge of the dust boot is 4 3/4" - might be a tad more, like 4 13/16".
The width is pretty much exactly 5 1/8". I was able to get a steel ruler perfectly on my fork brace mounts through the spokes, so this is pretty bang on. From inside surface of fender mount on the fork leg across to the opposite one.
Tim, thanks a bunch for taking the measurements. That ties in with the width stated for the MikesXS fender. Unfortunately, it looks like it will not fit the Kettle. I only have 4 7/8 compared to your measurement of 5 1/8. Given that the fender is really stiff, I doubt I would be able to "shoehorn" it in. I was researching a bit about the XS650 last night and it looks like the fork design changed from 1977 on. A member on another Suzuki Forum who happened to have a XS1 (pre 1977 I am thinking) measured his and the dimension was 4 5/8 inches. The MikesXS fender is for 1977 onwards so that would explain why it is wider.
Thanks again for taking the time!
Good question Tim! I should have explained my motive here. I wanted to find something a little more "sporty" and without the stays. I think I may have found a 1977 Suzuki GT750 B Model fender which did not have stays. They don't come up that often so I was looking at some other alternatives.
Funny how things turn out......I ended up with a Suzuki fender after all. Found it on eBay. It was only fitted to the 1977 "B" models and is as rare as hen's teeth. This is the look I was after.
Gotcha - glad you got the right fender. It's a critical component of the front suspension, bracing the two fork lowers and keeping them travelling together, which they tend to not want to do in corners.
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