Front Fender

[timsatx]

I would like to figure out how to snug up my front fender. I looked at the diagram for the fender and saw that the fender itself is riveted to the brace for the fender. The brace is then mounted to the bike with the fender between the brace and the fork. The thing I can't figure out though is whether the rivets are loose (which they are but I don't know if they are supposed to be that way) or if the mounting bolts are not clamping down for some reason (which they are but I don't know if they are supposed to be that way).

Anybody have any input on that?

[connie_rider]

Dang, now I have to go see if mine is loose.
(time passes)
Ok,mine  is tight. But I found a bad chip/crack on the rear of my fender.  arghhhhhhh
      (Does anyone have a spare 03 fender they will sell??)

I would suspect you should tighten the rivets.
But try to determine what loosened them up.

Ride safe, Ted

[timsatx]

When you look at the fender, if you grasp the bottom where the bolts are, and you try to move it left to right (towards and away from the rim), does it move at all?

[GF-in-CA]

The rivets should not be loose.  If your fender feels loose, and your bolts are tight, it is probably because of the rivets, BTDT.  The solution is to find larger rivets, drill out the existing holes for the new rivets, and install them, or drill new holes for new rivets.  HTH,

[turnkey]

I had the same problem last year. Rivets loosened up and resulted in a very annoying “buzz” from the vibrating fender. Before drilling, give this a shot. My solution was to unbolt the fender and carefully use an appropriate sized drift punch and hammer to tighten up the rivets. I situated the whole thing on my vise and one at a time, tapped down on the rivets. Bout 6k miles and all good.       

[T Cro ®]

Yes peening the rivets can help.... One of the best solutions is to get sillycone between the brace and fender along with new rivets, once the sillycone hardens your fender will likely never rattle again.

[connie_rider]

Yes peening the rivets can help.... One of the best solutions is to get sillycone between the brace and fender along with new rivets, once the sillycone hardens your fender will likely never rattle again.

Great info!! THis club keeps getting better and better.
Whomever wrote that note did good!!

PS:    (Please,,, no one tell T Cro that I sed he did good!!)   

Ridfe safe, Ted

[voileauciel]

At one point I had screws and locknuts on mine, but after installing some Pirellis I realised that the clearance would be too close for comfort, so I put a set of rivets back in. Not 5k miles later, they loosened up and it's rattling like mad again.

Now I can't remember what size screws/locknuts I had.

Has anyone else tried this combination instead of the rivets?