Fitting ralley front mudguard to Transalp
 

I would like to fit a ralley front mudguard to my 98 Transalp. I asked Touratech UK about the Acerbis mudguard that they advertise but they said it was for BMW only. Has anyone done this and what make of mudguard did you use?

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Any of the after market ones from an enduro or off-road shop should fit. They come without pre-drilled holes, including the Acerbis one in the 'Touratech' catalogue. You may need a spacer depending on how much room you have between the mudguard and the fairing. I fitted one to an AT from a local shop 'Keep Biking' in Thame Tel;01844261372 and used a cheap plastic chopping board to make the spacer.

[This message has been edited by mcdarbyfeast (edited 09 September 2003).]

Thanks for the tip. I think I'll get the Acerbis one then and see how it fits.
B.T.W. did you also fit a 'stiffener' to stop the mudguard bending at high speed?

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Hi, no wasn't needed.

The only problem I found was that there are only two threaded holes on the Africa Twin (10mm) these normally take the bolts for a small splash guard. I drilled four holes in the mudguard and used these to fit the front two allen screws. At the back of the mud guard I used cable ties. All that said the Transalp may have four holes so you wouldn't have a problem.

I've ordered the acerbis mudguard, so will let you know how it goes.
My only concern now is that the crashbars may be in the way where they wrap around the front of the bike behind the front wheel. but we'll see!

I've been looking at doing this too (after a very hard time on a wet and muddy Ridgeway with a locked front wheel due to compacted mud under the standard mudguard...). I also have engine bars fitted, and I think that would be problem. However, cutting the required amount of mudguard off the rear so that enough clearance is created should do the trick. A short flexible extender made from vinyl or rubber (e.g., an old car mat)could be attached by pop rivits, self tappers or small bolts, and would hang down from what's left, keeping some of the mud off.

A friend (hello Shack) recently fitted a Polysport mudguard (I think around 15 GBP from the Dirt Bike Store in Bridgwater) to his Dominator using 4" butt hinges to provide support to the two threaded bolts on the bottom yolk. I intend to adapt cheap headlight brackets to support the rear section of the mudguard.

Of course, this is all hypothetical, and I'll be very interested to hear how you got by the problem! Oh, it might not be a wise move to remove the steel fork brace that's under the standard mudguard.......

Hi,
I have now fitted my Acerbis mudguard. I used a plastic chopping board for spacers as suggested by mcdarby. I needed FOUR pieces to make enough space for the mudguard to clear my crashbars. There were only 2 bolts I could have used, and I had to by 3 inch versions of these to go through the spacers and into the yoke. Although I have full clearance without having to chop any of the rear of the mudguard off, it does mean I have lost some travel between my tyre and the mudguard. I had to break hard and long recently on the motorway and my front wheel made contact with the inside rear of the mudguard which only made a humming sound at the time, but when I looked inside the mudguard later, I noticed that the friction between tyre and the mudguard had burned the mudguard at the point of contact. I am going to get some progressive fork springs some time soon so this may well prevent that happening again.
I did remove that steel fork brace because I thought that it was merely a support for the original mudguard (although I did think it was a bit overkill for that!). It doesn’t seem to have had any effect up to now, but if it’s purpose is to act as a fork brace then there must be reason for that and I am going to put it back on. Are you sure it is a fork brace?


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I had heard it's a brace, but if you're having no problems now it's off I can't see why it's there - unless Honda know something we don't about the bendyness of their forks.....

Other dual purpose bikes that have high-level mudguards don't normally have them, so I would have thought it should be fine. Please post a picture of it on your website; I'd love to see how it looks!

By the way, I ride through Guildford on the way to work every day (Portsmouth to London), so I'll keep an eye out for a red TA with a high-level mudguard!

Stig

I have just made this modification. I found the rerouting of the speedo cable very difficult. I ended up threading it through a hole I drilled in the mudguard, but it is vunerable here to the tire at full suspension compression. How did you get around this?

Simon,
I didn’t have that problem. My speedo cable is very tight, but I did not really have a problem rerouting it so maybe they are different lengths? http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/confused.gif

Stig, I will let you know when I've posted a picture of my bike.

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I've added a picture of my Transalp with the Acerbis ralley mudguard fitted!
It's on my website (see link below) in the 'The Bikes' section.
There is also a picture of the headlight protector I have made for it.

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Hey, that mudguard looks good! It extends further back than I expected - it looks like it should be quite protective for the radiator etc., more so than I had imagined anyway. I like the headlamp protector too. Easily dismountable for cleaning. Does it move much in the wind when you're on the move?

Stig

just a thought ... if hard braking caused the front tyre to make contact with the mudguard, imagine what a big bump off road will do. might just break the mudguard, but it might equally lock the front wheel momentarily

the mudguard is fine at motorway speeds, although I haven't been over 70mph with it. I think I'm going to put a stiffener on anyway. The headlight guard is also fine...I think, how do you check if it is moving at high speeds without climbing over the front of your bike on the motorway! It is held at the bottom with inner tube rubber which is pulled nice and tight so there are no problems there actually.
I did use 3mm lexan though and I think 4mm would have been better.

I am adding progressive front suspension so I hope that that will prevent the tyre hitting the mudguard...I really need to test it though because I agree that breaking the mudguard or jamming the front wheel are not things that you want to happen while offroading on your big trip!

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