I have been seeing all these 400ex's with really thin front fenders. Have these been specially made for the race bikes... or have they been hand cut? I talked to a guy who hand cut his and used pin-stripe tape for a guide. Then sanded it down with 80 grit sand paper.

Anyone else have any techniques on shaving? I'm considering doing it to my 400ex. Mostly for looks. Why do the racers do this?- does it offer any advantage during the race?

 

I cut mine with a hacksaw, then used a disc sander to finish it up. you would want to start by mesuring everything out, then draw the lines in with magic marker, or pinstripe like you said.

I cut mine cause I like the look, like how it feels being able to see your tires while riding, and because I ride mostly in sand and dont really need them. I think most of the really fast quads probably started doing it to cut down on the drag the fenders would create.

 

Hey RotGutBottom,
Where do you mostly ride at?

 

I used an electric jig saw and a file to shave mine. I started out just trying to drill the rivets out of those stupid looking plaquards so I could remove them, but that didn't look much better. I ended up just cutting them off. It does give the bike a much meaner look. I always thought the pros did it to keep mud from clinging to the bike?

 

Do you guys have pictures of your cut fenders? I'm looking for some ideas in how thin to cut. Email me your pics- cbrian3@qwest.net
Also- Can we paint over the stock plastic? what type of paint? I'm thinking Dark Navy Blue with White trim (kinda like Penn State colors).

-Brian

 

I live in Utah... so I mostly ride in the mountains (hill climbing) and occasionally go out to the dunes. Why?... where do you live?

 

They do it because of air "drag". The pros say the wind affects less the bike, especially when jumping.
I haven't done this myself...and it's so muddy here, I don't even consider it!! haha

 

I live in Sandy, do you ride anywhere local (Tracks, Jumps, ETC.) or just the mountains and dunes?

 

it is also much easyer to set up for a jump if you can see where your tires are, and avoid imperfections off a big jump. the drag is another big reason, i have heard you can gain about 2mph on top if you trim them. most people do it becase it looks sweet. oh, yeah, dont forget about the weight savings!