Brat rear fender clearance

[bswinn]

I'm trying to figure out my rear fender on my bike. I've installed the visual impact brat kit. I made my rear fender out of fiberglass. It was originally mounted to the swing arm. Now I'm trying to mount it to the frame. But I'm having a rear hard time trying to figure out clearance.

I took the shocks out. Supported the frame. Then lowered until the distance between the shock mounts was at a maximum compressed shock length. Then I taped the rear fender to the wheel and proceeded to fiberglass up a new seat pan that would allow me to support the fender. I was trying to pull off something like the OP's photos in this thread

And once I installed the shocks my mistake became painfully obvious. The amount of frame travel was substantial and because of this the rear fender is so high and at such an awkward angle it looks like a dirt bike got rear ended.

The photo shows what it looks like after I played with it for a bit but it still looks silly.

My question is how in the world are people out there getting away with such a little amount of fender clearance on their bikes when they attach them so close to the rear tire on a rear suspension bike like the ones in the link I posted above?

 

[figure8]

The truth is some of those bikes in that other thread are show bikes so fender clearance isn't an issue. If you are gonna have rear suspension then the fender needs room to move obviously as you are saying. I agree the way you have fender now looks a little off. Without shocks on yours in the pic it's tough to tell where the fender will end up. But I agree, you may want to find a creative way to mount it differently. That's one of the reasons I liked the idea of keeping a rear loop on mine. I like the way mine ended up but still left clearance for the fender.....

 

[figure8]

This shows the clearance better...

 

[lakeview]

I have the same VI kit welded onto an abandoned project that I bought. Bosses were welded in to the interior aspect of the middle factory brace and then just below in the thick part of the frame that the fender bolts to. I have just pulled the swing arm for inspection and will take some pictures later today.
What you show in the last picture looks good to me.

 

[Airwolfie]

I mounted mine to the swing arm. It does bottom out on big bumps, but 2000 miles so far so good!

 

[wherearewe]

Just eyeballing, i think it looks like it will be ok, you might even be able to get away with a little less. It depends on how you ride, your weight, tyres you choose. At the end of the day, you can always use a firmer suspension setup, or even a longer or shorter shock.

That build shape actually reminds me of Hugh's 'Slight Hell'. He used a little cut down duck tail fender. That looked pretty good. Unusual but somehow cool.

 

[lakeview]

FWIW
Bosses welded in for render mount.