Settle the Dispute

[Atreyu]

Two of my freinds are aruguing about flaring your fenders. One says when you cut your fenders it creates less wind resistance which will result in a noticeable speed difference. The other says it will make less wind resistance but will make no difference. I put this in the open forum for a quicker answer. Thanks;)

[flyin#5]

there is no way you will really be able to have a "noticable" difference, unless you drag at very high speeds, which not to many people do with 400ex's... at least w/o putting a huge bore or a streetbike engine in. mostly you just do it to see where you tire is and to make it easier to place you quad.

There is no speed difference.

[cheetah]

There is not much of a speed difference, but what I personally noticed was that the engine ran smoother on top end because it wasn't dragging on my fenders. It's hard to say, but the engine doesn't feel like it's being pushed to the limit revving hard anymore. I hated when you was running 65 down a road and your fenders were flapping and making noises and suff. That stopped.

[250EXking]

yeah i would have to say it would have to add 15-20 mph.

nah im just kidding. the only thing the shaved fenders do is make you fly straighter in the air.

[yellowex01]

It does make a big difference when jumping. Before I shaved mine I was hitting a 65' table top and when coming down a gust of wind hit the front end and pushed the front enough that I landed sideways.. Talk about a pucker factor.

[Atreyu]

I tried to explain that it would add a noticeable speed gain but some of it was too funny to get involved in.:p

[trueblue450]

Yeah .. when its windy out my friends with fenders don't jump crap cuz it throws em wierd, while im just flyin through the air.
thats bout the only diff cuttin the fenders will get you.

[MOUSE]

it just looks cool :devil:

Originally posted by MOUSE
it just looks cool :devil:
& when riding in wet conditions you get muddier :(

they dont make it faster but when its windy out and your wide open across a field it blows you around less, its a lil more aerodynamic cut but the reason most people cut them is because when your quad is all extended they dont do much anyway

[hondafox440]

I don't think they can affect speed that much, but they obviously cause more air resistance thus slowing the quad down some..

[Ralph]

i didnt realy read this whole thread but with full fenders i wil never do a fast wheely ona road again. all it takes is a gust of wind... its scared me pretty bad several times. also if u take off on a road it make ur front end feel lighter with all the wind hitting them...

[crazybuffalo]

it would kill some wind resistance and might make the engine a bit cooler

[wilkin250r]

More often then not, the top speed is determined by the rev limiter, not air resistance. However, do not underestimate it, do that little trick where you stick your hand out the window flying down the freeway at 65. Multiply that force by 10, because your fenders are roughly 10 times the size of your hand, and you can see that it could be significant.

If you were to take two stock 400EX's, one with stock fenders and one with shaved fenders, and get rid of the rev limiters, the shaved 400EX will always have a higher top speed.

[Castor-426ex]

i noticed that after i got race cuts...

i need to call them mud funnels because everytime i hit a puddle


i wear it:(

[Chef]

Cutting your fenders does make a difference in the top speed of a bike. Think of them as two small parachutes. They just grab all the air they can and push it, instead of go through it. Dont underestimate how strong air can be. Have you ever seen an indy car spin out, or whatever, and just blow off the ground? I rest my case.