Why cut front fenders?

[norcalatver]

I've been browsing through the forums for years now and have noticed that almost exclusively everyone on the east coast cuts their front fenders! Do ALL of you race!!? Two of my buddies here in Ca. just bought EX's from east coast guy's and they both were cut. Just curious. Thanks in advance!

[bone705]

if your not riding in mud then its an ok thing to do. it looks better. u can see your tires. and if u wreak not as much of an area to break.

[rider250ex]

hey. i cut mine on my 250ex before it got stolen and i am goin to cut the ones on my r. it is alot better if u are riding in conditions that arent too muddy. actually they arent that bad in the mud. but anyways it helps u see where your tires are better so you can avoid ruts, rocks, stumps, and just about anything else in the trail. plus they look way cooler. :D

[ridesa02400EX]

uh i racecut mine and i live in ca

[norcalatver]

Originally posted by ridesa02400EX
uh i racecut mine and i live in ca
Hey ridesa02400EX, Do you ride this time of year in the mud? If so, don't your front tires roost you through the water and mud holes? Or do you take the extra roosting just to be cool? BTW, do you ever ride off Mosquito Road? About ten of us are going to Stonyford this weekend and I couldn't imagine not having full fenders.:cool: :cool:

tell u what, its soo much better with the fenders cut it is worth the extra dirtiness. If u cut em u'll never understood how u lived without.

[norcalatver]

Originally posted by Jingle
tell u what, its soo much better with the fenders cut it is worth the extra dirtiness. If u cut em u'll never understood how u lived without.
Then why don't any of the GNCC racers cut theirs?

[4wheelboy]

y would u if u RACED gnnc they need all the protection they can get. if they cant see that is going to slow them down.:o

and most people with cut fenders dont ride wfo throu muddy sections of woods anyway:)

[norcalatver]

I guess that's why I'm not going to cut mine then. If you can't go WOT through the woods, then get out of the way! I love riding through the woods as fast as possible and those pesky mud holes and water holes come really fast at high speed. Sometimes you just can't get out of the way!

[300exOH]

I cut mine on the 300 mainly for the looks. I widened the front so much that my tires weren't under the fenders much at all. I don't really get any more mud than before.


norcalatver- If you are riding wide open in the woods and can't avoid a mudhole then what are you going to do when me or one of my kids come around the corner? I've almost been hit by some kid who was riding the same way. He missed me and flipped the quad on top of himself.

Sorry to preach but this is just the kind of thing that gives the anti-atv people more to complain about.

[XANDADA]

I prefer full fenders for everything but very dry conditions. It does make a big difference in the amount of mud/dirt thrown in your face. You'll still get covered but just not as bad...

The reason for cut fenders is if you race MX you "WILL" break them off eventually from jumping.

GNCC guys don't do it because we don't wan't a face full of mud the entire race.

Lots of guys do it for the "It looks Cool" reason. Anyone in their right mind that rides woods would not cut their front fenders.

[Evan400ex]

Like Rico said, the plastic will break when riding mx. I had that happen, because I had so much mud under the fender and after jumping and landing a few times it broke the brackets holding up the plastic, and now thats why I have cut fenders.:macho

[norcalatver]

Originally posted by 300exOH



norcalatver- If you are riding wide open in the woods and can't avoid a mudhole then what are you going to do when me or one of my kids come around the corner? I've almost been hit by some kid who was riding the same way. He missed me and flipped the quad on top of himself.

Sorry to preach but this is just the kind of thing that gives the anti-atv people more to complain about.

300exOH, I appreciate your concern as I have an 8 & 10 year old myself. After reading what I have about east coast riding, I am pretty confident the size of our riding areas are significantly larger on the west coast. The places I ride at high speeds are either one way trails or there is literally no one else there. From where I am in Ca., I could ride on trails through three states if my tank would take me that far! I'm talking over 500 miles of uninterrupted riding! We have thousands of miles of riding with very few riders in comparison to the east coast. It is not uncommon to ride all day and never see anyone else! Just look at the posts from west coast riders, there are very few of them.

[300exOH]

I have noticed there aren't nearly as many west coast riders. I just don't want to see anyone hurt. Our riding areas are overcrowded to say the least. Thanks for not taking my comments the wrong way. In a way I wish I could ride all day without seeing other riders. The only thing good about crowded riding areas is that there's always help when you need it. Just don't want to see more people get hurt.

Ride safe!

:D

[daimon1054]

Why cuy? Style!
Way back when if you crashed you broke a fender and it was cheap to cut them plus no one had them. Then people started saying it cut wind drag but that is not true we tried many times to see if speed changed and the answer was no. Also many said the fenders affected the quad in the air, again not really as I could tell. IMO tire placement is not a big issue either if you are looking at your tires you have no idea where your going, I am looking as far down the trail as possible and never ever look at my tires. Last how much weight do you really save? In truth there is no advantage it is just a personal preferance and it became "the look" you had to look like a racer to be a racer right?

I think with the big MFG's getting back in you will see the fender cutting stop, Honda is not going to pay you contigency money for riding an unidentifiable quad. Kaw refused to pay a friend because his motorcycle was not green.

i must disagree with u on that one. i think that if i get a new quad the first thing i will do is cut the fenders, Looks sporty, on a mx track u can see ur tires, and if u dont look at ur tires when ur racin then u need to start doin it in the ruts.

[4wheelboy]

yea defintly on the mx track and even trails i look to see where to put my tires in the ruts and best line:o

[daimon1054]

I've raced for 30 years and if your looking at you tires you are not looking where you are going. If you are looking at the ruts right infront of you, you do not have time to react. You should be looking as far down the track as possible.

[Hoodeye3]

I am with Daimon on this one , the only time you should be looking down below your handlebars at all is for a "quick" damage assesment or adjustment.

[4wheelboy]

nah i take a quick look down .;) its not like im looking at my tires the whole way . its just for a
second:o

word 4wheelboy. U dont stare at them u just glance. wow so what kinda 3 wheelers did u race daimon?

[daimon1054]

Started on dirt bikes then race a ATC250R the old air cooled job first then the new and improved, then Tecate3. I switched to a quad racer the first year out but broke more swing arms than I think suzuki made. When the 250R came out I switched to that then a Tecate4, try to keep that bucket running lol I liked the quad and IMO it was the best of the bunck for my style but it had way to many problems. So back to a 250R and let the mods fly, now I have a 400ex but do not race, I had surgery on my neck so the doc will not even let me on the MX track anymore.

[markk]

ooo all these guys have so much power under all these hondas that they dont need the wind to help pull there front end up, so they clip the finders a little bit to help keep them on the ground when they get a little air lol