chewy Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Delighted to be back on a Beta, worried about rear mudguard breakages , have 2 friends who quote easy to break and expensive to fix as sole reason for not buying Beta. Read and heard all about 2011 rear mudguards being (shall we say different quality) and am looking at the way the whole thing fits the bike (2012 EVO)...bear in mind my missus has one too so it would be quite possible for us to break 2 in the same day. Apart from the unneccesary cost of replacement it is the sort of thing than can spoil a holiday or a good weekend so I am now scratching my head for a way to make it a part which can snap off and be fixed back on(preferably in the field), for those of you who suggest cable ties or plastic bolts it seems to me that the mudguard can't flex a) because of its sectional profile , because of the (neccessary) clip/overlap to prevent crap going straight into the airbox..its this clipover part that prevents the whole thing moving in the event of a rear ender /type getoff, c)I suppose because the plastic is the cheapest available. With limited resources (like most of us) the only thing I can think of is to find a 2 pack polymer and mould a piece to replace or fit over the clip/overlap part with a ledge to fix the snap off tail of the mufguard. This would of course involve cutting existing mudguard into 2 pieces (imagine the cut line where the clipover part runs into the actual mudguard ..underside) and using this third piece to rejoin them.. A lot of work /commitment not least hacking a brand new mudguard into 2 pieces. Questions are ; Has anybody broken a 2012 rear mudguard yet? If so can I have the broken bits to play with? Has anybody found a simple solution? (other than breakstem bolts or cable ties which don't really adress the problem) (I'm too old to talk about issues) As in many areas of trials it seems to be more interesting commercially to sell lots of expensive mudguards rather than make a better desighn or a fix /kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie_lejeune Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 put a 2010 mudguard on it- unbreakable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy Posted January 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 put a 2010 mudguard on it- unbreakable Tell my missus ..she broke one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmymal Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Tell my missus ..she broke one Yep I've broke one, and it wasnt even my fault! I was waiting in the que at a section, and the bloke behind me didn't realise he'd left his bike in gear, let his clutch out and his bike crashed into the back of mine snapping the rear mudguard on my 2 day old bike. Gutted. He didnt run into me hard but I was Suprised at how easily it broke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petejohn Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Hi I have seen the 2011 Beta guard bend back towards the bars utill it was past straight up and return undamaged. My son eventualy snapped his which was replaced with a new one. Before I could get the old one plastic welded he also snapped the new one. (less than a week.) After welding he has only used one and have lasted well, except for snapping across the rear light. The black top team guards seam a lot more flexable. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul w Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 have 2 friends who quote easy to break and expensive to fix as sole reason for not buying Beta Really? lets say they are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzralphy Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Hi chris happy new year mate. Good to see you back on a beta.... that other bike made you suffer a little?!?!? Beta guards flexibility vary year to year and colour to colour even 10 years ago - call lampkins or saunders (I think he does his own guards) to find the most flexible that they have experienced. The Beta guards are a little pricy - have you checked price from spain / france / italy, that should keep the UK dealers on their toes? I made a hinge for an older Rev Beta and used cable ties as the sacrificial fixing. Get a length of piano hinge and cut it to 2/3 - 3/4 the width of the the guard. Curve the hinge to match the guard (hinge bulb facing upward). Run a skill saw through the guard nice and square and steady - note to check under the guard and leave enough 'flat' space to rivet the hinge to the guard. Rivet the hinge to the both halfs of the guard. Make two sheet aluminium tabs (can't remember the size but were about 75x20x2) with 2x holes - one at each end. Put one end of the tab between the front guard section and the frame - snug up and loctite. Drill a hole through the rear guard section to match the other alloy tab hole and put a cable tie to hold the guard in place. Couple of things: experiment with cable tie size and keep spare in your pocket, the hinge will pop back to the curve shape when it is utilized, use larger head rivets on the plastic, use a length of tape to tidy the look up every month. It worked. Now i have a black plastic guard and find it plenty flexible so have't done the above fix. Yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duggan Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 (edited) I had a nightmare with 2011 rear mudguards, 5 in a month! Almost sold the bike, it drove me mad. Had two snap in one day! I think it was just the first batch of 2011 bikes and spare mudguards with the problem. Tried loads of clips, zip ties etc.. In the end I found these on eBay, worked a treat eBay item number 320823172767 fairly sure these are the correct size. Edited January 7, 2012 by Duggan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ymirtrials Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Hope I'm not too far off topic but what about front mudguards, I've got an 04 rev and I find the front fenders really brittle. Have broken two so far... I was checking the front fender on a new evo and they seem far more pliable and the bolt pattern seems the same so I thought I would put an evo front mudguard on my rev. has anyone tried this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betabonkers Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 i had 9 betas and never snapped a rear mudguard until 2011, then snapped three, im now on a gasser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pindie Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 You will need a gearbox soon then Seriously though, if your snapping front mud guards are you making the bolts too tight? Are the forks twisting in the yokes? Under what circumstances are you going though mud gaurds? If you flip the bike then the answer is don't flip the bike! If it's general riding then it might be worth checking batch numbers with the suppliers to ensure you are not unlucky enough to have one from a rogue batch? Exposure to sunlight and air temperature can also have a big affect on plastics. Are guards breaking in certain weather the manufacturer did not account for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy Posted January 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 It seems that there are no experts out there on thermoplastics who can definitively tell us why this problem has coame along..it must be a cost saving measure. All I remember is that cheaper plastics (polymers=many chains of molecules.I.m sure we have a Latin expert about) are bulked up with almost literally sawdust to make more volume for little cost and that these precipitate ( just as rain precipitates from the sky) from the chemical bonds within...thus embrittleing the materiel...but that was 30 years or more ago. It seems from all the replies that there is a problem (with which I take issue). It could be better designed but it seems more to do with cheap materials being used. Going right back to my original question it seems the only solution for a concerned individual is to pre emptively resolve the problem with a re design as it seems the manufacturers and supply chain are happy to sell us a tenners worth of stuff for a hundred quid (can't blame them). ....I was/am looking for a simple..inexpensive "fix" that most all of us could do or fit and of course checking to make sure that if I have a go at it that I'm not "re inventing the wheel". Like Ralph says it is going to involve cutting a good muguard into two pieces and then re attaching them back together . I have the re attachment idea sorted ..it's the cutting (in a way so as to add value to the bike rather than turn it into a "shed") thats got me scratching my head...It needs to be a method that all/any of us can do. For the time being I can make my re attachment bracket .then when/if I break one it will stop me worrying about turning the bike into a shed ..it'll just be a repair job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samnhide Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 (edited) hi guys, for the past 6 months all i seem to be doing is repairing my friends mudguards that have snapped, all of these are from betas.what i have noticed is that both front and rear mudguards are made from polypropylene which is a very brittle plastic at the best of times, even more so when its quite thick (which they are. over 4mm in places) and stored and used in cold temperatures. Also most beta mudguards are painted which will make it even more brittle. Every broken one i have seen has been a clean break, is everyone else seeing the same thing? The best thing i can suggest is for the front mudguard, there is a cheap universal one for sale on ebay that when its fitted you can hardly tell its not original. The plastic is also quite thin so it has a lot of give. sam Edited January 10, 2012 by Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 I repeat if anybody wants to send me some broken bits (first suitable bits recieved I.ll return as a usable piece if it works) I hope to have a fix sorted bracket prototype made but can't bring myself to cut a brand new rear into two over to you guys PM on here or via my website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigman Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 I know its not free, but theres a 2011 mudguard with a clean snap on ebay: Snapped 2011 Mudguard Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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