Just finished this alloy front fender for the 1972 Z50 Cafe Racer. The mount for the fender act as a fork brace and the lower mounts for the coming fork dampers. The wheel spacers needed to adapt a CRF50 wheel to the Z50 forks are part of the mount, making wheel removal and install easier. The mount is kept from rotating by brackets that lock into the flat lower portion of the fork legs, and the brake stay, which passes through the mount.
Because the Z50 uses what are referred to as “upside-down forks,” any fender stay either has to be from the axle or suspended high above the tire to account for suspension travel.
People will sometimes ask if there are any in-process pictures of metal forming, but I usually forget to. This is the result of several rounds of pounding and annealing. Starting with a flat sheet, pounded on a shot bag in the center and strategically shrunck around the edges to get the desired shape.
Part way through the build, there is a lot of fitting and checking to get the shapes and alignment right.
Once fitted, the fork brace all but disappears. The mounts for the external fork damper are on both sides, but still not sure there will be more than one used.
The fender stripes were scaled down slightly to match the dimensions.
A license plate bracket was added to the 1974 Norton Commando. An LED light sits at the top. There is very little left to do on this bike as far as building.