Removal of K100 front fender mount

[thor0864]

Doing a cafe racer out of my straight K100, and it seems a lot of guys are removing the bracket that holds the front fender, then fitting an aftermarket fender in the more standard way using the 2 Bolt holes on either side. Until I saw others doing this, I had assumed that that bracket had a structural purpose as well, strengthening fork rigidity. Now I'm pretty sure that it's nonessential. Can somebody confirm this?  Thanks, Stein

[Chaos]

if you have the one piece finder you're fine.  The later 2 piece fender has an aluminum fork brace between the front and back fender halves and is pretty essential. 

[thor0864]

Thanks for the quick reply! Yes I should have clarified that I do have the two piece fender unfortunately.  Sorry to hear you think it's structural, since it's so damn ugly when the stock fender is removed.  May opt to replace with a custom piece that's less unsightly.  No idea why other bikes are fine with the fork braced at two fixed points (axle and top), whereas you're saying I need a third brace point, seems excessive.  Anyway I'll likely follow your advice, thanks again, S.