Front Fender nearly in contact with the Tire. How to fix?

[rbm]

I'm a little puzzled how to fix this issue.  The front fender on my bike is skewed slightly forward so that the tip of it is nearly in contact with the tire.  I'd say there is 1/4" or so between it and the tire. It's been this way as long as I have had the bike but I've never gotten around to fixing it until now.  How do I correct this?  Do I shim up the fork brace at the front by inserting washers between it and the forks?  Or do I bend the fork brace itself?  Suggestions please.

[CRASH]

Do not Shim or BEND your fork brace.  That is a structural member and doing anything to it out of the norm is not wise and could lead to very bad things. Your fender is cosmetic, if it is not right, then it is mounted wrong.  If it is not contacting the tire and has been that way for so long, why is it an issue?

[rbm]

Thanks for that.  It popped up as an issue because someone pointed this out to me as potentially damaging should the tire pick up debris from the road.  I can see that the fender parts are secured properly and the parts are intact.  So, I would like to find an easy solution but will just as well leave things status quo if there is no quick fix.

[Chaos]

Photo would help.  Is there a gap between the rear of the front fender and the fork brace?  There's a screw at the back of the fork brace that may have worked loose.  ( #10)

[Rick G]

Those fenders will sit very close to an 18" wheel, far closer than on a 17" wheel.
First I would losen the bolts on the rear of the fork then lift the fender to find if there is any slack that can be taken up and then tighten the bolts so as to hold the fender futher away from the tire. I had to do that when I put a K100 16v front fender on a K1008v with an 18" front wheel.

[rbm]

Here are images of my fender that may help:




Notice the gap at the top of the front fender part.  It is quite large yet the fender is not able to be pushed backwards and upwards since it interferes with the fork downtube.

Chaos,  The diagram you posted is not reflective of my fender mount.  Mine is different and shown below.


The difference is in Bolt #2.  I do not have a long bolt #10 as shown in your diagram.  The bolts attach to welded fingers on the fork brace, part #9 below.


Somehow, I have to be able to pull back the mount point for the front portion of the fender.  Ideas please?

[frankenduck]

Your last diagram is not for a K100RT, it's for a 4V K bike.  Is your fork brace made of solid metal or does it  have a plastic cover?  (Some previous owner may have done something so it's not stock anymore.)

How about a picture of your front wheel too?

[rbm]

Your last diagram is not for a K100RT, it's for a 4V K bike.  Is your fork brace made of solid metal or does it  have a plastic cover?  (Some previous owner may have done something so it's not stock anymore.)

How about a picture of your front wheel too?

Most definitely this has been modified.  The front of the bike is completely K1004V / K1100.  The remainder of the bike is K1002V (except back wheel).  This is an image of my front wheel (18" 3 spoke with 100/90VR18 Avon Roadrider).

The brace is all metal and the brake line "Y" splitter is attached to that brace. There is a plastic cover that goes over the assembly and fastened with a long wood screw.

[frankenduck]

I'd say your best bet is to run a 110/80/18 front tire like a K1100LT runs.

From that picture it doesn't look like the front end is ALL 4V parts.  That doesn't look like a 4V front caliper:

[rbm]

I posted an older picture.  At the time that picture was snapped, I had 2 pot calipers from a 2V bike.  The current configuration has calipers exactly as you've pictured and I replaced the rotors with K1100 ones -- you actually sourced those rotors for me.

Tires are presently out of budget so I guess I'll leave things as they are until I am ready for new tires.  Thanks.

[Rick G]

That front end would have had a 17" wheel as standard. I have come across many different front fenders, my 3 Ks have that type of fender but all are very different in the moulding but essentially look the same.

[rbm]

That's reassuring, Duck.  As I mentioned in the first post, I bought this bike with this configuration back in 1995 and have never encountered problems.  For the longest time, I ran 110/80VR18 Metzler tires (I think these are standard on K1002V :dunno2:) and swapped to 100/90VR18 Avon tires two years ago.  I love the road feel of the Avons, especially in the wet. I noticed the fender gap shortly after the swap and this was recently brought to my attention by another rider late this season; he advised I should correct it.  But, I see that I'm in other company with K-bike owners and shouldn't worry.  I'll see about moving to 110/80VR18 tires when it's time and just continue along, business as usual i the meantime.

Cheers guys for helping.