Vietnam Repro Front fender K0

[ashimotok0]

Anyone seen one of these. If so are they any good?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda-CB750K0-CB750-K0-K1-excellent-repro-Front-fender-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem5d2b5d748fQQitemZ400159503503QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Cheers

Ash

[tomcourtney]

Yes, i have bought a front and rear, i purchased them on Ebay and paid by paypal, after a week i received an email saying that they would not be posted for another week. Not a great start. First impressions, let me say you get what you pay for.. The front is OK for the money.  i havent compared it for fit yet and still havent unpacked the stays yet, i did notice the mounting bracket was slightly loose, the chrome seems ok althought some better polishing before chrome would have been helpfull. , i will try and get and post some pics this weekend. The fender is hand beaten and and hand made, The rear fender looks better than the front except that when they chromed it, the blinker wire retainer tabs were not turned down and were not polished and there is no chrome under the tab when you bend it over.. The rear fender is made from three pieces welded the length and hand beaten and the same as the front a better polishing job would have made a BIG difference... Keeping in mind that a decent two hole used Rear fender will cost about the same and a well known nice new front will cost a K more... So to sum up for the money they are ok wait for the 20% discount he runs from time to time. But i will say They sure make the genuine article look like a thing of Beauty.
Good luck Tom

[kp]

The bracket looks to be either screwed on or using holed rivets. Still for $200 it got to be better than no double cut.

[ashimotok0]

  
Sent him this and will keep you posted!


--- On Wed, 10/6/10, eBay Member: honda_four_rider wrote:


From: eBay Member: honda_four_rider
Subject: honda_four_rider has sent a question about item #400161387377, ending on Nov-05-10 05:52:32 PDT - Honda CB750K0 CB750 K0 K1 excellent repro Front fender
To: longlanvy@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, October 6, 2010, 1:34 PM


Dear hondaclassic31,

Hi I am looking for the blade only on one of these fenders as I already have NOS Genuine stays and centre piece. I am looking for it to be highly polished before chroming (someone I know has bought one from you and says it was not fully polished before chroming). can you help me please !!!!!!

Kind regards,

ashley

 Hello Ashley
could you please send me the picture of the part you're looking for.

the blade only..

I am making these fender from A to Z, I can polish it for you.


Thank you, and we appreciate for your business
 
Eric
 
Phone: 949-544-1128  USA
  
www.hondaclassic31.com
 
Yahoo Messenger:  bayseo
 

 

[ashimotok0]

Got this reply!! (post to UK)  (i.e quote for 'blade' only with better pre-chromed polishing) - What do you think Tom? ChrisR?  cheers Ash

Hello Sir
The price is $120 and $40 for shipping
Thank you
Eric

[Mad Matt]

For that price...I could easily send this to my chrome shop and have it re-chromed to show quality (better than Honda chrome for sure) probably for $100.  I think I will have to give this a try.

Matt

[ashimotok0]

Taking it one step back, perhaps he would supply them unchromed? Then we could polish ourselves and then presumably dead easy to chrome.

Eagerly await Tom C's pictures of one he bought

Cheers,

Ash

[hondasan]

Ash, I would have to see one in the flesh to be able to comment. As has been suggested, probably better than nothing, and for some people for whom budget IS important, perhaps it is a way forward. As to re-chroming, that is a lottery as to the success, and personally I will always buy NOS if available.

The only PERFECT double cut fender I have ever had (no dents / scrapes, just dulled from 40 years of polishing) was taken to a chrome plater who I have used for years. Unfortunately, and not known to me, the "old guy" who did the polishing had retired. The youngster who took over can polish, as long as the item is made of armour plate! That perfect fender is now so thin you could use it for razor blades - the chrome at the front edge is thicker than the remaining metal. As we all know, the money charged for the re-finish is not the issue, cos these things are too damn rare (and costly to buy via Ebay) to have ruined during plating. Just can't justify a Yamiya repro right now.

Good luck with however you decide to proceed. - Chris R

[vnz00]

hi guys,
depending on the fit and finish of the original parts the front guard, you could ask to have one sent unchromed and un-assembled.  this way you control how the finished product looks.

the way I have seen the front fender restored in the past is to separate the brace from the blade, and have all parts polished and plated in copper.  the parts are then correctly riveted back together while still in their copper stage and the nickel/chrome plating done on the assembled item.

If you can get the parts separately this would be a good option, but it is still an expensive process if you can find a plater who can do this for you.  I guess it is still a cheaper option than a yamiya repro though.

Regards,
Steven.

[Mad Matt]

I have 2 sandcasts and both of them have a Fake double cut front fender.  Both were made from single cuts by grinding off the front edge and then re-chroming.  These come out a little short on the front edge as many of you know.  So only a true sandcast guru can really tell.  The last show I entered , the judge, who knew quite a lot about sandcasts, never even noticed.  In fact his comment was that I had the correct double cut front fender.  He could see the chrome was better than stock, but he was not going to ding me for better than stock chrome.

None the less, I can tell, and I wouldn't mind getting it truly correct at some point.

My other thought was to weld and braise a longer fender "blade" together from rolled edge fenders by placing the seam under the struts.  Then it would be long enough to cut to the proper double cut on both ends.  After some careful filling and polishing with the brazing torch, then some serious copper and copper buffing.  You could probably make the seams disappear, and especially after the struts were put back on to hide any slight change in surface between the pieces.

Matt

[ashimotok0]

Hi,

I too thought of welding pieces under the stuts/stays. I even have the cut pieces already but my  tig welding skills are not good enough to tackle it yet.

I am going to take a punt on the Vietnam 'blade only' option I think, but I am going to press him to polish it properly.

Take Chris's point on chromers in UK. I used a local firm who a well known UK magazine raves about and uses on all of their project bikes. But they ruined my alloy gas cap and rear wheel spindle without any hint of an apology and very expensive too.

Will keep you posted when the fender blade arrives

Cheers

Ash

[tomcourtney]

Here are some of the pics the chrome on the top is acceptable but not on the edges these are assembled then pollished then chromed unlike the original ones i believe are chromed in pieces. TC
I am not happy with the edge of the fender, it has not been polished properly before chroming and still shows the linish marks.
The rolled edges are hand beaten and rough and uneven. as i said before, ok for the money, buying just the blade sounds like a good idea, but i would not bet on the rivit holes being in the right place.. its too bad they can't spend some more time polishing..
Hard to photograph with my camera.









The mounting bracket on mine is loose and i can move it on the fender blade.

[ashimotok0]

I did a deal with the guy for $30 more to fully polish to my satisfaction and I have asked him not to drill any holes. Bit of a punt but what the hell it's better than $1300 plus shipping from Yamiya. Sorry you had to be a 'guinea pig' for us Tom!!!

ChrisR - My daughter now works in Leeds - when I get it and if it is any good , I don't mind dropping it off in Sheffield to show you if you like.

best regards,

Ash

[kp]

I might take a chance ad do the same Ash. For no other reason than interest. I must agree though, the Yamiya stuff is good but it's just becoming so overpriced. I bought a red foam seat and it is no different to the standard foam seat except the color of the foam and it's like $200 more. The front mudguard is the same. These were originally selling for $900 odd a year or so back. All his stuff is going up in price.
I suppose though, once all the early bike restoration slows down in years to come, Yamiya may find things a bit tough so probably good business to get in while he can. KP

[ashimotok0]

Hmm KP I reckon Yamiya can get good business at the vastly inflated prices and then when that dries up then reduce and they will get a flood of orders. Just look at the number of HM300 pipes that DSS sells. I reckon there are lots of K0's out there waiting for the elusive parts to become available again at a reasonable cost. I suppose it's the old thing of supply and demand, if someone comes out with a half decent fender at say $600 (which I would consider reasonable) then Yamiya would then have to rethink their pricing. Even the blade at $600 would be acceptable as the the other parts can usually be sourced or repaired/rechromed.

Does anyone have a Yamiya front fender Are the Yamiya double cut fenders made with a proper die or hand made?

Cheers

Ash