Mounting A Custom Rear Fender

Well, things are moving along with both of the builds, just slow as hell. If we had it our way, we would have built the bikes from start to finish after we had all the parts we needed. It would have been done in about four months instead of 14. But at this point I was ready to mount my rear fender and add a sissy bar. I was lucky to get a heavy-duty fender from MGS Custom, and I mean heavy-duty-this thing is 12-gauge rolled steel with internal struts welded in. My plan was to mount the fender and seat pan; this would have given me a good way to line up where to mount the sissy bar for my passenger, but since I'm still waiting on the seat pan I'll just have to guess where to mount the sissy bar and hope I find a skinny passenger. I had a little help from my little girl on the camera-it's always hard to do the work and take photos, but you'll get the idea.

Ernie's bike		Always the parts whore, I...        read full caption Always the parts whore, I was given a new flat-lift from K&L Supply after one of the reps saw the piece of crap I was using in the article. It is 12 inches wide and 13 1/2 inches high. We will do a showcase on it soon. Anyway, back to the build.
I got started by welding a...        read full caption I got started by welding a small piece of flat stock to the bottom of the frame rails. This would allow the fender to sit where I wanted.	With the fender in place I...        read full caption With the fender in place I placed a straight edge along the rear sprocket to the transmission sprocket to mark the side of the fender where it will need to be cut out for the chain to clear.	Then I pulled the fender off...        read full caption Then I pulled the fender off the bike to mark a piece of cardboard as a template for the flat stock I would use to fill the gap from the frame to the fender, and also use as a way to mount the fender.
Then I placed the fender back...        read full caption Then I placed the fender back on the bike to mark both of the filler sides.	Next, I traced my cardboard...        read full caption Next, I traced my cardboard template onto a sheet of 14-gauge flat stock steel.	With the flat stock marked,...        read full caption With the flat stock marked, I pulled out the plasma cutter I took (er, long-term borrowed) from Greg (...he may not know I have it...) and cut out the pattern.