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Fender Installed

1. CRF450 Rear Fender

2. Under Fender Taillight

3. Fender Reinforcement

4. CRF Fender Reinforce

You may or may not use info here to help install a CRF fender on your XR650L, but I will not be responsible for the accuracy of this info, pictures or measurements. Remember to always measure twice and cut once. I tried to use as much of the original hardware or new tail light hardware as possible. All measurements are from end to end or center-hole to center-hole when applicable.

Parts used in my XR650L fender swap:

1. Polisport 2002-2004 CRF450 Red Fender
2. Baja Design Under Fender Tail Light (UFO, Cemoto and Acerbis produce these)
3. Flat Aluminum Stock 1" X 1/8" X 24"

Instructions for my XR650L fender swap:

1. First I removed the seat, tail light, fender/tool bag, rear fender, and signal lights.
2. I decided how far I wanted the under fender tail light to protrude from under the CRF fender, and decided on X" between the edge of the tail light and the rear of the fender. I drilled the tail light assembly with two 1/4" diameter holes 1-7/8" apart and 7/8" from the sides. Then I marked the CRF fender using the tail light holes as a guide. I finished the tail light assembly by trimming 2-3/4" off it. (Pic 1)
3. I trimmed the CRF fender to an overall length of 18-1/2". I also trimmed both lower corners of the front of the fender to fit properly and used the brackets I fabricated. Then I drilled two 1/4" diameter holes on the side of the fender using the rear signal light bracket as a guide. The holes are 5/8" from the lip running along the bottom of the fender and a 1/2" from the bottom. I recommend retaining the fender/tool bag since there will be a gap between the seat and the CRF fender, which the bag covers up nicely. I used the plastic piece from the tool bag as a guide to mark the CRF fender, and then drilled three 3/8" diameter holes. Last, I drilled a 1/4" diameter hole in the center rear portion of the fender to install one of the original plastic wiring harness clips, and then drilled a 5/16" diameter hole to pull the tail light wires though. The holes are 5/8" apart. (Pic 2)
4. To reinforce the bottom of the fender and stop any up or down movement, I cut two 5-3/4" pieces out of 1' X 1/8' flat aluminum and rounded all four corners. I used the two rear holes of the original bracket from underneath the seat as a guide to mark the flat piece of aluminum. Then I drilled the aluminum pieces with 1/4" diameter holes in the front and 5/16" diameter holes in the rear (which needed to be elongated). Once I mounted the fender, I used these brackets to secure the fender from the bottom. (Pic 3 & 4)

As mentioned in the first paragraph above, I used most of the original hardware (bolts, nuts and washers) and the hardware provided with the tail light assembly. I used two of the four bolts, washers and nuts supplied with the tail light assembly on the rear part of the fender to secure it to the fender. The other two sets I used in conjunction with the original barrel washers to attach two of the three bolts securing the fender/tool bag to the fender. For the third bolt securing the bag, I used an original bolt combination, which runs through the bag, fender and tail light assembly. By the way, my front fender is a trimmed down XR400R front fender. -Simapg (XR650LSM)

Credits: Technical article submitted by Simapg. Edited and published by 4Strokes.com.

Other XR650L to CRF450 rear fender conversions:

XR650L Rear Fender

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