2015 Yamaha YZF-R1 Fender Eliminator Development

Our new 2015 R1 is off to the races, and so is our product development. Round 1: TST’s take on a fender eliminator for this mean machine. In this blog post, I’ll discuss the design behind our fender eliminator, why we made those choices, and provide status updates for those interested. [Quick note: the first image is of an early 3D FDM printed prototype. All other images are of a first production sample, and closely represent final units for customers.]

To begin, there are a number of considerations when designing a system that will ultimately remove the OEM fender. What will be safest? Where will the license plate be located? Should an aftermarket solution use the OEM pod signals? Should it be a large, heavy-duty solution or have a minimalistic approach? How much should it cost? The list goes on and on. The good news – we gather a lot of input from riders during the development stages to make our product as reasonable as possible. Let’s dive in.

Safety, Aesthetics, and Functionality

I grouped these three aspects together because, well, they go hand in hand. Some riders may feel the safest position for the license plate and signals is as far back as possible, up high, and facing straight back. Some riders care more about a stealthy look, and don’t use pod signals in the first place, so they’d rather have their license plate tucked up towards the front of the bike above the rear tire hugger. Then there’s the multitude somewhere in between. How do WE make a single solution for everyone? Adjustable functionality.

The TST fender eliminator system will come standard with three main components: a small, lightweight undertail closeout, a license plate mounting bracket, and mounting bosses. The flat license plate bracket will screw into the mounting bosses to allow an adjustment of the final angle of your plate, front to back. The mounting bosses can then be fixed onto the closeout for a great looking system at the rear, or you could elect to install the closeout by itself and then mount the license plate bracket towards the front of the bike by the rear hugger. Some may be asking, “what if I want to use the OEM signals?” Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We will have an optional kit that allows you to mount those onto the license plate bracket (the on-center distance between the signals becomes ~11 inches). For all of you that don’t want to use the OEM signals, we won’t waste your hard earned money by including extraneous hardware – just don’t opt-in for the mounting kit.

There you have it: the ability to achieve the exact look and functionality you’re going for, with absolutely no modification to the bike necessary for installation.

Construction and Cost

Speaking of hard earned money, let’s talk about the dough. Or lack thereof, actually. We will be CNC manufacturing these units from billet aluminum right here in Florida. After machining, it’s a quick black anodizing bath, leading to superior surface treatment performance over powder-coating. Wrap it up with stainless hardware and you’ve got a high quality fender eliminator for a high performance bike. And the best part? You’re buying directly from the manufacturer, which means you can skip the distribution/retail markups other manufacturers impose. We don’t have exact price figures just yet, but you can expect to pick this up on our website for less than a hundred bucks.

Summary

Take some creativity, mix it with engineering and rider input, and out comes a slick fender eliminator at a good price. Now that’s what I call reasonable.

Updates

7/1/2015: Production samples have been manufactured. Images above will be nearly identical to final units for customers.
7/2/2015: We will have 10-15 sets available for beta testing in the next few days.
7/7/2015: 10 beta units have arrived. Those interested should contact us (if we haven’t contacted you already).
7/23/2015: We have received our final units and will be making the ad available in the next few days!
7/24/2015: Our sales ad is officially live and the units can be purchased here!

About Erica Nocita