Honjo-fenders: how do I shut them the heck up?

[54ny77]

I've got custom-cut rubber grommets or washers where needed, I've got leather washers in all the right spots, all eyelets clamp down on the fender stays with absolute certainty. Everything's mounted rock solid, alignment of fender to tire is perfect on both sides and the gap between tire and fender underside is about 1/4" or so, for all intents and purposes they don't flinch.

Despite that, when I'm on a particularly bumpy patch of road, I still get rattling/vibration of the fenders themselves. More on the back than front though.

Do these things just tend to run a little noisy?

[palincss]

No, they don't. At least, none of mine are noisy, and I have them on three bikes. Yours aren't installed right. You need to find out exactly where the rattling is coming from.

[4Rings6Stars]

No, they don't. At least, none of mine are noisy, and I have them on three bikes. Yours aren't installed right. You need to find out exactly where the rattling is coming from.

Agreed. I have some installed (with leather washers) and forget they are there.

[oldpotatoe]

I've got custom-cut rubber grommets or washers where needed, I've got leather washers in all the right spots, all eyelets clamp down on the fender stays with absolute certainty. Everything's mounted rock solid, alignment of fender to tire is perfect on both sides and the gap between tire and fender underside is about 1/4" or so, for all intents and purposes they don't flinch.

Despite that, when I'm on a particularly bumpy patch of road, I still get rattling/vibration of the fenders themselves. More on the back than front though.

Do these things just tend to run a little noisy?

No..something is loose or hitting something, somewhere. Put the bike in a stand and commence to wack the frame all around with a soft mallet..and listen. Sure it's the fenders?

[christian]

Agree with all before. The only time mine have been noisy was when one of the stay bolts on the fork backed out.

[54ny77]

in lieu of mallet i gently dropped the bike from a few inches in air over and over again....think i narrowed the problem to front fender dumping up against the caliper. i forgot that i used to put a small strip of bike ribbon on that spot in the past to act as a cushion. didn't do it this time around when i re-mounted fender on new fork. will try that or gorilla glue a piece of inner tube.

tolerance between honjo and fork crown/caliper is super tight, but it works.

thanks for the tips everyone.

No..something is loose or hitting something, somewhere. Put the bike in a stand and commence to wack the frame all around with a soft mallet..and listen. Sure it's the fenders?

[11.4]

Everything except please don't use a mallet on your bike. Tater is an old curmudgeon who would beat his frames when they misbehaved. I'd prefer not to have to explain why my frame got dented.

Hopefully you found the problem. If not, note that if a Honjo can twist at all around a bolt (and having an overly large mudflap can torque it enough to do so), it rapidly work hardens and then snaps there. It isn't pretty. I've had a couple bikes with complete frame bosses to mount full fenders and found that I had to be very careful, especially on the front, about not doing anything to cause the fender to flutter or bounce. Not pleasant.