I'm wondering is anyone else has experienced this. The rear section of the front fender has developed a crack near one of the screw attachment tabs. I have no doubt this is caused by the crumbling pavement here in Colorado. Honda still lists the part, but it is backordered for who knows how long so I'll repair it for now. If anyone else has repaired any of the ABS plastic that Honda uses everywhere, please post your experience.
I do recall some F6 owners that had a fender skirt attached, having some issues with cracks. The fenders are pretty delicate in my opinion. Every time I do front wheel maintenance, I am careful not to overtighten the screws, annd to make sure the rubber washers are still soft. I would think that the ABS plastic would work okay.
During my unplanned dismount at speed, my front half of the front fender got a crack in it. Rather than spend ~$500 for a new one, I had it repaired at a body shop. They did "plastic welding" on the back of it, and repainted it along with my damaged pannier cover. Turned out great. I have zero concerns that it will crack again. It's solid as a rock.
When I totaled my 2013 about the only part not broken was the rear half of the front fender. I had repaired 3 of the 4 tabs using ABS primer and black ABS plumbing pipe glue. I never had a fender extension. Mine were broken when I removed the tire for the first time.
When I finally removed the rear part of the front fender it was much worse than I expected. That part has 8 mounting points, 4 fender to forks, and 4 fender to caliper covers. 5 of the 8 were either cracked or broken off! The part had never been removed as that's not needed for tire changes. I never installed a mud guard nor did the part ever contact pavement or road debris. It's simply a bad design by Honda, as plenty of GL1800 owners have complained about on Goldwing message boards.
Unfortunately one of the mounting points had lost several chunks of plastic, which explains the little piece I found on the garage floor a few years ago. So repair would be a real challenge. Luckily I found a replacement in stock, in the right color, and it arrived today.
While searching for the replacement I noticed that the part number hasn't changed over the years, except for the last 2 color code characters. So GL1800 owners might want to pull the caliper covers and check the condition of the rear-front fender. They still appear to be available but that won't last forever. I would have bought a replacement even if I had to repaint it.
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