rear fender from a 1972 Honda 450

[digitalsam]

Does anyone know if the rear tire of an 1980 XS special will fit inside the rear fender off of a 1972 Honda CB450?

I found one for sale and would like to look at rigging it up to fit on my bike. the 72 CB450 had a 3.50-18 tire and the XS has a 4.50-17. Not really sure what those numbers mean.

[fredintoon]

Does anyone know if the rear tire of an 1980 XS special will fit inside the rear fender off of a 1972 Honda CB450?
I found one for sale and would like to look at rigging it up to fit on my bike. the 72 CB450 had a 3.50-18 tire and the XS has a 4.50-17. Not really sure what those numbers mean.

Hi Sam,
those are old-fashioned inch-designation tire sizes.
The first number (3.50, 4.50) is the tire width. The second number (-18, -17) is the tire rim diameter.
Thus the tire OD for the Honda calculates to be 25" while the Yamaha tire OD is 26".
That puts the Yamaha tire a 1/2" closer to whatever fender it's under.
Years back I put a 4.10-18 rear tire on my CB450. It hit the fender when I ran over a huge bump but was OK otherwise.
But that was the Honda fender on the Honda bike with a too-fat tire on it (and a too-fat rider besides)
I'd say that to make the swap work you should measure the tire clearance you have right now with the stock fender
then make the adapter pieces you will need to mount the Honda fender in such a way that it has that same clearance.

[digitalsam]

Muchos Gracias. I am going to get it and build a solo seat pan out of fiber glass. I am building a 3d version of the bike and think it will look purty bueno. To my eye anyway, it won't be a restore.