This review has been a long time coming. Due to inclement weather here on the Isle of Wight, for many months now, the time constraints of running my own company and setting aside time for a full-time wife and a 15 y/o son, have all meant I’ve needed to prioritise. Finally, on Sunday, the stars aligned, at the same time as the weather, and the Alt-Rider High Fender kit was installed.
Whenever I’m looking for new kit for my T700, AltRider are one of my goto manufacturers. I only install top quality kit on my bike. No Chinese knockoffs, no substandard cheapies; I’m now older, “hopefully” wiser and I don’t need or want to cut corners. I have several important modifications on the OverlandRider T700 from AltRider and I’ve been very happy with all of them. This high fender kit is no exception!
OK, let’s first address the “elephant in the room”.. I have no idea why, but some folks are obsessed with nobbly tyres so let’s just address the standard social media responses and maybe we can render some replies null and void before they’re posted: “So, what the hell are those tyres and why would you need a high fender kit with those?” These tyres are Avon TrailRiders, rated 80% on-road, 20% off-road. At this time, I mostly tour on my T700, so these are the right tyres for the job. When I do off-road riding, more seriously than trails and green lanes, these tyres get switched out to nobblies, but that’s a very rare occurrence for me presently.
“So what’s the point of putting on a high fender kit now?” Well, when I do change to nobblies and get the bike into more serious mud and terrain, they’ll prove useful..? The more honest reply is this: I’m getting older, I don’t intend to race enduro again anytime soon and my T700 will spend most of its life with me on tarmac and trails where these tyres are optimal. However, I love to modify my bike and the stock front fender never looked right on the T700 to me, coming from a Moto-X and enduro background. So honestly.. I rarely do aesthetic upgrades but on this occasion, that’s more what it was than anything else. It now looks right and no longer offends my old school eyes. But regardless of whether you use your T700 for hardcore off-roading, light trails or mostly tarmac, this review is simply about the quality and installation of this fender and the accessories that come with it. You can then decide if it suits your needs.
OK, now we’ve addressed that, let’s talk about the kit. First off, what’s in it?
- Laser cut, formed and powder-coated steel mounting bracket
- Custom built, dual-sided front brake hose kit
- Pre-drilled, mid-length plastic fender
- Stylised 3D printed ABS blanking plates paying homage to the Tenere sand dunes
- All hardware and fittings needed for installation
- Zip ties for brake line routing
The brake lines are slightly contentious, as I believe the Yamaha produced high fender kit does not require the change of brake lines, which is no quick job to replace. However, this kit does upgrade the OEM brake lines to “braided stainless steel lines covered with a UV resistant black PVC coating and built in strain reliefs for increased durability and performance”, so maybe it’s worth doing regardless and the kit comes in at a similar price to the Yamaha kit without the upgraded brake lines. If you’re competent with spanners, go for this kit. If not, then maybe the Yamaha kit is your best choice. I’ve personally never changed brake lines before but it wasn’t overly taxing.
As usual, AltRider has produced a very helpful install video, that if you follow carefully, will see you install this kit inside a couple of hours. At minute 14.00 into the video they talk about a red coloured “mounting plate”; ignore that as the new kits no longer use that plate and it does not come with the new kits.
All parts in the kit are top quality and you do get what you pay for. This kit is admittedly, not cheap, by any stretch of the imagination but for those who demand quality, it’s spot on.
One thing that slightly concerned me was the rear “vents” of this fender. I thought they were a tad too open for my liking and so I modified them with some mesh I had lying around my workshop:
This should stop larger stones from hitting my radiator. Is it necessary? Probably not but for my personal peace of mind, it seemed like a good idea. I have the same mesh protecting the radiator.
The other thing that aesthetically bothered me was the plainness of the fender. It’s all blue and whilst that’s fine, in order for it to work on my bike, I needed to modify that slightly. Fortunately, I had some Crispy Designs graphics left over that were not used originally, so I took out my craft knife and made a few custom graphics to aesthetically bring the fender into line with the rest of the bike. Yup, I’m a tad anal, I know. Necessary? No! Pleasing to my eyes? Yes! So the black triangles on the sides and top plus the Yamaha logo on the front are custom decals of my own design and will not come with the AltRider kit.
OK, what the heck are “speed bleeders” and do I need them? Yes, you do, especially if you’re installing this kit alone. This video will tell you why! They made bleeding the brakes incredibly easy, something which is normally quite involved when adding a new brake line that’s full of air instead of YamaLube brake fluid. I used this brake bleeder to complete the process and you’ll need something like this to make the install happen.
Conclusion
I absolutely love the way this high fender kit looks and feels. It’s the usual AltRider top quality product, but it’s also at the top end of the market, price-wise, because you’re also upgrading the brake lines. Is it worth the money? To me it is, but only you can really answer that question. Off-road it will give you an obvious advantage but so will other similar kits. I just really like what AltRider do. Their attention to detail is second to none and their designs always work for me.
The lovely Lyndell, in the AltRider US customer service department, is always amazing, and I can’t speak highly enough of her. Customer service always speaks volumes for any company and AltRider, via Lyndelll, have that down to a “T”, in my experience.
Where To Buy
AltRider EU
AltRider US
Rugged Roads UK
Adventure Bike Shop UK