Well kids it's been almost a year since we started working on this project. And at long last we are ready for those little finishing touches that will make our 'Zilla stand out amongst the crowd...

   It's been a long hard road turning this basket case, piece of crap, missing pieces, rusted, neglected classic into a bad ass dune weapon. The journey has been frought with scraped knuckles, stripped fasteners, a severed finger (center pivotal digit, of course, and fortunately it was Chicas' not mine), a move to a new house, and enough cussing to make one of Super Hunky's greek sailor buddies blush.

   With most of the trick little goodies our sponsors have so generously donated bolted into place, and our scoot running like a top. We're ready for some final artistic touches. The most important of which, is to slice off those ugly-assed, Dumbo the Elephant eared front fenders.

Frankly, they suck.

   They look stupid, catch wind, and hide the giga-bucks worth of chrome goodies we popped for from view. Not to mention do very little to keep crud from getting flung in your face.

   Now slicing fenders is an art form, not a mechanical task. New 'Zilla fenders will set you back about $400 buckaroos. So if you have two fists full of thumbs and the tremors... DON'T DO IT!!! If you screw up the cut job your bike will look like crap, your friends will mock you, and you'll be generally shunned by all you meet at the Hill.

   Also we only recommend OEM Suzuki plastic. That stuff from "other" vendors just doesn't fit properly or look very good. While the OEM stuff costs more, in the end it's worth it!

   Moron Disclaimer: Saws are sharp, and they cut things like brake lines, shock reservoir hoses, and fingers. Be careful, go slow and PAY ATTENTION!

	You'll need the above tools to do the job. A flat and round, fine file, a coping saw and if available a high speed disc sander. The shirtless and scary Mr. Dune is a "use at your own risk" item.

The reason Dune likes a coping saw for this task is that besides cutting polyethelyene like a hot knife through butter is that the thin blade follows contours and can make directional changes quickly (be careful NOT to get off course while you cut!), also it's blade is easily rotated in the saw's frame to allow it to navigate around obstacles.

Here, you can see that the blade is rotated, about 45 degrees.

Before we could attach the plastic, it was necessary to "modify to fit" the DG grab rail and seat support. As you can see by the drastic variation in the photos below the left and right mount points are far out of shape. Just about every DG component on the bike needed excessive tweaking to garner a good fit.

This isn't right. The factory rear fender supports did not fit the out of tolerance, DG Grab Rail mounting points.

The DG stuff had to be tweaked, ground on, bent and cussed at to get it to fit, we will be looking at some other products in the future to replace these parts. We must say that the skidplates and front bumper did fit and seem to be of excellent quality. However the pipe, silencer, and rear grab bar cannot get our blessing.

A pass with the die grinder did what DG was supposed to do at the factory.

Use a small DRY ERASE marker to lay out your lines for cutting. A permanent marker will stain your plastic. Also remember that you can always take more plastic off, so be gentle if this is your first time at slicing fenders. It's better to get the feel of the saw first. A good idea is to cut a chunk off that you know is history first and try practicing on it.

Dune has cut the fenders on quads dozens of times, and laid out his lines freehand. Following the contours of the fenders to keep a seamless flow to the 'Zilla's lines.

Again, safe is better than sorry, if you are unsure of how much to take off "less is more!" You can always cut more off!

Following the line as it leaves the fuel tank and then turning up towards the top will give your fenders a cleaner look.

NOTE: Relief cuts are important. Be sure to make several as you proceed. This prevents the frame of the saw from becoming bound up in the saw's kerf (the slot the advancing saw leaves in the material). As well as prevents the severed plastic from flopping around which can make you veer off course.

You can see we have made a relief cut in from the side to remove material that has been cut away. Also be CAREFUL as you cut around the shock tower. The curve is tricky and there is expensive stuff underneath!

	You can see how we made relief cuts in several locations.

Say goodbye to those Dumbo ears! Now that chrome pipe and those Works Performance shocks will stand out!

Cut slowly and carefully, try to keep the saw moving in a straight line, but remember you will still have to clean up the edges with the files and orbital sander so it doesn't have to be too perfect, yet...

Before and after... With the first side cut away, you can see that a good fender slicing dramatically improves the look of our 'Zilla!

With the first side done, we're ready for round two...

Now with both sides cut away we're ready to use the files to clean up the cuts and reshape the edges. It's impossible to get a perfectly straight cut with the coping saw.

Oops! We cut too much. The middle of the bike is gone! Seriously, this side by side comparison reveals the even cut on each side.

Spending a little extra time on this step will get you nice straight edges. Pay special attention to where you place the files, it's VERY easy to gouge the fenders and make some nasty scratches if you are careless! After you are happy with the shape, very carefully run your orbital sander down the edge lightly. And Voila! You're done!

Using the files to do the final shaping.

Other Items....

We had to relocate the ignition switch. Yep, we kept it as a primary defense against non-qualified folks taking the 'zilla for rides.

  Ricky Stator's bitchen billet light kit includes a matching handlebar clamp which eliminates the stock ignition key switch mount. We fabricated a new mount from flat, aluminum stock and bolted it to the frame at the location of the former, front fender support tube.

  Don't shy from taking on such a simple task. All you need is patience and the most common hand tools and a holesaw to build the mount.

The original ignition key mount was deleted by the addition of the Ricky Stator triple clamps and billet lights. We fabricated a mount from aluminum stock and relocated our mount to the frame rail.

The previous owner of our 'zilla neglected to maintain and, or adjust the drive chain. As a result the countershaft sprocket guard mount bosses at the engine case were obliterated. We welded this are up, drilled tapped, filed, sanded and smoothed the area then custom cut fasteners and spacers to fit work with our new mounts and around the new Krause Racing, 620 chain and sprocket.

The countershaft cover bosses on the engine cases were obliterated by a squidly lack of chain maintenance by the former owner. We welded the cases, filed paint and shaped the bosses then custom fit the original, spacers bolts etc to fit around the Krause Racing, 620 chain and countershaft sprocket.

Stay tuned in the coming months for a ride report with our 'zilla on a Predator hunting mission at the hands of the infamous, Mr. Dune, aka "Mr. Quadzilla".

  Last but not least. Thanks to all the manufacturers and vendors that supported our project. See you in the Dez and at the Dunes!