To help impart a more vintage look to the front end of the Benelli, I popped for a $30 set of universal fork gaiters. I chose a set to match the diameters of both the fork tube and the fork lowers, and those dimensions fit just fine. However they were longer than than they should be, and when installed the top accordion pleats looked squished and folded upwards over the flange at the top—not horrible, but for something that was just cosmetic, it didn’t look as nice as I’d hoped. So, I adapted a technique for shortening my gaiters I found online.
The gaiter on the left shows the fit as manufactured. The modified one on the left looks much, much better.
The fix is ingenious, ultra simple, and as works remarkably well. Inspiration came from a member over at the XS650.com forum. (By the way, that site is amazing. I’ve never owned an XS650, but so many of my online searches lead me there, and the advice is usually knowledgeable and innovative.)
- First, cut off the top pleat by slicing the gaiter at the very bottom of the fold between the top and second pleat. Make a similar cut to remove one fewer pleats than you wish to eliminate. Discard this section.
- On the remaining lower section, make another cut on the underside of the next pleat, just below and inside of the widest point.
- Insert the resulting flared cone inside the top section you cut off first, then install the gaiter as usual. The join between the two sections is secure just as it is, and pretty much undetectable unless you look close. I could do a tiny bit of further trimming on mine.
That’s it! The result is much more attractive, and as weatherproof and dustproof as it needs to be.
