Before getting the bike I thought that I would want to lift the fender for more height clearance for knobby tires.
BeezDeals lists two Front Fender Lift kits both $29.99, I went with this one: https://beezdeals.com/product/front-fender-lift-kit-honda-ct125-trail-125/ , there is also the MotolordD one that's only slightly different design https://beezdeals.com/product/motolordd-front-fender-lift-kit-honda-ct125-trail-125/
I went with the no-name one because it offered a little bit of adjustability in how much you lift the fender.
Both kits state that they're not suitable for a front tire size larger than 70/100-17 (tire width / aspect ratio - rim diameter), while the stock IRC GP-5 tires are 80/90-17. So they're telling you to run a skinnier tire with this. I must not have read this at the time when I ordered it, but also I was just throwing parts in the cart waiting for the bike to be ready and figured I'd rather wing it than place multiple orders to an online shop from Thailand that everyone says takes forever to ship (they really do).
Not mentioned is that you also need to move the horn higher up before doing this mod, otherwise if you bottom out the front suspension the horn can hit your fender and leave a good size dent. I already did this when I installed a Denali Soundbomb Mini horn https://hondatrail125.com/index.php?threads/a-tight-fitting-denali-soundbomb-mini-horn.501/
Tools used: torque wrench, 14mm wrench, 19mm socket, 10mm wrench, 4mm hex key, blue threadlocker
Here are the parts included in the fender lift kit:
Here is the factory fender mount for reference:
Due to the allen/hex heads on the bolts it would be very difficult to access them without taking the front wheel off unless you use a set of slim offset / low profile hex wrenches. You'll want to slide the front axle bolt back in place when you re-mount the fender so you don't accidentally compress one of the forks and have the fender holding them at offset lengths.
Another word of caution, to fit the brackets on the outside of the fender you will need to squeeze the fender supports in a bit to be able to lift the fender up from the stock mount position and insert those brackets. Doing this is also much easier with the front wheel off. The bending itself is not something to worry about as once you tighten the hardware down things get pulled to where they need to be. This is a spot where it is really easy to scratch the paint, so if you want to be extra careful you could first wrap the red fender support with painters tape as much as you can. I scratched the paint on mine a small bit and was upset that it happened for a few seconds before I remembered that although the bike is still very new, it's for riding and little stuff like that doesn't decrease the amount of fun when the bike's moving.
Inside view of lift bracket. You could also flip the top hardware around to have the lower profile hex head bolts on the inside and the nuts on the outside, but then the fork boots would be pinched even more by the nuts as others have complained about:
Since the lower part of the bracket mounts have some range in height, it was a little annoying trying to get both sides at the same height as well as not tilting the fender forward or back, so I just put them at the maximum height to make that part easier. With stock tires there's a silly amount of height clearance, also gives you perspective on the tire in relation to the fender lift kit bolts.
The hex bolt head rubs the fork boots which I was hoping wouldn't happen with the hardware facing that way:
Would I buy it again? No. I wouldn't buy it again, and I hope this post helps anyone else considering it weigh the pros and cons. Most knobby tires options even in the 2.75" width are likely going to be wider than stock, which is already too close for comfort on the hardware for me. You either have the nut side too close to your tire and the hex head side barely rubbing your fork boots, or you have the nut side pinching your fork boots. For these reasons I already removed this mod, not worth the worry to me.
For now I have Shinko 241 2.75x17" tires front and rear. No width clearance issue up front with the stock fender, but the height is kind of tight. Gravel hasn't been an issue yet, but I imagine with snow and mud in the coming months it might end up packing in the fender, in which case I plan to drill new holes in the fender like @DanW on this forum has done to get more height clearance without sacrificing width: https://hondatrail125.com/index.php?threads/new-tires.73/page-3#post-4677
Here is a Shinko 241 2.75x17" with the stock fender mount for reference:
BeezDeals lists two Front Fender Lift kits both $29.99, I went with this one: https://beezdeals.com/product/front-fender-lift-kit-honda-ct125-trail-125/ , there is also the MotolordD one that's only slightly different design https://beezdeals.com/product/motolordd-front-fender-lift-kit-honda-ct125-trail-125/
I went with the no-name one because it offered a little bit of adjustability in how much you lift the fender.
Both kits state that they're not suitable for a front tire size larger than 70/100-17 (tire width / aspect ratio - rim diameter), while the stock IRC GP-5 tires are 80/90-17. So they're telling you to run a skinnier tire with this. I must not have read this at the time when I ordered it, but also I was just throwing parts in the cart waiting for the bike to be ready and figured I'd rather wing it than place multiple orders to an online shop from Thailand that everyone says takes forever to ship (they really do).
Not mentioned is that you also need to move the horn higher up before doing this mod, otherwise if you bottom out the front suspension the horn can hit your fender and leave a good size dent. I already did this when I installed a Denali Soundbomb Mini horn https://hondatrail125.com/index.php?threads/a-tight-fitting-denali-soundbomb-mini-horn.501/
Tools used: torque wrench, 14mm wrench, 19mm socket, 10mm wrench, 4mm hex key, blue threadlocker
Here are the parts included in the fender lift kit:
Here is the factory fender mount for reference:
Due to the allen/hex heads on the bolts it would be very difficult to access them without taking the front wheel off unless you use a set of slim offset / low profile hex wrenches. You'll want to slide the front axle bolt back in place when you re-mount the fender so you don't accidentally compress one of the forks and have the fender holding them at offset lengths.
Another word of caution, to fit the brackets on the outside of the fender you will need to squeeze the fender supports in a bit to be able to lift the fender up from the stock mount position and insert those brackets. Doing this is also much easier with the front wheel off. The bending itself is not something to worry about as once you tighten the hardware down things get pulled to where they need to be. This is a spot where it is really easy to scratch the paint, so if you want to be extra careful you could first wrap the red fender support with painters tape as much as you can. I scratched the paint on mine a small bit and was upset that it happened for a few seconds before I remembered that although the bike is still very new, it's for riding and little stuff like that doesn't decrease the amount of fun when the bike's moving.
Inside view of lift bracket. You could also flip the top hardware around to have the lower profile hex head bolts on the inside and the nuts on the outside, but then the fork boots would be pinched even more by the nuts as others have complained about:
Since the lower part of the bracket mounts have some range in height, it was a little annoying trying to get both sides at the same height as well as not tilting the fender forward or back, so I just put them at the maximum height to make that part easier. With stock tires there's a silly amount of height clearance, also gives you perspective on the tire in relation to the fender lift kit bolts.
The hex bolt head rubs the fork boots which I was hoping wouldn't happen with the hardware facing that way:
Would I buy it again? No. I wouldn't buy it again, and I hope this post helps anyone else considering it weigh the pros and cons. Most knobby tires options even in the 2.75" width are likely going to be wider than stock, which is already too close for comfort on the hardware for me. You either have the nut side too close to your tire and the hex head side barely rubbing your fork boots, or you have the nut side pinching your fork boots. For these reasons I already removed this mod, not worth the worry to me.
For now I have Shinko 241 2.75x17" tires front and rear. No width clearance issue up front with the stock fender, but the height is kind of tight. Gravel hasn't been an issue yet, but I imagine with snow and mud in the coming months it might end up packing in the fender, in which case I plan to drill new holes in the fender like @DanW on this forum has done to get more height clearance without sacrificing width: https://hondatrail125.com/index.php?threads/new-tires.73/page-3#post-4677
Here is a Shinko 241 2.75x17" with the stock fender mount for reference:
