I lifted the front fender for less gravel scraping and mud/snow accumulation there with 2.75-17 trials tires. Haven't run knobby 3.0 tires with the lifted fender, but my opinion is that drilling the fender is the better option. From a practical sense it's cheaper, less hardware to deal with, eliminates the risk of having fasteners pinch the shock boots, and doesn't put fasteners inside the fender that protrude farther than the fender itself does. Downside is that you're modifying a stock part rather than attaching a more reversible bolt-on mod. I don't think you're going to have any height clearance issues if you do redrill the fender.
Aesthetically I also prefer the redrill, it looks like how Honda would have shipped it if they sold the bike with more aggressive trail tires, while the lift kit I tried lifted the fender so much higher that the gap between tire and fender looked odd, too much gap.
Previously I had shared my concerns and disappointment with a front fender lift kit, so I finally got around to re-drilling the fender itself to get better clearance for knobby tires (Shinko SR241 2.75x17). Since I took the fender off to drill some holes, I also took the opportunity to install a...
hondatrail125.com