On my cb500 I found the original mudguard was long gone, what replaced it was probably a cb400 item, chrome bad so the previous owner had painted it black, probably powdercoat. It eventually got to the point that it was clearly past it, I faced a dilemma, replace with original chrome, plenty of reasonable ones out there rejected by restorer with minor flaws, then luck threw up a fiberglass pattern one, fits the standard kit regards lighting and it's maintenance free. Having never really had one with the original chrome guard fitted I don't miss the chrome. Back when I wanted a chrome original item I simply couldn't find one, in terms of easy to live with the fiberglass item is great, but for some odd reason I wouldn't ever have one on the front. I avoid too much modification as a rule, much as Woodside says, a genuine good used bike is hard to find but easier to live with. Mint condition bikes are nice but not for me, lots of new parts does seem to inevitably moves a bike to being a minter and that's likely to reflect on how it's used. I'd paint or powdercoat the light bracket if it's deteriorating and look for a decent used guard, even if that takes a while and the mudguard needs patching to keep it going til then.
