I just bought a red 83' FL250 and the right side rear fender is missing. Maier wants $260 for the pair in red and $284 for a complete set in black. They do not offer the complete set in red which I need. Trying to keep it stock as much as possible. I am thinking of going with the complete set in black for $284, and have 3 spares which is not a bad idea, but that's close to how much I bought the whole rig for. Just cant justify that since this is just a toy I'm not all that serious about.

My question is: are the fenders really that important and could somebody post some photos of their rig if they don't use them and why. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum. I'm not up much on the 250 odyssey unless u want to know how to melt a piston. In that case put a race clutch in it and a DG pipe without changing the Jets. That works quick. Has the added benifit of letting u learn how to rebuild a top end.
Seriously though there are different options like making some from a cut plastic barrel ect.
They will keep the dirt and mud from getting thrown all over u and the machine.
I always had a hard time spending money on fenders. I just fix them as best I can.
I'm sure someone will have some other options for ya.

Welcome new guy.
Not to many FL250 guys here but there is a lot of info on them on this site.
I am not an FL250 guy but there are some mickey mouse solutions.
You could use a cut up plastic 45 gal drum -- you could go to a place like Princess Auto or Harbour Frieght and get a plastic trailer fender -- you already know about maier (sounds square head).
I run side skirts on my three FL350's I own. Works well but you can't do that on the FL250. I think you will have to run fenders to keep the crap off you.

You could try using the search box about.
Best way to use it is to type ONE word in and hit enter.
When the results show up type ONE word into the search box that says "search these threads".
If you don't do it this way then you get to many hits.
Some words are ignored like Engine, wheel etc.