Install the app
How to install the app on iOS

Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.

Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.

  • Don't miss out on all the fun! Register on our forums to post and have added features! Membership levels include a FREE membership tier.

Engine Cover Options

D

DieselTwitch

Well-known member
At the first part of the seasons I had major problems getting both my bikes up to temp in the fluff
11' Husaberg FS570 & a 12' KTM 500XCW
Both have w/T-bob (150F) 1.8Bar Cap 50/50 Coolant/water + water wetter, No fans, no rad covers

I would start out on the trail and the engine would warm up nicely and stay right around 160 with 0-20F air temps. Dumping in to the deep stuff the temps would quickly drop to around 80 in just a few seconds.... the engines would then start skipping and blurpping. I know the ECU's where overfueling, this was verified at the oil changes that day with lots of fuel and water.

I made my own engine wrap using an ½ EPDM foam sheet. this worked great until my ride the other day. when my engine was getting really hot 250+, (25-30F in low snow/hard snow)

So I ended up ripping off my engine cover to keep the engine somewhat cool in the trees.

Im planning on adding radiator fans. I thought about a tunnel cooler but after talking to others. you end up adding bunch of weight and our tacks don't really kick up enough snow to make one work i feel.

Sorry for the long intro but Im looking to find a material or supplier that makes a quick removable engine cover? I was thinking of trying to make one using a high temp fabric that can be either unzipped or velcro'ed (SP?)

What are some of the suppliers out there for bike engine covers?
 
Tunnel cooler + engine covers work great for me in any snow conditions or temps. It was rock hard with 1-2" of fluff on top and 35 degrees yesterday; I saw about 155 degrees on the trail heading up, then 130 for the rest of the day. I'd say its less than 5lbs of additional weight after removing the radiators/shrouds/etc.

That said, the easiest/cheapest way to have quick removable engine covers is just to zip-tie them on in a few strategic locations. Zip ties are cheap and quick.
 
egesledder said:
Tunnel cooler + engine covers work great for me in any snow conditions or temps. It was rock hard with 1-2" of fluff on top and 35 degrees yesterday; I saw about 155 degrees on the trail heading up, then 130 for the rest of the day. I'd say its less than 5lbs of additional weight after removing the radiators/shrouds/etc.

That said, the easiest/cheapest way to have quick removable engine covers is just to zip-tie them on in a few strategic locations. Zip ties are cheap and quick.
Click to expand...

So you run just a tunnel cooler? I could see how that would work. I was riding next to my buddy going down the trail and looking at how much snow he had flipping off his track and it was very little?

What about days with no fluff. We had rain the last few days and it made for some awesome climbing snow but there was almost nothing coming off the track.

DO you have a source for engine covers?
 
I'd say riding on straight cement snow (like ice, more or less) is probably the only time radiators make more sense than a tunnel cooler. I haven't ridden anything like that yet though and I can always find some north facing slopes that have snow, which is usually more fun to ride anyway. Or after the sun hits it and it turns to corn snow. Even then, my friend with just radiators was boiling over a little yesterday and kept needing to pack snow onto the radiators. You have to be moving at a decent pace to get enough air flow to keep up with the huge increase in power demand running the track.

For covers, this stuff works awesome, just takes a little time with a heat gun and utility knife to get a nice fit:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Colored-Plastic-Rolls-10-Ft,1557.html?OriginalQuery=910041-BLK

Hopefully winter will return to Colorado soon and we won't need to talk about keeping cool in spring-like conditions for a while.
 
Awesome, Just ordered some of that stuff. Im going to try and find a way to get it to attach to my tanks. KTM tanks hang down and down really show the fame spine like some of the jap bikes do.

I have thought about doing a tunnel cooler, radiator combo. Where I get rid of both rads but put a large one like a heater core on the back sub frame with a larger fan for those days that it gets really hard. I think all the snow I find is fun. the south facing stuff lets me climb like a turbo sled would. ski off the ground! makes poking our way through the trees to get to the top of a hill easy! but i know what your saying the both facing stuff is a blast. but after this last little rain storm we had every thing is packed up.

Do you have a T-Stat to manage the coolant flow into the tunnel cooler?
 
Anybody found good kevlar blanket type option that can cover the pipe on a two-stroke as well? I have a plastic shroud around my entire engine and pipe and it works OK, but I feel like some kind of Kevlar jacket would be a lot easier to take on and off and I wouldn't have to smell burning plastic so much.

image.jpg
 
Last edited:
Kevlar melts too! And it doesn't just melt it completely falls apart at around 600F you could put heat shielding around where the pipe touches the shield. That's my plan :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ya, was thinking some shielding or pipe wrap might help. I was just hoping there was a material someone knew of that would be better.
 
Not that I have actually done it, yet, but I got the blanket/wrap off of the new Arctic Cat sled mufflers. I am considering using it to wrap the front of the bike to keep the powder off of the engine and radiator in the deep stuff. Anyone else tried it?
 
these aftermarket plastic wrap around jobs look like the ticket, but what a RIP OFF. $169!? That's insane for an engine covered in $12 of plastic. someone ready to sell these for $65? I'll buy em up like hot cakes! :face-icon-small-ton
 
mrquick68 said:
these aftermarket plastic wrap around jobs look like the ticket, but what a RIP OFF. $169!? That's insane for an engine covered in $12 of plastic. someone ready to sell these for $65? I'll buy em up like hot cakes! :face-icon-small-ton
Click to expand...

It's a premium price for sure. But it takes a lot of work to build these, and it's all done as a 3rd job. It's been hard to keep them on hand, so the price must be worth it. It's not like we just push a button and a plastic engine cover shows formed to fit your bike shows up at your door.
 
teal_210 said:
It's a premium price for sure. But it takes a lot of work to build these, and it's all done as a 3rd job. It's been hard to keep them on hand, so the price must be worth it. It's not like we just push a button and a plastic engine cover shows formed to fit your bike shows up at your door.
Click to expand...


Any more pictures than the one on your website? I'm interested but would like to see both sides.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

L
No Coolant Movement
Replies
4
Views
751
looper
L
mumur
FOR SALE 2019 Honda CRF450R, CMX 120" Kit
Replies
7
Views
1K
mumur
mumur
C
CMX heat exchanger from XRT ENGINEERED
Replies
11
Views
4K
MountainRider05
M
T
Just a newbie here...
Replies
7
Views
2K
jrlastofthebreed
jrlastofthebreed
M
Building up and old 2-Stroke
Replies
5
Views
1K
eric82930
E
Premium Features
Join Now Free!



Back
Top