Engine Cover Options

DieselTwitch · Feb 22, 2016

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?

egesledder · Feb 22, 2016

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.

DieselTwitch · Feb 22, 2016

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.

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?

egesledder · Feb 22, 2016

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.

DieselTwitch · Feb 22, 2016

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?

egesledder · Feb 22, 2016

Yep, KTM 55C stat on my KX500.

http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=391181

mnsnowhawk · Feb 22, 2016

Pst engine jackets. Adjustable to conditions. http://www.powersportstech.com/pst-engine-jackets.html

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Iowa__Freeriders · Feb 23, 2016

I have had awesome luck with my MOTO365 cover. just my opinion!
http://www.moto-365.com/accessories

needpowder · Feb 23, 2016

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.

DieselTwitch · Feb 23, 2016

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

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needpowder · Feb 24, 2016

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.

TreewellDweller · Feb 25, 2016

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?

mrquick68 · Feb 25, 2016

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

teal_210 · Feb 25, 2016

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

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.

SidewaysInto3rd · Feb 25, 2016

I bought this stuff .. but been too lazy to do anything with it yet

plan is to punch grommets and use zip ties and heat wrap my pipe

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BLACK-NOMEX...FABRIC-60-W-FIRE-RETARDANT-DWR-/272094408521?

dieselpower · Feb 25, 2016

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.

Any more pictures than the one on your website? I'm interested but would like to see both sides.

teal_210 · Feb 25, 2016

dieselpower said:
Any more pictures than the one on your website? I'm interested but would like to see both sides.

Which bike? There isn't much coverage on the pipe side - unless you have a yamaha.

Edit: Re-read the first post. Covers just up to the clutch cover and below the pipe.

dieselpower · Feb 25, 2016

teal_210 said:
Which bike? There isn't much coverage on the pipe side - unless you have a yamaha.

Edit: Re-read the first post. Covers just up to the clutch cover and below the pipe.

I have a yamaha

teal_210 · Feb 25, 2016

dieselpower said:
I have a yamaha

ahh - It's been one of those days.

Here are both sides of the 10-13 and the 14-16 YZF's. Don't mind the dirty bikes, we take what we can get to make a template from.

Engine Cover Options

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