Radiators

[2 strokes 4 life]

Why cant rads be made of something strong? I took off my rads and relized how ,uch da,age was done to them with not very hard ridding.

Any way to make stronger ones or something?

[RONALD BRUNDIGE]

Buy Radiator Braces That Should Help. I Have Noticed This Myself But To Be Honest With You "knock On Wood" I Have Not Had Any Leak Yet. Being Flexible Like That I Think Helps. Lol

[blitz11]

They're light because of convective heat transfer. (Actually, "radiators" should be called "convectors", but that's another story).

A radiator is there to exchange heat from the coolant to the atmosphere (another contribution to global warming). Because we can't expose the coolant directly to the atmosphere, we need an intermediate step. Thus, the radiator. Hot Coolant -> cooler radiator -> cool air stream.

Anyway, think of it in terms of "inertia." If the radiator was "heavy," then once it heated up, it will stay hot, thereby reducing its ability to transfer coolant heat to the atmosphere. (The transfer of heat is proportional to the temperature difference between two bodies.) The amount of heat dissipated by a hot radiator is less than that of a cool radiator.

A heavy radiator will stay warm longer, thereby lessening its ability to cool in the airstream. A hot radiator will transfer less heat from the coolant than a cool radiator, thereby the coolant (and engine) hold their heat.

If the radiator is light, it holds less thermal energy, and once you hit the airstream, it cools more quickly than a heavier radiator, and therefore allows your coolant to cool more quickly because the hot coolant hits a cooler radiator.

This ability to quickly shed heat is important,especially with woods bikes. if you're working in tight woods, the coolant and radiator get hot. Hit the open air, and a light radiator sheds heat, and your engine temp drops.

I hate rainy saturdays. I spend too much time typing.

[SpeedyManiac]

Get some Force Accessories guards and don't worry about it. These guards can really take the abuse.

[2 strokes 4 life]

Alright thanks for all the info. I just woundered but I have scorpion racing gaurds right now. I think I am going to see if I can have mine repaired by our rad shop soon.

THANKS!!!

[SpeedyManiac]

The scorpion guards aren't even close to being as good as the Force guards. The only thing close to the Force ones are Bulletproof Designs guards, but they're pricey.

[Treesmacker]

I had Brett at ICW modify my son's RM85 rad for woods use, he seam welded
it and added to the lower tank for increased fluid capacity.
He also fixes damaged rads too. Great work and fast turnaround too!

http://www.icwbikestands.com/Site/Home.html

[2 strokes 4 life]

Thats some awsome work they can have done but its very expensive. I am going to have my rads repaired when I need to and just get the force gaurds. It will be cheaper that way.

[coolum74]

Have a look at this thread, you will be happy with Force Guards

http://www.dirtbikeworld.net/forum/s...adiator+guards

[mountain thumper]

i agree
my 07 300 left has a pretty good scuff on the backside, from my boot as i went over the handlebars!!

but i have been rolled ((not by me))down on both sides, on both dirt and driveway(auto retract-fixed) and even hooked a vine that ripped the side panel off the rad(!) and none has damaged my rads...
i look at the guards available and they look cool, but i dont see how they could prevent damage.. theyd dent right into the radiator if hit, causing (every so slighly less) the same damage as if unprotected...