Radiator Grill - Decision time.....

[Lutin]

Okay, after the "modification" to the right hand radiator by an unknown object (detailed here - Dinged radiator), I pondered what to do.

Wandering around B&Q the other day, I came across perforated steel sheet for sale (250 mm x 500 mm, or 12" by 24" in real money) and got to tinkering. The thing is though, do I just augment the existing plastic radiator grill -




Or, do I make up a while new radiator grill from scratch?


As you can see this one uses the radiator mounting bolts to hold it in place, rather than the single separate lower bolt. I think that I will still have to use the top of the moulded plastic radiator grill as well. This will mean "modifying" the plastic grills - with a saw! Obviously, I have not done this yet as the two spares radiator grills I bought off fleabay haven't arrived yet.

You can compare the two designs here -



I haven't decided which style to go with yet - and the two examples above are most definitely prototypes, the finished articles will be much, much tidier.

I'm leaning towards the second design as it would be neater overall. It would carry the two air directing rubber flaps, which I would fasten with plastic nuts and bolts (ie number plate mountings) and use a similar fixing to go with the original top header tank screw, but for the in-board side of things - if you see what I mean.

So, any thoughts people?

[tramp]

hi lutin,
That looks bloody good as long as they dont rust and dont interupt the air flow when its hot too much . I may just copy your idea you could always spray them with zinc primer then black enamel paint . off down to B and Q tomorrow after some checker plate so will have a look around , beats rumaging in the local skips of the industrial estate at night

[Lutin]

hi lutin,
That looks bloody good as long as they dont rust and dont interupt the air flow when its hot too much . I may just copy your idea you could always spray them with zinc primer then black enamel paint . off down to B and Q tomorrow after some checker plate so will have a look around , beats rumaging in the local skips of the industrial estate at night

Oh, don't you worry. Once I've decided which model to go with, they'll get the full treatment as regards painting. Well, as good as rattle can Hammerite anyway.

[Lutin]

Right then, decided that I'm going to do away with the plastic grill and replace it with the metal one. This means chopping up the plastic radiator guard as the cover for the top tank needs retaining. So, the third prototype looks like this on the bike -




Still got a little cutting and forming to go, but it's getting there. My second hand radiator guards (off fleaby) arrived today, so it was out with the Stanley knife to liberate the top tank cover bit thingy.

Watch this space.

[anton88]

Good job there Lutin

I have exactly the same stuff on my africa twin for radiator guards.

Had them on for all last year - no increase in temperature so dont worry about that.

Just make sure you do use a good metal primer and a good few coats of top paint, as the metal does rust. Just stripping mine down again as some rust is coming through.

[Steve T]

Top job that man

I too did a similar thing on my @, but using galvanised steel mesh. I used the radiator mounting points and the grill securing bolts to hold the grill in place - bit of overkill securing wise, but it did the trick.

My 600TA has a substantial plastic shroud over it's frontal area, so the only thing that hits those rads is flies. I currently have the TA in bits for a post winter deep clean and with the front fairing off the machine looks mean - thinking of doing what Mudwiz did with his 650 TA and just pop an enduro front fairing on, crash bars & maybe some "ruggedised" rad covers similar to those created by Lutin.

Steve T

[Lutin]

I currently have the TA in bits for a post winter deep clean and with the front fairing off the machine looks mean - thinking of doing what Mudwiz did with his 650 TA and just pop an enduro front fairing on, crash bars & maybe some "ruggedised" rad covers similar to those created by Lutin.

Steve T

You should have a look at Phil's (Piguglyshandydrinker's) TransRat - fantastic machine that doesn't even feel like a Transalp.




Oh, and thank you for the vote of confidence regarding my bodging / handiwork.

[Steve T]

You should have a look at Phil's (Piguglyshandydrinker's) TransRat - fantastic machine that doesn't even feel like a Transalp.




Oh, and thank you for the vote of confidence regarding my bodging / handiwork.

I think that is Muddy's old bike that Phil thought would fit in nicely with the other TA's in his collection

[Lutin]

Getting there!



And here it is on the bench, in its final form only minus the rubber flap that sits between the two radiator mounting bolts and that prevents the air flow from bypassing the radiator.



What you might also notice are the couple of 6mm washers silver soldered onto the mounting tags. The holes in the mesh are 8mm and I added the washers to make fitting easier. There's also an extra thickness of material on the "tang" (bottom right above) to prevent the grill moving about too much in the slot that exists on the outer bottom corner of the radiators. Again silver soldered in place. And finally, there's an 8mm nut soldered on the "wrong" side of the grill. This takes up what would be empty space between the new grill and the recessed mounting in the existing plastic top tank protector.

Now onto the left hand grill -



Fortunately, the grills are actually symmetrical - well the plan view of the grill is symmetrical. Above is the completed left hand grill and the, as yet, unformed right hand grill. A fair bit of filling has been done to round off corners and remove sharp edges. This is not only to save my hands but also to try and get a decent paint finish by removing sharp "points" where the surface tension of the paint would be most highly stressed. This just needs the bends putting in the right place and the washers etc silver soldering into place. I can tell you that cutting out this second one was much, much faster than doing the first one. But that's the name of the game.

Hopefully, I'll get as far as final preparation for painting tomorrow. Going to be using rattle can Hammerite, so I'll need to put an hour or so aside to spray them up properly. To get a decent finish, and coverage, they will need a good number of light coats - from different angles ideally - about 10 to 15 minutes apart.

Maybe it would have been easier to buy some. But where's the fun in that?

[tramp]

looking good ,
but dont forget those rust marks on the top of your forks

bloody good job you could make a living as "touratechs " Irish contingent

but better designed for the real world