| Author | Message | ||
     Jlnance |
Thermal barrier coatings are what are used to coat headers and mufflers. One of their functions is to prevent the transfer of heat. They provide pretty good insulation, given how thin they are. So as I was reading Yet Another Uly Makes My Leg Hot (YAUMMLH) thread on ADVrider this morning, I start to wonder, what would happen if we coated the frame with one of these coatings? Are they good enough that it would make a difference? Would it keep 1125r fuel from boiling? The frame is close to a $2000 item, so this isn't an experiment for the faint of heart. But it would be really nice to know if it worked. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Jim- that's a good question. It might actually work pretty well. A less-difficult alternative also occurs to me: up until a year ago I worked in HVAC design, and we had some company reps come by a few years ago pushing a ceramic coating that was supposed to drastically cut radiant heat transfer. They claimed it could replace all the insulation on the hot water and chilled water piping in a building we were working on but we never tried it. They did manage to sell the stuff to the local school system who used it to coat the roofs of all the school buses and it supposedly worked very well for that. The stuff goes on like paint (brush or spray)- no idea of the cost. I'll do some checking and see if I can find any info on it. It'd be fairly easy to paint the engine side of your frame with this stuff. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Jim- I think this is similar stuff: http://www.koolcoat.com/ If you Google "ceramic radiant barrier coating" you can find lots of stuff. It might be snake oil, but it doesn't appear to be very expensive and it'd be easy enough to try. | ||
| Jlnance |
Thats a great idea Hugh. If it worked, it wouldn't cost much to do. For the TBC I was proposing to work, the factory would pretty much have to pick that up. It seems to me that if you can make space shuttle tiles that insulate well enough that you can pick up red hot tiles by the corners, then it shouldn't be too hard to insulate the tank with something very thin. The shuttle tiles are 30 year old technology. | ||
| Jlnance |
Thanks Hugh, I'll take a look. | ||
| Teeps |
With regard to coating the frame; if the frame is part of the cooling system in the form of a heatsink. Coating it with a thermal barrier can't be good, can it? | ||
| Jlnance |
Teeps, if it is, then yes, that would be bad. I don't think it is though. | ||
| Treadmarks |
I put a thermal mat between my rear head and the right side frame/fuel rail, and it helped eliminate the hot leg issue. On the same note, if you put a barrier on the whole frame, how will the fuel cool off after you park the bike and the frame soaks the heat from the engine. | ||
| Jlnance |
Treadmarks - I don't think it affects the soak other than makeing the heat up and cool down take longer. It will slow the exit of heat from the tank, but it will also slow the entrance of heat into the tank. Of course you could get fancy and selectively coat the portions that either touched the leg or absorbed engine heat. That would make it work better than it does now. But it would also be more expensive/time consuming. | ||
| Treadmarks |
Of course you could get fancy and selectively coat the portions that either touched the leg Ezakery! High Fusion Synthetic Rubber (Precut Kit) $51.95  | ||
| Gotj |
Tread, How well does it cut the heat? | ||
| Etennuly |
Tread, If you are going to use that stuff for any amount of time you will have to quit wearing shorts!  | ||
| Treadmarks |
Well then....how am ahh gonna get mah squid on? Looks like sand paper, but is actually only rubber matting. | ||
| Etennuly |
Well then....how am ahh gonna get mah squid on? Go with the flip-flops. I hear they are highly recommended!  |
