Cycledude
Well-Known Member
Have you ever tried to drill a hole in or cut stainless steel ?Stainless is tougher then regular steel? Hmmmm.....
Have you ever tried to drill a hole in or cut stainless steel ?Stainless is tougher then regular steel? Hmmmm.....
Shouldn’t affect cooling at all, the radiator air intake is above and to the left. My RaveTech plate has a similar design in front and my bike has had no noticeable change in cooling performance.The skid plate looks VERY WELL made ! But I do wonder what kind of effect it has on cooling ?
It is not quite that simple. Machinability does not mean the steel is strong or weak. You have to look at elasticity, elongation, yield strength, hardness and the method of processing before deciding what material is best for a particular use. Stainless is great for our crash bars, partially because it won't rust. But many kinds of stainless would not be as tough some plain carbon steels. I love my stainless steel knife blades, they would be almost impossible to drill with a regular bit, hold an edge okay, but if I want a really sharp tough knife I use a carbon steel blade.Have you ever tried to drill a hole in or cut stainless steel ?
Stainless, especially higher grade 300 series, are tough to drill in part due to their "softness" The initial attempt to drill the stuff causes material to smear about the divot your making with your drill bit and then work harden. The bit never gets much chance to bite into the material and just spins around on a combination of soft gooey material as the bit advances, whilst fighting the thickening hardened layer being built up in its path. You kind of end up just trying to abrade the material away instead of cutting through it. As pointed out above, this is not related to the stiffness of the material. I would think for crash bars you would want a very high strength material to resist them bending into and contacting the bits you're trying to protect. Better yet to combine that with high elastic modulus to resist permanent deformation. Maybe a high grade chrome moly material?Have you ever tried to drill a hole in or cut stainless steel ?
Different properties is more accurate.Stainless is tougher then regular steel? Hmmmm.....
Panel removal is easy. Seems to add a considerable amount of weight to the feel of the bike. I’ll know more after a 12 day ride next week. I don’t see much off road in it’s future. It’s a tank now. No having cake and eating it too.Hello,
I just ordered the same T-Rex racing combo - crash bars and skid plate - in black. I would like to get an update on your riding experience with them... I wonder about possible vibrations/noise - from both the bars and plate, and also, how about the ease (or lack thereof) getting the right panel off to get at tools and battery...
I will post my experiences as well after the install...
Thanks,
--John
Regarding the too-long hardware, I reused the metal spacers that are fitted into then OEM plastic tip over guards. Slipped them over the bolts and then slipped the bolt with spacer down the tube of the Givi mount.I bought the t-rex skid plate and axle sliders. They didn't have any crashbars in stock, so I ended up getting a set of givi crashbars which went on pretty easily. When I tried to add the t-rex skid plate I had some difficulty getting the front skid plate bolts in with the stack up of the factory plate, givi crashbar plates, and the skid plate on top. I'll admit I cursed more installing the skid than I ever have before working on a bike. As of now the skid plate is touching the header up front which quickly heats up the skid plate to burning to the touch temperatures. When I have more time and less anger I'll try to shim the front bolts and move the whole skid forward.
I'll note too that the hardware provided for the crashbar+skid side frame mounts where the factory plastic engine guards mount is way longer than necessary. On my 2019 ST, at one mount point their 8x35mm bolt would be in a radiator hose.
If you're wondering about my mechanic skills based on my review, I'll say that changing Dana44 front solid axle inner seals is less frustrating than the skid plate install.