$15 radiator protector

[FastEddie]

Hello friends!

Thought I would share my quick project.  I went to my local home supply store and bought this heavy duty metal mesh. I have used the stuff for other projects in the past and it is very strong, quite thick, and very durable. I cut a piece to fit, primed it and then painted it black. I used the two existing Zeus quarter turn screws to hold it in place and then one black zip tie on the bottom. $10 for the metal, $5 for the paint. Done!

[keithu]

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing.

A suggestion: get some dense sticky back heat-resistant insulation and sandwich that between the expanded metal and the radiator around the edges. That will prevent the guard from rubbing paint off the radiator and causing corrosion. Lava Lock makes some black felt insulation designed for grills and smokers that would work perfectly.

[wordsmith]

I have done exactly the same on my current GT and on earlier Tracers, except that the mesh I bought was already black.   To avoid the rubbing/ scuffing/ abrading issue, I cut my mesh a little over-width and bowed it out in the middle (vertically) so that it stands about a half-inch clear of the rad surface.   This also stiffens the mesh a little.   Great stuff, this mesh!

 

Farkle #10 – July 6^th.   As I’d done before on other bikes, I made a radiator protective screen, using some leftover aluminium decorative mesh from prior jobs.   The black-painted mesh cost me about $25 and comes in a sheet 1200mm x 280mm – even now, after two or three previous jobs I’ve enough left for the next bike!   The mesh cuts easily with a pair of tin snips or a thin-bladed angle-grinder.

Cut very slightly over-width, the mesh slips into and is mainly held inside the shallow ~3mm deep grooves either side of the radiator frame.   Being oversized it has a slight outward or convex bow along its vertical plane, with the centre about a finger’s width clear of the radiator surface.   This both gives some extra rigidity to the screen and minimises risk of it abrading the radiator’s painted finish.

Extra-long heat-resistant zip-ties secure the mesh, and the entire job looks quite OK – as said, this is one of several I’ve made and they hold up very well at about $6 a pop!

 

 

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Edited September 8, 2019 by wordsmith