Metal coolant lines

A persistant problem ive had, and no doubt every other banshee owner has had, Is the coolant bottle getting in the way of everything.

The problem was semi rectified by changing to a smaller GRC coolant bottle but another problem remained in that the coolant hose ran in between the fork and frame and was constantly getting crushed limiting steering lock (not that you use that much anyway) and damaging the hose.

I tried running the hose around the outside of the fork but found it was bending the outlet on the radiator and it looked rubbish.

So i decided to find a way to route the thing out of the way of the forks. The only place i could see was around the radiator, but no way could a 20mm diameter hose fit through any gaps there. But a 10mm one could...

In the past ive made metal coolant lines for the bike. This helps the bike cool off faster once its switched off, and contributes a little to cooler running. Plus it looks awesome :) So i made another for the coolant bottle. Not much point in progress pics so heres the completed item.

The tube is 10mm OD, 8mm ID from bunnings and its bent using one of those hand held tubing benders plumbers use. PLEASE DO NOT USE COPPER OR BRASS TUBING. It'll make a battery basically and turn your engine and radiator into mush. 

Lots of trial and error is needed when doing it. The final one is the third piece i had to make. Another little tip is to jot down an arrow in permanent marker in the direction the bend has to go, this makes it a bit easier to jig it up in the bender.

But none the less it now passes in between the radiator, forks and frame, allowing full lock and nothing touches anything else :) The grommets just stop the tube gouging at the steel bracket.

One unavoidable issue was the tube passes about 5mm away from the exhaust. Not sure if it will affect it any considering its just the overflow line, but i can keep an eye on it with the temperature gauge. Exhaust wrap is also a solution there if its a problem.

Everything packed into the front, I still have to remount the damper parallel across the forks like a GRC or DM just to neaten things up and the front end is all done once more. It was quite an effort to make everything fit without touching or binding on something else. Starting to look like a moto gp bike now! Just have to install the gyro sensors and electronics up the front and.... lol.

And with all the covers on. Looks pretty awesome IMHO (the only one that matters after all ;p)

Just have a couple of quick things to change before the next race ill be going to (probably in the ACT mid october) Like installing a smaller red water pump pulley that i think will help the running temps some (i also need the stock pulley for another project :P ), Put a metal fuel bowl on the carb so i can change jets easier and rejet it for some 110 octane race fuel i got given.

Pretty happy with it as things stand! Bring on the next race ;)