DR650 bash plate and cooling. Should I cut holes?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Hagar

Pack Dog
Joined
Sep 13, 2008
Messages
429
Reaction score
0
Location
George
Bike
Suzuki DR650
Bought a piece of 5mm ali, cut it up after playing with cardboard , and made myself a bash plate.  I initally only fitted the plate at the bottom of the engine, and did a few trips like that, but then decided to add the wings on the side to protect the casings during a fall.  The result is similar to the Austalian Whipps and B&B plates, which the Aussies seem to like a lot.

Cost till now: Plate R60 + bending tip to Rasta on the bending brake at local steel supplier R50 + welding R150  = R210.  It is sturdy and does not really add to noise, mostly I like it.

My problem now is to decide how many holes to cut into it.  I will add one for the sump plug but what about cooling?

I am sure the casings feel quite a lot hotter than it did before, especially since I added the wings.  How important is this? I looked on the net and I did not find a lot on this apart from this:        https://www.topgunmotorcycles.com/ti_archive/tiaug06.html    article.

The wings are sturdy enough that some cutouts would not really hurt, if I cut holes in the bottom plate where they will help for cooling they will also be in line with the wheel where it will throw up all kinds of k*k on the engine, which will now be more difficult to clean properly.

The Aussies operate their DRs with this kind of plate and I have never seen heat discussed as an issue.  Cutting the holes should not be a problem; I would be able to cut any type or shape of hole I want. (Garage well equipped)

Suggestions?
 

Attachments

  • bashplate 001.jpg
    bashplate 001.jpg
    109.3 KB · Views: 207
  • bashplate 013.jpg
    bashplate 013.jpg
    158.2 KB · Views: 208
  • bashplate 014.jpg
    bashplate 014.jpg
    122.8 KB · Views: 211
  • bashplate 015.jpg
    bashplate 015.jpg
    124.1 KB · Views: 206
Top