My Kove 450 Rally February 2024

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DRIE bikes op daai Double Cab

Met ordentlike tiedowns kan jy maar, ek hiet nie nodig gehad om die goed erens halfpad te re-tighten nie!
Daar was wel n 210cm plank inni midde om die 3e fiets op te sit, sy agterband steek net effens iets uit.

Tiedowns.jpg
 
Nice, die nuwe 500 se sidestand
I think KTM's side stands on all their smaller bikes a moerse inside joke that they've laughed about for years.

We all know that if you try mount your bike like a horse or those adventure bike okes do with only the side stand holding it up, it WILL break.

I think the Austrians think it's funny if "Ready to Race" also means "why the fuck would you need a side stand if you want to win!"

They consider side stands superfluous to winning.
 
The exhaust header sits quite close to the inside surface of the RHS tank.
Obviously this hot item causes this tank&petrol to heat up, and the radiator&fan on this side will only help doing this.
On hot days, and add slow riding in tech stuff, this sometimes causes the petrol to boil - not ideal no, and this reminds me of my Rade-tank on the 701 which did same.
Oh, yeah, sure, avalanche me with 'you sissie!' and 'speed up man!' comments because of the more cooling wind then... I know, but then again it's my bike, hmm? 😋

Another result of this constantly heating-cooling process every time I use the bike, and consequently the tank 'growing' a bit every time - yeah, it shrinks then also duh - the original stickers (or whatever you have on there) start to peel their edges.... under which dirt collects of course, so not quite ideal for my Posing Princess SID!

Anyway, insulating this hot pipe I was going to do, in fact I bought 'asbestos' (not available any more but a modern variant alleged to do the same) woven tape plus some alu-reflective self-adhesive sticker material for this already - the former for wrapping the header with, the latter to stick onto the inside of the tank to protect it from heat-radiation.


But then @ZK1 started a thread (thank you Squire!) about ceramic coating ....
(here) https://wilddog.net.za/threads/yz250-2t-build-and-cerakote.288151/page-4#post-5372515
.... so I jumped on the opportunity for changing my mind!
Yeah I know, indecisive me, attention span of a goldfish etc, byt me maar kak ..... but a proper insulating ceramic coating thermally insulates it waayyy better than what I had planned! 👌
Such also is more long-lasting as well as less of an eyesore, plus after swimming there's no water left (in the wrapping) to corrode the header.

I'll admit that a tiiiiiiiny advantage played a role also: I have a small (really small) dent in my header, a souvenir from a Lesotho rocky ride, and this bothered me a bit.
We all know (hell I hope so...) that any coating is best applied to a new, virgin surface ..... so I needed no more convincing that I'd best get a new header for this coating process......


New header.jpg

.... which also meant that I'd not be without bike for a while: Zaak can take his time to do his coating magic, and when done I'll just mount it!


So this is where we are now: tomorrow I'll drop off the new header so ZK1 can do what & whenever he pleases, and when done I'll take the tank off the bike, mount it, stick the reflective stickers on and do some other work.


I'll report back on this, of course also here!
 
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In addition to my above following.

I've heard about some Kove owners mentioning pressure build-up in the tanks, and my hunch is these are the guys who removed the environmental shit it comes with .... me also yes.
Replacing the tubes on the tank-caps with the normal breather valves is a good idea - so I did, but there's a but: these little things have a 1-way valve in them, a 'check-valve' for the Yankees here.

These only allow air to enter the tank but not to exit.... so, when the temperature of the petrol rises, and causing the fuel to expand, quicker than what the engine consumes it the pressure inside will build up!
When the petrol starts boiling eventually then this becomes worse.
I've made it a habit to open the caps during riding to vent the pressure, but when the lot's boiling this may not be the best idea....

The reason why the tanks temperature goes up is rather simple - that hot header pipe mainly, helped of course by our hot weather plus the radiator & fan the tanks sit behind, and lastly the riding the rider does.... faster is better here, for more air will cool the lot better.

Of the 3-piece exhaust system (header, mid-pipe & silencer) only the header sits - entirely! - behind the RHS-tank, so me insulating this item with a ceramic coating which insulates really well is a good idea!
 
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