Thoughts on Carbon Fiber?

[Easy]

Hello, All

Does anyone have carbon fiber on their DRZ?

What do you think of it, is it worth the money for protection or does it just look pretty? Picture would be nice to see any damage and what the carbon fiber looks like on the DRZ.

Thanks.

[Plane Dr]

My personal opinion is it is just bling.

Carbon fibre is not good for skid plates. Yes it is lighter, and yes it will do the job for awhile, long term go aluminium. Some people here have them and swear by them.

As for the blingy bits, sweet.

Do a search there was a thread about 3 weeks ago on this.

[KVO-TN1-2beat]

Carbon fiber is coo. I have the eline skidplate and Suzuki frame guards. Very durable stuff and looks are a plus too. Anything carbon fiber is worth it. I have a set of Carbon Fiber Works frame guards if you want to get them and see if you like it. PM me, I'll make you a deal if I havent sold them by the time you get back with me.

[gleaves]

Carbon fiber is has advantages in the correct applications, unfortunately IMHO it is mostly bling, especially in applications like caliper guards, skid plates or case guards. The reason is that cf is poor in bending and fails early by delamination. That means it lacks toughness in an engineering sense. Aluminum is clearly superior where toughness in bending is needed. CF is good for fork tube guards, frame guards and other light duty uses.

[ilsrwy27]

Does anyone have carbon fiber on their DRZ?

I would go carbon on a SM because it is lightweight and is only meant to be used when things go bad.

However it is expensive to replace, looks like crap when scratched and scratches / gouges can also cause it to delaminate and loose strength, so I would stick with aluminum on a E/S that spends a lot of time offroad where protections are tested every other ride...

just my 02 cents

[seehenry]

I can't weld carbon fiber so I don't imagine I will ever have any ? I like to make my own parts.

[motoinmoab]

I got the E-Line carbon skid plate and engine case guards. The eingine protection has much more complete coverage than the little aluminum plates. I think it's superior protection, and has good bling. The skid plate has been removed and replaced with a thick aluminum one. It scratched and gouged badly on the bottom, and softened to the point of being flexable on the wings. So it offered just about no protection to the waterpump. But it was good bling while it lasted. My skid plate lives in a hostile environment and gets used often. There are pictures in my garage.

[maxpower220]

I have made many parts for my SM out of CF. It is mostly for appearance, but it is stronger and lighter. Unless you are a racer, the difference in weight is only minimal and most racers are not on a DRZ. For a skid plate, I would go with aluminum, but if you want bling use Carbon Kevlar. CK is much stronger than CF in abrasion and impact resistance. It is heavier than CF and (opinion) doesn't look as cool (unless you have the yellow bike).

Do a search on the internet for composites and make some parts yourself, it in not that hard.

[NateTheGreat]

Depends on what type of terrain you ride in. If its mostly MX track or Supermoto work then CF is great. Big rocks I would just get something..... metal.... thick.

The CF will hold up to a lot actually. But if it gets dinged up its gonna look crappy so whats the point?

[Easy]

Thanks, Guys

I guess the carbon fiber skid plate's off the list.

Thanks for the heads up on that one. ?

[Dmignon]

I Just had this skid plate installed today.

I can't tell you how it works yet , but I heard good things about this small company from Israel. A lot of guys are riding the stuff there , and you need a skid plate if you ride there , trust me.

The argument for it is that the Kevlar layer sandwiched in between the 2 layers of carbon will spread the energy of the blow all over (like a bullet proof vest) , and not transfer the energy to the frame like aluminum would.

Again , only time will tell , but the carbon dress up on my bike(got a few more things) sure has a lot of bling to it ?

[MotoChris521]

It depends on how many boulders you plan on dragging your bike over.I've had the eline CF plate for almost two years and had zero problems,so far.

[bluehawkpilot]

I have Carbon Fiber knuckles on the back of my Joe Rocket gloves, luckily, when an old lady pulled "into" me two weeks ago on my Honda Hawk i broke her driver window with the back of my hand without even thinking about it, luckily for me the cop was a cycle cop who happened to be getting his bike serviced, he told me I should have stopped and let her by but considering I was forced into on coming traffic and she never "saw" me, she got the ticket and I swear by Joe rocket