2-stink pipe armor...WTF??!!! Like, seriously...

 

I bought a pipe guard for my CR125 to help withstand the New England
granite that I so often like to hit. My GasGas 125 has a carbon-fiber
guard, and the last time I had a tipover into a rock, the rock punched
through the guard like so much tissue paper. I decided that a metal
guard was the way to go, and I choose a Moose "Pipe Armor" guard.

http://shop.thumpertalk.com/catalogs...ault.asp?pQ9

It's beefy - made from aluminum 1/8" stock (which is only 1/32"
thinner than the Moose skid plate I got for the same bike), which
leads to my problem. I CAN'T BEND THE THING!! The guard is pre-bent
cylindrically, which makes it even stiffer longitudally - but the
thing has to be bent into a compound 'U' to go around the pipe. I
spent a few seconds beating it with a hammer with absolutely no
effect, then figured I'd better quit before I really f'ked things up.

HOW DOES ONE MOUNT THESE THINGS???

Krike', dammit.

JayC

 


You may have to anneal it a bit, the previous forming probably work-
hardened it.

Sooty acetylene torch is the trick, I hear.


Dave

 


If it really does require some kind of forging process to use this
thing, I'm hanging it on the wall and running without a guard.  Most
definitely.  Maybe I'll make a mailbox out of it.

JayC

 


You just need to get it slightly warm, 600F top 700F or so.

http://www.tinmantech.com/html/aluminum_alloys_continued.php

You don't have to do the bending while its hot. Annealing is like
magic, wave the torch at the piece, let it cool, and now it bends
easy. Hardening lost will likely be restored by the bends you'll do.

I expect Mr. Deeney to chime in with an exact process.


Dave

 


I've seen too many of these things mounted to think that you'd have to
break out that kind of heavy equipment, but who knows.


One would hope, once he gets back from his riding vacation - that
bastard.

JayC