Works Connection Rad braces- wimpy?

[Colorado Mike]

I was installing these radiator braces last night and was surprised at how flimsy they are. I can understand the need for them to be thin in order to fit, but the stamped aluminum seems to be a poor choice of material to me. Stamped steel with stiffening ridges would seem like a better choice. Do you guys that have them think they really do anything?

Also, I was thinking of adding some guards but want to keep the plastic fins in front to assist in cooling. I ride at very high altitude and cooling is a problem because of the low air density. Are there any problems in fitting the fins with the guards in place?

Thanks,

[IdahoCharley]

I've run devol radiator brace/guard with louvers on other bikes and just had to trim the OEM installation tabs and zip tied the OEM louvers to the devol guard. I think once you look at the radiator with the new guard in place it should be clear what will work.

[m0rie]

My sister just zipty'd the plastic fins to the front of the devol guards she put on her 02 220. Worked great.

-Maurice

[canyncarvr]

Do they do anything?

Yep.

They strength they add is considerable. Does that make the rads indestructible? No.

Riding without them is silly, imo. It takes one fall over at .05mph to crunch the rads in the oem configuration. Heck...some guys have ruined theirs when the bike just fell 'off' the kickstand!!

I suppose titanium would be a good choice... .120" steel would be good too!

The Works stuff does, though. ...work that is.

[wanaride]

My $0.02...I've crash-tested (tree) my WC rad braces twice, the first at slow speed, the second at much higher speed. The brace and radiator were bent, but the radiator was salvagable and Myler fixed it. Like CC said, the braces aren't perfect, but they are a whole lot better than nothing.

I went with WC over Devol because I was concerned about air flow restrictions with the Devol guards. I also suspected the WC braces would do a better job from a side impact, because that seemed a lot more likely that a direct frontal hit. The WC braces do pretty well with a frontal hit too because they mount to the bike behind the radiator...transfers impact energy backwards to the frame.

I straightened out the bent brace after the first impact but ordered new ones after the second impact. Until someone convinces me to the contrary, I'll stick with WC.

[marco220]

I can vouch for the WC braces too. They've saved my radiators a couple of times from both front and side impacts.

The Devol look beefy but I went with WC for the same reasons mentioned above... airflow and they appear to protect better for a frontal hit.

[skipro3]

I've bent to snot out of my WC braces. I can only imagine what the radiators would have looked like if they had not been in place. On the other hand, my KX250 has the Devols (front protection) and just Wednesday I flipped it off the trail and down a small waterfall, end over end, landing on it's side. There is zero evidence of any impact for the radiators. If I was in the market, I'd get the devols. I don't run the plastic louvers over them as I don't see a need. They look to block more air flow than direct it with the speeds I run in the woods.

[m0rie]

Ouch!

[skipro3]

I'm o.k., a brused hip. The bike's o.k., survived it without any obvious damage. The fish in the pool at the bottom of the tumbling water are o.k., the trails are o.k.

I'll be out there on Friday to further test the KX's set-up and see if it really is destructable. I'm going to update the ride-out-west thread, so look for more info there later today.