Can you make a cover to put on my wet clutch/engine cover?

[stopintime]

What I, or Arai Speed can do is to take a picture of carbon fibre, print it, laminate it at work and glue it on there. That would
be as tacky as can be

I agree on that CF cover being wrong, but I understand that some CF-freaks could go for it.

dude!

Put the credit card down and step away from the monster....

Deep breath...

ok, now spend it on ohlins  

Thanks - I needed that  On the other hand, it's just a piece of vinyl or some clever grinding - nothing to ruin my suspension budget. Which still is on top of my priorities.

[DarkStaR]

finally. i was thinking this really isnt a needed mod or even a functional one. now if the whole casing were replace with say magnesium... now that's cool. but a carbon cover on top of the metal? whats' the point?

Same reason why people paint things black.  Aesthetics!

Are you gonna say you never painted something black or wanted too? 

If so, why did you do it?

From the looks of it, most of your mods do nothing also...other than aesthetics.   

Things I've done.
Removed the Charcoal canister, replaced shroud with Euro from MotoWheels (yeah sponsors!) and rerouted tubing
Painted 'Brembo' (better than the whole caliper red)
Painted the front exhaust shield black to flow into the frame lines better
Painted the headlight bracket (why it was ever not black makes me wonder)
Painted the exhaust hangers black (again to flow into the frame lines)
Replace all headlights with bright whites (4000K for main and high beam, 3300K for midlight)
Replace long tail with Tidy Tail from RG Racing
Put on reflective pearl white stripes on the rims
Removed front fork reflectors
Removed frame stickers
Replaced stock seat with a DP seat (purchased at the time of the bike from AMS in Dallas)
oh almost forgot, 14T front sprocket

[Raux]

agreed, again not saying we dont do things just for the looks.

in my case, i did a lot to eliminate some of the disjuncted design aspects of the 696. like the black headlight.. why was it silver? cause they didnt cast it black and didnt spend the money to paint it.

oh thanks for the research on my bike  bet it took time to find that.

dude, have a 

not attacking anyone for their choices of products to add to their bikes. As a designer, I see the paste-on CF tape/fake covers as like putting gold tape on lead. it's not the real thing.

but this is a mod that some people like. some people don't.

and the 14t sprocket, the DP seat, and whiter lights all help in their own way other than aesthetics.
the wheel stripes are safety since i removed the other reflectors. and the short tail makes it go faster  [moto]

the wet clutch leads to a dilema for a lot of folks who like the old open clutch cover of the dry clutch and this thread is about trying to find a solution... soooo getting back to that...

motocreations had some good ideas that i like.

[Norm]

Why so judgmental? How 'bout everyone does whatever they like? If someone likes the way something looks or functions, then it's the right mod for them.
As for the plexiglas window idea, I've seen it done before & shouldn't involve more than about 1/2 day of cutting & fitting, and about $5 in parts.
I also kinda like the engraving(?) idea because you cound paint the engraving a contrasting color to the rest of the cover for some extra pop. But, it's not my bike, go forth and be happy.

[squidwood]

I have a wet clutch bike.....love it.The problem with the clutch cover is that it is not a flat surface.It is slightly domed so sticking stuff to it will be difficult.
I thought about sanding down my cover and then sandblasting off the paint, polishing it to a mirror finsih and then anodizing.
Trouble is...........I don't want to be without my bike when there is a possibility that the sun will make another appearence this season........

[DucLeone]

i know ive seen it before just dont't remember where
this is for Suzukis

have no idea who makes it
http://www.whaccessories.com/Suzuki-B-King.htm

[MotoCreations]

thought about sanding down my cover and then sandblasting off the paint, polishing it to a mirror finsih and then anodizing.

Remember the sidecase cover is cast aluminum -- they don't anodize very nicely even when polished.  You can polish though and clearcoat.

A customer of mine on the east coast ended up chroming the left/right sidecase covers on his engine (as well as other engine castings / swingarm / MH900 wheels / etc) after having them polished.  Yes -- it is blingy without doubt and not for everyone.  They do look nicer than I ever imagined  and fit in with the wild (understatement to be honest!) final paint treatment and additional modifications he has made (and still making) to the HyperDevil version of my MotoCreations bikes.  (official debut is Daytona 2009 but can be seen in NC at a few shows in the painters booth while still being finished)

One other note in regard to mods to sidecase covers via welding -- clean, clean and then clean again before actual welding.  But usually never no problems if you know what you are doing via TIG.  I know with the one wet clutch I modified, I ended up making a 3/8ths steel base to bolt the cover to while TIG welding and during the pre-heat / post-heat cool down via gas torch.  You can TIG cold -- but don't make any long welds (it will warp otherwise) -- just tacks to hold things in place until final welding.

[stopintime]

Remember the sidecase cover is cast aluminum -- they don't anodize very nicely even when polished.  You can polish though and clearcoat.

A customer of mine on the east coast ended up chroming the left/right sidecase covers on his engine (as well as other engine castings / swingarm / MH900 wheels / etc) after having them polished.  Yes -- it is blingy without doubt and not for everyone.  They do look nicer than I ever imagined  and fit in with the wild (understatement to be honest!) final paint treatment and additional modifications he has made (and still making) to the HyperDevil version of my MotoCreations bikes.  (official debut is Daytona 2009 but can be seen in NC at a few shows in the painters booth while still being finished)

One other note in regard to mods to sidecase covers via welding -- clean, clean and then clean again before actual welding.  But usually never no problems if you know what you are doing via TIG.  I know with the one wet clutch I modified, I ended up making a 3/8ths steel base to bolt the cover to while TIG welding and during the pre-heat / post-heat cool down via gas torch.  You can TIG cold -- but don't make any long welds (it will warp otherwise) -- just tacks to hold things in place until final welding.

I'm loosing connection, probably going through a tunnel or something
I know you do these things with more ease than I can put on a sticker - which is what I'll end up doing if I can't find a suitable cap off a peanutbutter jar

On the other hand, I'm learning as I go along - reading how the pros think and work is inspiring, no matter what. I once listened for hours to a guy who trades stamps for a living. I couldn't care less about stamps, but focus and eye for details is always enjoyable. Knowledge is good, it moves things forward 

[DucHead]

I have a carbon fiber cover on my water pump, and I like it.  If stopintime wants a cover for his engine case, then that's his business.  To each his own.

Go for it stopintime.

[DucHead]

i know ive seen it before just dont't remember where
this is for Suzukis

have no idea who makes it
http://www.whaccessories.com/Suzuki-B-King.htm

GSG-Moto makes those.  They are a German company, and Wildhareaccessories is their US importer.

[stopintime]

I have a carbon fiber cover on my water pump, and I like it.  If stopintime wants a cover for his engine case, then that's his business.  To each his own.

Go for it stopintime.

I'm happy for ALL posts, none of the above has been negative IMO    Just to make it clear - I will not get the large carbon cover, it's not for me. However, I will somehow cover up or mod the (too) large/flat circular area. I think it disturbs the aesthetics, that's all.

[TAftonomos]

how much room is on the backside of the cover before you hit the clutch ?

How thick is the cover?

Seems like the easiest/cleanest solution would be to get a round piece of plexi, cut yourself a hole, and drill mounting holes.  Mount the plexi on the inside, and no welding

[sgs2r]

not sure if any of you has seen this...

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=40085

not as blingy as the Suzuki mentioned above, but at least he tried...

[psycledelic]

Stopintime, When I first started dumping money into my S2R800, I really wanted to change/modify/something the clutch cover to something that looked better.  The more thought I put into it, the more expensive/less do-able it became.  I also realized that the other side of the engine, though less noticable, is just as ugly.  I knew that if I did find a way to dress up the clutch cover side, the other side would bother me.  That might not be an issue for you, but I knew that it would drive me crazy.  I finally came to terms with the fact that the primary purpose of the wet clutch engine casing is to keep the wet inside the engine and my bike did a pretty good job of that.  I would sure hate to mess that up by trying to be creative (or pay someone else to).   I guess my point is that it would sure suck to mess up a very cool ride by modifiying and creating a leak.  In my case, I just decorated around it.  I have yet to hear anyone at the gas station say, "hey man, nice bike, but your clutch cover sure is ugly!"  Anyway, just my 2 cents.  Good luck in whatever you try. 

[stopintime]

Again, thanks 
I think the left side cover is much less visible because of it's position and that it doesn't stand out as far. It also makes less visual noise because it is not flat. IMO.
After the responses here and thinking/visualizing I'm leaning towards making it as invisible as possible. I'll probably sand the paint slightly and then apply matte black to make the center visually "sink in" - leaving about a third of an inch around the edge of the flat area.

Will I need any special paint to pull this off. My thought is not to strip off all the paint, just prepping it.