pipe armor for EC250 2011? :confused:

[a c t i v e X]

Hi

I'm searching for pipe guard for my soon arriving EC250 2011.
found this good looking flatland for 2000-2002 or for 2003
http://www.flatlandracing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=FR&Category_Code=11-Gas

does anyone knows if it can be bend to fit the pipe on the 2011 ?
which one of those may fit? (in 2011 silencer states as FMF Q-stealth)
is there anything at this range someone can recommend of?
my riding is pretty technical and rocky, so the pipes do get some hits occasionally

 

[MrBlah]

for a second I thought that was a full caged skid/pipe guard

it's too bad they dont make one

 

[noobi]

Yes, you should be able to just bend it into place, it may require a copper hammer.
There are universal pipe guards which are sold all the time, you just form them around your pipe, and hold them on with hose clamps.

 

[gasgasman]

Hard to beat this setup..........

 

[GMP]

+1. For rocks, its the best choice out there despite some quirks. Mounts suck and needs foam to block mud, but it will save your pipe for sure. I have an older one on my '07 that is still good, perhaps the newer ones are even better. Biggest problem is the hassle of R&R with the mounts, but if the '11 SD/Race and '12 Race have welded on skid plate mounts it should not be hard to make up some adapter plates to match the Hyde. I enlarged the drain hole, made my own mounts, and added some rubber hose sections to the frame rails with good results.

All conventional pipe guards are simple dent protectors, and will not prevent bends and kinks from a hit. I think what makes the Hyde work decent is that the polymer will slide easily on a rock and not bite in and transfer all the force to the pipe like a CF or alloy guard. Mine is very scarred with evidence of this but the pipe is fine.

 

[swazi_matt]

Hard to beat this setup..........

I disagree. I had that on my bike and dented the pipe through it and melted the guard. It may be fine for areas where you not riding lots of rocks
It also does not fit the pipe properly seems it was designed for a pipe that sits lower

For rocky areas I suggest the Hyde sump guard and a p3 carbon fibre exhaust guard. My p3 has taken some big hits and all I need to do from time to time is bend the neck of the pipe
I even think Hyde agrees with this since they have started making CF exhaust guards as well

 

[PEB]

I like the Hyde. I add another layer of plastic to the bottom and beat the tar out of it every chance I get.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBkVLIkkW5A&list=UUzI-4KhbOX2wa8gk9Kf0Tag&index=21&feature=plcp

 

[PEB]

It has started to melt a little on the left side, but it has thousands and thousands of miles on it.

 

[a c t i v e X]

the Hyde looks nice

but doesn't teh Hyde have issues with mud? seems a bit of hassle with mounting?
from my KTM i've used to the Carbon who looks like got shark bites after a year and also doesn't 100% protect the pipe so i though of the ALU stayle.

 

[wence]

No dramas for me with the hyde.
If it bothers you about the build up , stuff in foam and enlarge the holes underneath.
Cheers Mar

 

[Jakobi]

I use a force alu bash plate with the P3 carbon pipe guard. My pipe is in top condition still with around 120hrs on it. Its jumped logs, rode rocks, cartwheeled down rocky hills and been dropped on its side more than once, but its never taken a complete blunt force into something. Then again when I ride I try to consider my safety and the bikes into the equation!

 

[MrBlah]

what fun is that?

 

[Jakobi]

More fun riding every weekend then it is spending time recovering, or money repairing a broken bike!

It doesn't always go to plan though and thats what the P3 and bashy are for.

 

[skid jackson]

not a big fan of the hyde. I had one on my 300, did a good job of protecting the pipe but the plate did nothing for the frame rails. Even with garden house wrap. Careful plating a wet log with a plastic skid plate if its on an off camber trail ... weeee!!! Scorpian racing in canada makes the best skid plates. Carbon fiber pipe guards may keep the dents at bay but they cause the pipe to kink. dents are easier to get out then kinks ... I didn't run a pipe guard on my husky 144 and to date haven't bothered on my 11 250. I don't like kinks you get from Cf or the noise you get from aluminium. And its pretty rocky where i ride .. so far so good ....

 

[GMP]

I'm with Paul, my Hyde is 5 years old, and I ride A LOT of rocks! Its a love/hate relationship but it works. Scarred and split slightly at the rear edges but no frame dents and a good pipe. The hose I use on the frame is at least 1/8" thick reinforced, not garden hose. I also replaced the rubber spacer tits with hi temp silicone rubber with an adhesive backing of equal thickness, from mcmaster.com. If the combo can be adapted to the factory frame mounts on the '11 and '12 for easy R&R, cleaning out mud will be a non-issue to me, plus the foam does a decent job blocking all but the area between the pipe and guard.

I think if the Hyde didn't fit right it might have been the wrong one. There are three different part#s for GG 250/300s. I have the older one for the lower pipe and it fits perfect, sounds like you might have this one too and your newer bike's pipe is the higher bend.

I never had a CF guard that did not kink the pipe, plus, they get beat up and the resin breaks down, leaving the cloth to flex. They look OK until removed and you find the pipe dented. I'm done with CF guards, not worth the $$ IMO, no better than the Flatland or bend your own Moose guards. The key is to have the pipe guard fixed to the skid plate or frame or one piece like the Hyde. An alloy modular guard like this would be nice but no one makes one.

 

[swazi_matt]

If you look at some of the YouTube clips for the roof of africa extreme enduro you will see the pipe cages+skid plates the guys make here out of 10mm steel bars, tough as nails does not collect mud, but prob adds about 5kg

I have flipped my bike onto a flat rock on the right of the pipe and the only dent that went through was where the pipe seams stick out and slight bend at the neck.

Unfortunately this is the cross we carry as 2t riders .... although the new ossa seems to have this problem solved with the rear silencer system

 

[GMP]

+1, I would love to have one of those cages, but don't have the time, TIG welder, or skill to make a nice one. I rode in Hawaii and a lot of the local guys have them as well, but you never see them in the mainland USA. I called Whipps in Oz and they don't make a GG cage. I asked Flatland to make one but no response. The Scorpion guys in Canada seem hungry, they now have grills for their rad braces which was a request of mine, and others I'm sure. Maybe they would entertain the idea. If you can find a production pipe cage at a reasonable price please let me(us) know.

Another potential option is tying an alloy skid plate to an aluminum pipe guard with some braces and a top brace to the frame. The pipe guard would also have to be opened slightly and isolated from the pipe with some rubber. Other than that, the Hyde dispite its faults is the only choice for unified protection.

 

[ucrtwf]

My Hyde combo guard just came in a couple days ago (for my '10 300), I haven't put it on yet. Thanks PEB for the pics. I was wondering how you reinforced the bottom with the extra plastic plate, as it is very thin. As most of us, I'm sure I overthink/worry about the machines. I've got a moose skid plate on my YZf, have abused it for 8 years, frame rails are still perfect. That being said the yami rails are quite a bit thicker than the GG frame rails. There is a guy on the KTM site that had a nice idea about building an expanded metal guard that keeps the frontal area from filling up with mud.
Also, the Hyde I just got doesn't have the circular holes between the ribs, did you guys put those in by yourself?

 

[GMP]

Paul (PEB) and I have the old style Hyde on our '07s, they had the holes stock. I thought they were a good idea to let mud out from between the pipe and guard. The Hyde for the newer bikes like yours seems cleaner and more form fitting. Please let us know how it fits. Unless they changed the mounts significantly be prepared for a hassle, all versions I've seen are crap. If you could somehow make up a front "T bar" mount that stays fixed to the frame it would make things much easier. The rear mounts were easy to redesign and make. Good luck and post a pic if you can.

 

[a c t i v e X]

cage

wonder if there is a commercial made of such neat cage for GG?