Does anyone have these? What did you use to plug them up? You can have 2 one inch holes, right?
Im thinking I should drill some before I go racing. Don't want the stress of 2 gallons of water pulling on the dzus fastners and sloshing around during a race.
No one I know of personally have them...although I'm sure some do.
Paul has raced in the rain and has not had a problem with a lot of water in the belly pan. We don't have any rain holes in our pan. This is just our personal experience.
Dawn :)
Hmm, OK. Well, I might run a test with the hose or the sprinkler then. When I had the SRAD Gixxer lower on my SV, it got a lot of water in it when it rained.
i am wanting to do the same thing.. was going to have a 1" hole or so and put a piece of duct tape over it. the race director will allow you to open the drain hole if the race is declared a wet race im pretty sure. my pan gets filled when i wash the bike.
I think a 1" dia hole sounds a little big - I thought about drilling a hole large enough to accomodate a windshield well nut and bolt - unscrew small bolt & pull out wellnut - probably wouldn't be over 1/4 to 1/2" dia. - plus it would look professional versus - duct tape. And it if placed correctly in pan would drain fine.
Just a thought
I have a Sharkskin Lower, it came with 2 half inch or so holes, fore and aft. I put boat drain plugs in them, then safety wired them together and then to something else down there. I pulled them out at Daytona as it was wet for practice, them put them back in for races. Quick in and out.
Being an old Tug Boat Captain, it seemed the natural thing to do.
H. Madsen #296 AM Jax. Fla. Proud Angry American
I drilled a hole and put a rubber plug in it. So when it was raining I would take the plug out, in the dry I duct tape over it.
Forgot to drill it on the new lower, and I got about half gallon out of my lower at daytona.
I went with 3/4 inch holes in the lower fairing. I purchased hole plugs at Lowes that fit into the hole and are flush with the fairing. However, I do add a strip of duct tape (matching color of bike naturally) when racing in the dry. Never had a problem with tech inspection.
One thing to consider, if you ever repair the lower fairing with fiberglass or bondo the repaired area may be too thick for the plugs to catch as they snap in. In that case one would need to find another type of plug. Also take your time when drilling the fiberglass. Use the proper hole saw to prevent cracking the plastic or ending up with rough edges.
Good luck.
If you crash often enough, it runs out before the corner workers can pick it up :-[
Unless you keep your bike outside in the pouring rain, you won't have a problem. There won't be that much rain collecting.
The one thing to BE CAREFUL of though...
2 years ago, after the rain, I'm racing BHF, following Eric Custar on his kwak. He leaves the track on turn 1, hits a HUGE puddle, gets back on the track and had a belly full of water which sloshed out right infront of his rear tire on every turn for the next 2 laps...
Before drilling any holes, I would locate some plugs first. Duct tape over the holes may not pass tech.
Isn't the whole point of running a race lower is that it DOESN'T have holes in it? As in - it's supposed to catch fluids? Putting holes in it might cause you to drip coolant or oil if you ever wind up with a leak of some sort... something that I thought the race bellypan was there to prevent.
QuoteUnless you keep your bike outside in the pouring rain, you won't have a problem. There won't be that much rain collecting.
I collected about a gallon it seems (filled the lower) at Daytona after ONE GTU race. Yes you will collect a lot of water during a race
QuoteBefore drilling any holes, I would locate some plugs first. Duct tape over the holes may not pass tech.
I used to use duct tape. they just told me to cover it "nicely" after checking the rule book, which didn't mention what kind of plug it must have.
QuoteIsn't the whole point of running a race lower is that it DOESN'T have holes in it? As in - it's supposed to catch fluids? Putting holes in it might cause you to drip coolant or oil if you ever wind up with a leak of some sort... something that I thought the race bellypan was there to prevent.
Its in the rule book as allowed to drill drain holes for when the race is "wet". It has to be contained in dry races.