Is Chrome a good upgrade?

[motorpsycho]

actually, black on and engine doesn't make it retain anymore heat than if it were painted red, orange or yellow.
almost all racing engines are black, some motorcycle engines are black, engines in new cars come painted black with black plastic shrouding.
the fact that we're talking about an air cooled engine vs. a water cooled engine isn;t much different.
I've had several air cooled engines that were black and they didn't seem to run any hotter than if they were bare aluminum.
a black engine won't run any hotter than an engine that's surrounded with plastic shrouding (like on a chain sawe or a weedeater.)
I got a silver 66 c.c. 2 stroke and painted the cylinder black....it doesn;t run any hotter than my all silver one.
yeah the "chrome" on these is just chrome paint, which is just silover with a ton of pigment and metallic in it.

 

[jeffuehrer]

Wear a black t-shirt outside in the sun, then wear a white one. Color matters in everything where light exists (period). You aren't the guy that says angles don't matter either, are you? If I listened to everything you guys said I'd have missed out on nearly 200 miles of riding on a cracked frame. There is a reason these forums are free. Take it from me. Jeff knows.

 

[motorbikemike45]

Black, chrome, or natural silver-grey aluminum, it does make a difference. Black will absorb heat from the sun, true. Black also radiates off heat better than any other color, true. Chrome plating or paint will get hotter because it doesn't radiate heat as well. Any paint is a layer of some thickness and acts as an insulator, so will retard heat flow out to the air and the engine will run hotter. There are anodizing processes that will chemically "stain" aluminum black(or other colors) without adding an extra insulating layer of paint. Black anodized aluminum fins on an air cooled engine would be the ideal heat shedding material. There was an experiment with a pair of aluminum blocks left out in the sun and monitored for temp with recording thermometers. One was anodized black, the other chrome plated and polished. The black one quickly heated up, then stabilized, giving off heat as fast as it absorbed it. The chromed one slowly just kept getting hotter, passing the black one and eventually stabilizing at about 100 degrees hotter than the black one. Chrome isn't a good choice. Bare aluminum would be a better choice than any paint.

The plastic shrouding around most all small fan cooled, air cooled engines is there to guide the fan driven cooling air to more efficiently cool the engine. If you will always have the engine in fairly rapid motion, it might be okay to remove the shrouding, but if the engine will be moving slowly, or motionless at times, even for short periods, it is better to leave it in place. On liquid cooled engines the plastic pieces are there to cover the engine from view and I remove it to better access the engine for maintenence. Every auto manufacturer used to paint their engines a certain color. For instance, Chevy's were a redish orange, Packards a dark green, Fords were green in the Model A days then in the 1950s red, or blue, or black, depending on the engine. Paint on a liquid cooled engine is unimportant as the cooling occur inside the block, though the radiators are usually black or bare aluminum.

 

[geebt48cc]

True, aluminum would be best. Notice that all really full blown experienced MB'er do the natural finish.

I'm good with my black, but have learned that natural is the better.

 

[motorpsycho]

Wear a black t-shirt outside in the sun, then wear a white one. Color matters in everything where light exists (period). You aren't the guy that says angles don't matter either, are you? If I listened to everything you guys said I'd have missed out on nearly 200 miles of riding on a cracked frame. There is a reason these forums are free. Take it from me. Jeff knows.

nope, it wasn't me that said angles don't matter.
If black is such a bad idea for an engine, you better go tell Harley Davidson, because they've been painting / powdercoating their engines black for YEARS.
Yamaha, Kawasaki, Honda, and Suzuki have painted their engines black for years as well.
Black does heat up quick, but as motorbike mike said, it will stabilize the temp and actually give off heat as fast as it absorbs it.
it's not the sun shingin in it that makes a difference, it's how hot the engine is running due to the air-fuel mix and compression.
a lean engine, or high compression engine, no matter what color it is will run much hotter than a rich low compression engine.
true, wearing a black t shirt in the sun is hotter than a white t-shirt, but were talking about temps that MAY only excede 100 degrees.
(body temp and outside air temp / sun).
now, do the same thing but jack the temp up to around 250 - 300 degrees, and suddenly a 100 degree drop in temp is a huge amount. black will radiate the internal heat away faster than chrome will.
also the 100 degree air temp actually helps cool the engine because it would be running at 250 - 300 degrees.

 

[HeadSmess]

if black absorbs all colours, how can you have gloss black?

 

[jeffuehrer]

I just put on a "chrome" (it's actually aluminum with a shiny chrome finish on the outside) magneto cover. I like shiny. Shine, shine.

 

[vermhot]

If you are so worried about the heat ,then paint it all white !! It might be the way to go !!!

 

[jeffuehrer]

I just put on a "chrome" (it's actually aluminum with a shiny chrome finish on the outside) magneto cover. I like shiny. Shine, shine.

Some like it hot.

<img src="http://www.justico.com/justiceo/justiceo.gif">

 

[JR_MB2012]

Theory on Chrome

My basic theory on chrome:

If it does not move, chrome it.
If it is an exhaust, chrome it, but watch it for that "blue" that develops where the heat is on.
If it moves, chrome it unless it is bearings. Then grease the heck out of it.
Also would recommend using DOT Reflective Tape, especially when riding at night. Between all the chrome and lights, it will make you more visible than a B-52 coming in for a landing.