Get extra cooling on your bike with black paint.

[renobruce]

This does not however, change the fact that a black engine looks really cool!!

Black is beautiful!! Extra "cool"ing :-D

[Robu]

if black is cooler why don't they paint the Reg/Rec black ? If so would it help ?

[Nerobro]

it costs money. our RR's are not unreliable because they're the wrong color, they're unreliable becuase they're freakishly to small for the application.

[ZOMBIEEATER]

Ive never had a question answered with so much depth, thanks spchips, reno your exhaust looks friggen awsome, how did you get them looking so good?

[renobruce]

Ive never had a question answered with so much depth, thanks spchips, reno your exhaust looks friggen awsome, how did you get them looking so good?

Thanks, Zombie! I use S100 Engine Brightner on the motor and exhaust (and everything else that's black).

[albertaglen]

black PAINT no good

Hi. As a lover of air-cooled two-strokes (and someone naturally curious) the question of surface finish as it relates to cooling is something that I've done a bit of research on. As I understand it:

-paint will act as an insulator; there is virtually no difference in heat loss between a white- and black-painted engine (it's been done)
-a flat black anodized layer may not significantly slow down heat loss (although it does NOT seem to increase cooling either); if you want a surface black, this is the way to go
-a matt, slightly rough-finished (e.g. sand-cast) part is the best option for max. cooling, all things being equal
-polished parts retain heat
-powder coating should NOT be applied to surfaces where heat mgmt is important (as it is just a layer of paint in essence)

[themess]

See:

http://www.egglescliffe.org.uk/physics/astronomy/blackbody/bbody.html

and:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_body

Painting something black has essentially nothing to do with "black body radiation". The "black body" is something that can absorb or emit radiation at any wavelength.

Einstein won his Nobel prize in 1905 for his work on the photoelectric effect, which is closely related.