glowing case idea/question

Was thinking about how cool a see-through clutch cover would look, and had an idea. (remember twowheeledterrors "engine temp" thread?) if you could get lights, or LEDs in there that could take the heat(out of the way, and not directly in sight), you could have an awesome glow coming out thru the cover at night. (picture a nice kawasaki neon green glow, or a black light)Would this be possible?

Anything is possible, but I wouldn't have the lights or wiring for them coming into direct contact with the engine oil.
You could always build a small outer ring around the clear portion of the cover that would house a series of small LED lights, and then have them pointed towards the cover at an angle that would give the best effect. Wiring and lights are hidden, and can still probably achieve what you're after.

Good ideas, do you think that they can take the heat?

I'd imagine if the bulbs and wires don't directly come into contact with the engine itself, then they should be ok.
You could always "vent" the outer ring that houses the lights and wires to help keep them cooler when the bike is actually being ridden.

You might want to check on eBay for some of the sellers that offer those accent light kits and contact them to see if they'd be willing to offer some suggestions on what lights and wiring to use.

LED's should be able to handle the heat.
The plastic lens material may break down if you tried to stuff them inside in contact with the oil.
The ring around the outside idea would work great.

BRGMGBGT wrote:

LED's should be able to handle the heat.
The plastic lens material may break down if you tried to stuff them inside in contact with the oil.
The ring around the outside idea would work great.

If you use Lexan you will be fine.

Lexan doesn't start to get soft till just over 250 degrees for a long period of time, and doesn't melt till 300 degrees.

With a properly installed oil cooler that should be NO problem.

Who says it has to come into contact with engine oil?:huh: Why not just have a double window of lexan. For instance haveing a open spot on the case with lexan and then putting the led on top of that then covering the led to look like its just an engine cover. The light will actually be brighter with the lexan window due to the reflection of the lexan glowing not just a bulb. Btw if you wire a led inside the engine I dont think you have too worrie about the wiring since the oil is a insulator and all transmissions in cars today have exposed wiring in the pan of a trans.
Think about this what about a drain plug. Its perfecy. The drian plug has a o-ring to seal and all you have to do is drill a hole in the engine and tap it. Then drill the drain plug for the led. Posibilities are endles HAHAHAHAHA:silly:

Snakebyte wrote:

Who says it has to come into contact with engine oil?:huh: Why not just have a double window of lexan. For instance haveing a open spot on the case with lexan and then putting the led on top of that then covering the led to look like its just an engine cover. The light will actually be brighter with the lexan window due to the reflection of the lexan glowing not just a bulb. Btw if you wire a led inside the engine I dont think you have too worrie about the wiring since the oil is a insulator and all transmissions in cars today have exposed wiring in the pan of a trans.
Think about this what about a drain plug. Its perfecy. The drian plug has a o-ring to seal and all you have to do is drill a hole in the engine and tap it. Then drill the drain plug for the led. Posibilities are endles HAHAHAHAHA:silly:

True about the wiring.

However, there isn't enough room for multiple pieces of lexan.

Fiber optics? no wires inside the motor, a single remote light source and you can have the light in multiple places from one source.
I bet if you took 2WT's lexan window and engraved the kawi logo in it and blacked out the edges and pushed a light source into the edge of it, the engraving might glow the color of the light source, based on light refraction.. Hmmmmm.. i feel another project comming on.

Post edited by: kzjim, at: 2006/02/27 15:07

KzJim wrote:

Fiber optics? no wires inside the motor, a single remote light source and you can have the light in multiple places from one source.
I bet if you took 2WT's lexan window and engraved the kawi logo in it and blacked out the edges and pushed a light source into the edge of it, the engraving might glow the color of the light source, based on light refraction.. Hmmmmm.. i feel another project comming on.<br><br>Post edited by: kzjim, at: 2006/02/27 15:07

Hmm.... so do I. Care if I experiment with this idea too? Not a Kawi logo though...

go for it!... i have done some fiber optic stuff, pm me if you need any info...

Which brings up a question...how hot do the cases on a motor get? 100 degrees? 200 degrees?