Motorcycle exhaust heat shield – heat management on a top fuel bike
It is always brilliant to see examples of our products been used in the real world and we are grateful to Marius Van Der Zijden for sending in some photographs of their newly installed motorcycle exhaust heat shields, fabricated from the Nimbus G2 Aluminium Heat Shield.
The need for an exhaust heat shield was important in this application with the exhaust pipes running between the ignition system and the seat. Twin shields for this application offer a very effective solution with the lower shield reflecting heat away from the ignition electronics to protect against the damaging effects of radiant heat. The under seat heat shield prevents heat from the exhaust soaking up into the seat, this makes for a far more comfortable ride for Neil Midgley onboard.
Nimbus G2 was the heat shield material chosen for this application as it is thermally a very efficient heat barrier but also super lightweight. Constructed from two layers of 1050A ‘O’ grade aluminium, the material weighs just 0.6kg for a 615mm x 600mm sheet. Small air gaps are trapped within the two layers of material during production which aid the overall thermal performance of the material.
Supplied as a flat sheet, Nimbus G2 is easy to form and can be fabricated into complex shapes with minimal tools or expertise, making it ideal for one off heat barriers as well as larger scale production runs.
The King Racing & Cannon Motorsports motorcycle competes in the top fuel bike championship reaching speeds of over 250 mph, covering the 1/4 mile track in under 6 seconds. These speeds achieved thanks to a 1580cc engine running on nitromethane to make over 1500 horsepower!
For more information on the Nimbus G2 aluminium heat shield take a look at our in depth article, Nimbus G2 - Dual Layer Aluminium Heat Shield, which has more examples of the product in use along with full technical specification of the material. We also have an Introduction To Heat Management, which runs through the wide variety of heat shielding options we have available at Nimbus Motorsport and the applications for these.
