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  1. #1
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    Weight Savings with carbon hood??

    My hood is worked from chipping and living in Tahoe winters...
    I was thinking of opting for the carbon hood by carbonfiber1(?). I want to paint factory but have the insert in carbon-
    When Tone was here he said that the factory latch would be no good and I would have to go to track style hood hood pins-
    Is it worth it and does anyone have an estimate on weight savings? I figure paint would have an incidental weight addition.
    face the mirror

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by xdfarrx
    My hood is worked from chipping and living in Tahoe winters...
    I was thinking of opting for the carbon hood by carbonfiber1(?). I want to paint factory but have the insert in carbon-
    When Tone was here he said that the factory latch would be no good and I would have to go to track style hood hood pins-
    Is it worth it and does anyone have an estimate on weight savings? I figure paint would have an incidental weight addition.
    Are you using lead based paint ???, and what size roller are you using to apply it ? LOL...Ldub

  3. #3
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    I think the main reason people put a carbon fiber hood on a Vcross is looks. Putting one on to save weight is like a carbon fiber Hatch on a Tank. But the carbon inserts look very nice OEM style or Scooped ! ! !
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    " Jeeps are nice, Barbie has one"

  4. #4
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    Man.....the things WE will do to avoid goin on a diet. ..
    It's the love child of a Hummer & SLK, uniquely rugged & SLeeK

  5. #5
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    I have alot of carbon on my streetbike... the weight difference in factory fairings, vs carbon is 17lbs. Factory fairing are already light.
    The weight savings I have to believe would be substantial.
    I am not doing it for aestitics, and yes some do it for looks but I like to keep any of my mods purposeful.
    If I am going to take off 60+ pounds, of the front end I would think it would be discernable

  6. #6
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    It's all relative. I don't know what your streetbike weighs, but let's go with a ballpark figure of 400 lbs. If you saved 17 lbs. off your bike, that's just a bit more than a 4% weight savings. Now take a moment to consider how much weight needs to come off just to make a similar weight savings on the VX. The VX is listed at 3,955 lbs., so...

    1% = 39.55 lbs
    2% = 79.10 lbs
    3% = 118.65 lbs
    4% = 158.20 lbs
    5% = 197.75 lbs
    6% = 237.30 lbs
    7% = 276.85 lbs
    8% = 316.40 lbs
    9% = 355.95 lbs
    and of course
    10% = 395.50 lbs
    etc.

    I'm thinking that if you wanted to just remove 4% from the VX, removing the hood (before you even replace it with anything) AND the back seat probably still won't get you there. And even then I doubt you could really tell a difference - it's still just a meager 4% and the VX is no motorcycle. Shifting your weight while riding a VX won't do much, and your weight relative to the VX is much less than it is relative to the bike. The average guy on a 400 lb. streetbike may represent almost 50% of the bike's own weight added to it, then you're on two wheels too, so it makes a big difference. The VX hardly knows that person is there.

    Gasoline weighs about 6 lbs. per gallon and our tank is 22.5 gallons, so having a full tank for us means carrying about an extra 135 lbs. Can you tell much difference between a full tank and when you're on fumes? I can't. It's only between a 3% and 4% weight increase. In fact, mine feels a bit peppier with a full tank for whatever reason.
    Last edited by Heraclid : 03/26/2005 at 03:32 PM

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