Weight Savings with carbon hood??

[VCrossfan]

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 ! ! !

[StormTROOPER]

Man.....the things WE will do to avoid goin on a diet. ..

[xdfarrx]

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

[Heraclid]

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.

[xdfarrx]

Valid logic Heraclid-
Kind of stuff I wanted to here-
I pulled the rear seat out whn I first got my car.
So basically I am wasting my dough getting the hood... pure looks.No appreciable benefit
Hmmmmm.... well see

[Heraclid]

Glad I could help, because I hate math and wouldn't want it to be for nothing. :-)

Carbon would look nice though, and it saves having to deal with the insert. Our hood inserts crack if they're bolted on too tight, are hard to keep looking their best, and lots of crap gets underneath them. So there may yet be a functional reason to go for it.

[xdfarrx]

Agreed... My hood looks like ***. It has a small and reletively unnoticable dent from some one trying to slam the hood. Insert is cracked. Chipped, and needs paint-
I am going to pull the insert and Line-X it prolly. However after I weigh the costs, I might just go carbon hood