Billet Aluminium Reservoir Covers: Aesthetic Feature or Functional Upgrade?
You will find billet aluminium reservoir covers on a range of bikes from a factory MXGP team looking to improve every area of the bike to a casual Sunday afternoon rider looking to add some customisation to their bike to make it stand out from the stock OEM specification and everyone else in between, this is largely because it’s one of the most simple upgrades you can make to a motorcycle requiring little to no mechanical knowledge to install. A question that you might be asking yourself is, do billet aluminium reservoir covers actually offer any improvements to the bike over the standard OEM covers or are they just designed to look better? The answer is both and we expand on this below.
Stronger Than The OEM Reservoir Covers
The OEM reservoir covers are cast aluminium which is a cost effective way to mass produce parts, however with the front brake and clutch master cylinders being very exposed at the front of the bike the cast OEM covers can be susceptible to damage from rocks that get kicked up from the riders ahead or damage from impact in the event of a crash or fall. Our reservoir covers are CNC machined from a solid block of 6061 billet aluminium, the same material and manufacturing process used as our billet clutch covers. This makes them much stronger and less likely to become cracked or damaged which is incredibly important in a race situation as damage to the reservoir cover could cause the master cylinder to leak fluid resulting in a deterioration in performance of the brake or clutch.
Some reservoir covers are manufactured from plastic as they screw on to a plastic reservoir tank, these are mainly on older motocross and enduro bikes but can also still be found on some modern day sports bikes and adventure bikes. We also supply billet aluminium alternatives to some of these plastic OEM covers which are an obviously much stronger and more robust upgrade.
Better Product With No Increase In Weight
Ok this doesn't make much difference in the grand scale of things so we’re not going to go in to too much detail here but as an example we weighed the front and rear reservoir covers from one of our recent project bikes, the 2021 Kawasaki KX 250 and they weighed 25g total (14g for the front and 11g for the rear). The equivalent AS3 Performance billet reservoir covers also weighed exactly 25g. So basically by switching to billet aluminium reservoir covers you're getting a stronger and more robust product with no real increase in weight.
Precision Machined For The Perfect Fit
Prior to the manufacturing process a laser scanning programme is used to take precise and accurate measurements of underside of the OEM reservoir cover, those measurements are then used to created a 3D image of the new reservoir cover which is used to programme the CNC machine that precisely machines the solid block of aluminium in to a perfect match of the 3D drawing. Once the first aluminium piece has been created it is then test fit on the master cylinder to check that it is a perfect fit and seals correctly against the rubber gasket. It’s at this point that we can make any changes and improvements to the part, if we think that it could benefit from some extra material in a certain area to make it fit or seal better, or if we feel some edges could be rounded off slightly to make it a neater fit around master cylinder this will be done either manually and then the product will be re-scanned or the 3D drawing will be adjusted accordingly and a new sample will be produced and test fit again. It’s through this repetitive process that we can refine products to make them an improvement over the OEM part.
One-Piece Cover, Replaces OEM Plastic Plate
On some models the OEM reservoir cover needs to be installed with a plastic plate that matches the shape of the rubber seal as shown on the right of the photo below with the OEM reservoir cover underneath. On the left of the photo is our billet aluminium front brake reservoir cover for the Honda CRF 300 L. The OEM reservoir cover is flat on the underside to allow the plastic plate to slot inside the cover. When we designed the front brake reservoir cover for the Honda CRF 300 L we incorporated the shape of the white plastic plate in to the underside of the new cover to have one single billet aluminium piece that is easier to install and less susceptible to leaks or damage to the rubber seal when installing the part.
Choice Of Anodised Colours For Multiple Customisation Options
All of our billet aluminium reservoir covers are anodised in a choice of at least 2 colours, some are available in up to 5 different colours. This gives you the opportunity to add some custom touches to your bike and make it different from the stock OEM specification. If you take the Kawasaki KX 250 and KX 450 for example, our front, rear and clutch reservoir covers are available in green, red, blue and black. Green is one of the more popular colours for the Kawasaki’s as it matches the green plastics but if for example there are slight shades of blue or red in the graphics or if the bike is also fitted with a set our our blue or red silicone hoses or braided brake lines, matching reservoir covers can also compliment the look of the bike. If you prefer a more neutral look, black reservoir covers are a great option as they look much better than the cast aluminium covers but are not as “loud” as say the blue, red or green. The anodising process also isn’t just for cosmetic purpose as it also helps prevent corrosion and discolouration from any brake fluid that might come in to contact with the cover. To add the finishing touches our reservoir covers feature a laser etched AS3 Performance logo that is applied by burning the anodised finish off the cover to reveal the bare aluminium below in the perfect shape of our logo.
Used Everywhere From Extreme Enduro to MXGP
Every one of our sponsored riders uses our billet aluminium reservoir covers, from Jonny Walker and the Fast Eddy Race Team competing in extreme enduro events and the Enduro GP championship to JWR Honda racing in the motocross of nations and the MXGP championship. FRT Racing, Chris Hodgson and Davey Todd have also used them on their supermoto bikes over the years and have combined the rear reservoir cover with our cooling extension to help prevent brake fade from the rear brake which can be a common problem in supermoto. The photo below shows JWR Honda rider Cornelius Tondel and Mechanic Andrea at the MXGP of Argentina, the team use our front, rear and clutch reservoir covers in red on their Honda CRF 450 R race bikes.
Sports Bike Reservoir Covers
We also offer a range of reservoir covers for sports bikes which is expanding all the time due to the amount of models on the market. These range from the flat reservoir covers that we have mostly referred to above to threaded screw on covers and we also have a small selection of reservoir covers available for the Brembo front brake on the KTM, Ducati and Aprilia models that come with 2 long screws at either side.
Need Help Finding Billet Reservoir Covers For Your Motorcycle?
If you’re thinking of swapping the standard reservoir covers on your bike to billet aluminium reservoir covers, hopefully this feature has been helpful. You can find all of our front brake, rear brake and clutch reservoir covers in the brake and clutch section of our website. If your model isn’t listed feel free to contact us as we might be able to cross reference something or even look at developing something from scratch if there is a clear gap in our product range that can be easily filled.
