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Tired Of Having A Hot Vfr?


JES_VFR

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  • Member Contributer

Well after reading this I got all confused with everyones replies pushing air, pulling air. I'll check my own bike tomorrow but anyways if the stock fan "pulls" air from outside the fairing and into the engine bay then that is a puller fan and thats the best setup to have. A pulling fan is a lot better at cooling then a pushing fan.

If the VTR fan pushes the air from the engine bay to the outside of the fairing then its now a pushing fan. The reason it's probably cooling better is the fan blades. They are bigger/wider and may have a different degree angle so its able to move more air at a higher cfm rating.

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Well after reading this I got all confused with everyones replies pushing air, pulling air. I'll check my own bike tomorrow but anyways if the stock fan "pulls" air from outside the fairing and into the engine bay then that is a puller fan and thats the best setup to have. A pulling fan is a lot better at cooling then a pushing fan.

Unless you're riding at 20-25 MPH and your forward progress is neutralizing the effect of the fan. I've seen it happen on my own bike.

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  • Member Contributer

I know that. I was just stating that a puller fan is more effiecent than a pusher fan. Of course how our bike's rads are set up it doesnt help. LOL I'm going with a bigger oil cooler this summer.

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Anybody ever try one of these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...em=250246515404

Noy buying one myself, just ran across them on EBAY by chance.

I know that this had been discussed before, but since I believed the direction of airflow with the factory fan blade to be the root of the problem it kind of seemed to be a moot point.

I might buy one.

I find it interesting that the fan is engaged when the temperature in the radiator end tank is approx 195, yet where the displays temperature sensor is its 224. It would be a logical assumption that the sensor would be placed where Honda calculated the hottest point of the coolant would be (or at least very to the hottest point). If I change the fan switch and it engages at about 176, what is the temperature going to be at the hottest point.

I do know that if I install that switch, the fan will be running a lot more in traffic and perhaps even when the bike is out on the highway.

And it is time for another update.

Yesterday was good and hot, so of course traffic was royal mess.

I was stuck idling 25 minutes waiting for the DRPA Wanna-a-be's and maintenance crews to decide to allow traffic to go through the tolls and cross the bridge. The bike hit the magic 224, then dropped to 220 where it hovered in the sweltering heat that the traffic was creating.

Once the traffic started to move, I was gone pushing my luck with traffic on the secondary streets. Riding quite a bit faster than could be called safe to try and make it to work on time.

I did not really take the time to monitor how fast the temp dropped, but it was only 175 when I pulled into work less than a mile from bridge (and I was really hauling).

Of course it was a pretty hot day in Philly yesterday and my schedule was not helping anything either.

Last night was my oldest son's confirmation, which of course I had to leave work early to attend.

I got out later than I wanted since we were a little bit jammed up when I was trying to leave and had to hammer my way through the rush hour traffic.

Lets just say I did not bend the speed limits on the way home, I broke them big time.

The evil little voice inside my head was cheering as I blitzed the bridge, carved the ramps and pretty much screwed the risk index to the stop (well for me at least) to get home.

I kept the bike wound tight most of the time, too busy dealing with the traffic and the road conditions to sweat what RPM I was turning.

Anyway the bike was quickly on the fan at both of the traffic lights I had to stop at. Both times the temperature began dropping almost immediately.

When I backed the bike into the garage, it was 218.

Considering that I was too hot on both legs of the commute, I have to think that this fan swap is a success.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I gave this the 'oven' test today. I had to ride through center city Philadelphia to King of Prussia, where my credit union is.

That meant that I got off the Ben Franklin Bridge, onto Vine Street Expressway 'aka the canyon or the oven' and then took the Schuylkill Expressway "aka the Surekill pressure cooker".

It took me 48 minutes to go 2.6 miles with the traffic snarl on Vine Street. Over onto the Schuylkill until I was passed the ramp for the Philly Zoo.

When I first came down off the bridge the coolant temp was 185, ambient temp displayed on the panel was a lovely 75 degrees and the contact reading strip thermometer read 68 on my tank (I had just filled up like 5 minutes before).

As soon as I crept down into the Oven of Vine street, the external temp was 89 degrees, the coolant temp shot up to 228, the fan clicked on, I instantly sweat soaked the clothes I had on under my gear, on the tank I got a 70 degree reading.

A big step-side delivery truck cut back in front of me and I don't know what he was carrying, but the heat that was radiating from the truck was like standing right in front of a open oven.

About two minutes later the coolant temp is 235, the external temp on the panel is 93 an creeping up, my tank still only reads 72.

At that point I opened my flip face helmet drank half of one bottle of a 'my-ade' slushie, while I tried to guess how far back I could hang from the truck without having any more BDC's cut in on me. Mentally I started reviewing how many more bottles I had to drink and how far behind I probably already was.

I looked down and noticed that my very worn riding boots were leaving tread impressions in the expansion joint strips.

By the time I finally crept past the Philadelphia Zoo ramp exit on the Schuylkill, I had witnessed a SUV, a Lexus sedan and some Yamaha cruiser violently overheat and finished my drink. I was starting to wonder if I should jump off the highway and get some more cold drinks, but I was satisfied with the fan mod. I know that before the mod I would have had to get off onto some side-streets to get moving air or it would have run up above 250 where the display starts to flash.

Today, the temp climbed to 238 with the fan running, and yeah it was making my left leg a lot hotter than my right leg or my butt. The rate that the temp climbed was slower than with the old fan. By the time the coolant reached 238, the external temp reading was 99 and the tank was 100.

As soon as I got clear of the snarl and got the bike moving above 30, the temp started to come down. In one mile it was down to 232, while the external temp was only down to 96 and the tank was still 100.

By the time I got the 3.6 miles to City Avenue, the coolant temp was back down to 190, the external temp was down to 80 and tank temp was down to 89.

The fan had long since shut off, Where as before it still probably would have been running.

After today's ride, I'm calling this fan mod a complete success.

Oh and I think that I have a 6th gen rider that is willing to be the VTEC Tester for the list.

His Bike is at the dealership I work at for some service and I have another fan blade to try and fit on his bike details to follow

Edited by JES_VFR
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Ouch - $54 is a lot of money for that sensor sad.gif

I wonder what OTHER product would fit our VFR's that would do the same..

Will check out car shops soon..

-t

Well that is not a US market sensor so part of the $54 goes to importing it.

I don't think that will cure cooling problem, it will just make the fan run a whole lot more.

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Guest schmumble
Well I gave this the 'oven' test today. I had to ride through center city Philadelphia to King of Prussia, where my credit union is.

That meant that I got off the Ben Franklin Bridge, onto Vine Street Expressway 'aka the canyon or the oven' and then took the Schuylkill Expressway "aka the Surekill pressure cooker".

It took me 48 minutes to go 2.6 miles with the traffic snarl on Vine Street. Over onto the Schuylkill until I was passed the ramp for the Philly Zoo.

When I first came down off the bridge the coolant temp was 185, ambient temp displayed on the panel was a lovely 75 degrees and the contact reading strip thermometer read 68 on my tank (I had just filled up like 5 minutes before).

As soon as I crept down into the Oven of Vine street, the external temp was 89 degrees, the coolant temp shot up to 228, the fan clicked on, I instantly sweat soaked the clothes I had on under my gear, on the tank I got a 70 degree reading.

A big step-side delivery truck cut back in front of me and I don't know what he was carrying, but the heat that was radiating from the truck was like standing right in front of a open oven.

About two minutes later the coolant temp is 235, the external temp on the panel is 93 an creeping up, my tank still only reads 72.

At that point I opened my flip face helmet drank half of one bottle of a 'my-ade' slushie, while I tried to guess how far back I could hang from the truck without having any more BDC's cut in on me. Mentally I started reviewing how many more bottles I had to drink and how far behind I probably already was.

I looked down and noticed that my very worn riding boots were leaving tread impressions in the expansion joint strips.

By the time I finally crept past the Philadelphia Zoo ramp exit on the Schuylkill, I had witnessed a SUV, a Lexus sedan and some Yamaha cruiser violently overheat and finished my drink. I was starting to wonder if I should jump off the highway and get some more cold drinks, but I was satisfied with the fan mod. I know that before the mod I would have had to get off onto some side-streets to get moving air or it would have run up above 250 where the display starts to flash.

Today, the temp climbed to 238 with the fan running, and yeah it was making my left leg a lot hotter than my right leg or my butt. The rate that the temp climbed was slower than with the old fan. By the time the coolant reached 238, the external temp reading was 99 and the tank was 100.

As soon as I got clear of the snarl and got the bike moving above 30, the temp started to come down. In one mile it was down to 232, while the external temp was only down to 96 and the tank was still 100.

By the time I got the 3.6 miles to City Avenue, the coolant temp was back down to 190, the external temp was down to 80 and tank temp was down to 89.

The fan had long since shut off, Where as before it still probably would have been running.

After today's ride, I'm calling this fan mod a complete success.

Oh and I think that I have a 6th gen rider that is willing to be the VTEC Tester for the list.

His Bike is at the dealership I work at for some service and I have another fan blade to try and fit on his bike details to follow

i was so happy when i read this thread!!!! i remember my 99 5th gen...it always ran hot...unless it was 70 degrees out it was a pressure cooker. my last bike an 03 rc51 had the same problem...i remember reading peoples suggestions on how to fix this..www.rc51.com...everything from reversing the polarity to water wetter to crazy expensive carbon fiber shrouds that redirected the air flow....man what alot of work to correct a simple thing that honda screwed up..so i made the suggestion that changing the direction of air flow would clear up the problem...people shot me down quicker than a duck during hunting season....some said it would even make it run hotter....so as usual(like you) ....i went my own way and did the exact same thing.....lmao!!!!! it worked...really well!!! when i sold the bike i put it back to stock....kept all of the old parts....hopefully when time and work permits ill have another 51 to use for those track days i always seem too short of time for. job well done....safe riding :biggrin:

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Furnace testII.

Time 16:25 EST

Ambient temp on bike's ambient temp sensor - 105 F.

Ambient temp according to stick on 'instant' read thermometer - 108F.

Humidity was very high.

It took the bike all of 10 seconds to register a 100 temp and about a three minutes to hit 180.

For the first time ever I pulled out of the lot at work with the bike fully up to temp.

Ripping over the bridge and carving the exit ramps at 60+ speeds brought the temp up to 200, where it stayed until I stopped three blocks from home. The temp shot up to 228, before the fan could be heard to engage, where it stayed until I got moving again. Then in the couple of blocks to get home (and at a speed of roughly 30mph, the temp dropped to 210. It shot up to 228 again as I pulled up to the garage and manually opened the door. I backed the bike in with out the temp dropping. The temp of the bike very slowly came down to about 224, but then in the heat of the garage it did not drop futher.

I again checked both the ambient thermometers and got readings of 111F and 112F. At that point I turned on the big fan I have in the garage to move air and opened the back window. After several minutes, the sweat on my arms and face started to cool and the temp of the bike started to fall. It dropped to about 215 then started to climb right back up to 224.

I watched this cycle about three times in 25 minutes and finally realized that I better get out of my gear and cool off.

Anyway, I think that the bike fan is working great as long as the ambient air can cool. When it was in the mostly closed space of the garage, it rapidly staturated the mostly stagnant air in the building and therefore was unable to further cool the system down.

So again I think was a great mod.

In them mean time I have to replace one of the window air conditioners now as it died today in the noon heat.

Edited by JES_VFR
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Guest schmumble
Furnace testII.

Time 16:25 EST

Ambient temp on bike's ambient temp sensor - 105 F.

Ambient temp according to stick on 'instant' read thermometer - 108F.

Humidity was very high.

It took the bike all of 10 seconds to register a 100 temp and about a three minutes to hit 180.

For the first time ever I pulled out of the lot at work with the bike fully up to temp.

Ripping over the bridge and carving the exit ramps at 60+ speeds brought the temp up to 200, where it stayed until I stopped three blocks from home. The temp shot up to 228, before the fan could be heard to engage, where it stayed until I got moving again. Then in the couple of blocks to get home (and at a speed of roughly 30mph, the temp dropped to 210. It shot up to 228 again as I pulled up to the garage and manually opened the door. I backed the bike in with out the temp dropping. The temp of the bike very slowly came down to about 224, but then in the heat of the garage it did not drop futher.

I again checked both the ambient thermometers and got readings of 111F and 112F. At that point I turned on the big fan I have in the garage to move air and opened the back window. After several minutes, the sweat on my arms and face started to cool and the temp of the bike started to fall. It dropped to about 215 then started to climb right back up to 224.

I watched this cycle about three times in 25 minutes and finally realized that I better get out of my gear and cool off.

Anyway, I think that the bike fan is working great as long as the ambient air can cool. When it was in the mostly closed space of the garage, it rapidly staturated the mostly stagnant air in the building and therefore was unable to further cool the system down.

So again I think was a great mod.

In them mean time I have to replace one of the window air conditioners now as it died today in the noon heat.

having owned a 99vfr and a 03 rc51.....jes...i have to agree with you 100% on the fix....5th gen vfr's run on the hottttt side....specially when the temp get's in the 90's...the rc was a oven in those temp's....i did the same fix on the rc51 and the heat problem was resolved perfectly! im amazed at how many people will argue or disagree with a fix that works as well as this one....i only wish people would be more open minded....this was the response's i got when i posted your fix on the rc51 web site.....unreal!

http://www.speedzilla.com/forums/rc51-tech...html#post483597

my vfr overheated twice and the rc at least 5 times....after the fix the rc never overheated again...and the temp always stayed below 225.

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  • Member Contributer

John:

Any indication that the plastic is deforming or becoming pliable with the fan pushing? At this point I think that would be the only thing keeping me from doing the mod!

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John:

Any indication that the plastic is deforming or becoming pliable with the fan pushing? At this point I think that would be the only thing keeping me from doing the mod!

No the plastic is fine on the left side.

For what it is worth, I have held my hand down in front of the outlet when the fan is running. There is plenty of heat coming out, I mean I would not want to have to hold my hand there for an extended time, but it is not near burning temps.

I have not had time to borrow my buddies infared temp gun to take some measurements, but will soon.

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  • Member Contributer
John:

Any indication that the plastic is deforming or becoming pliable with the fan pushing? At this point I think that would be the only thing keeping me from doing the mod!

You could look at it as that the normal mode of operation when the bike is moving down the road, the air pushing through the front and out the sides of the radiators is the same as the blow out fan?

Just a thought..

MD

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Guest forrer13

Has anybody tried this on a 6th gen yet?

is it the same RC51 fan that I would need?

Bike Bandit lists the 2001 VFR fan as part number 67875 and the 2002 VFR fan as part # 1470439

Please help because I would realy like to try this mod on my 02.

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  • Member Contributer

I'm suspecting that you'll have to flip the blade and reverse the polarity for a 6th Gen. I don't have time now but maybe I'll try within the next couple of weeks.

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I'm suspecting that you'll have to flip the blade and reverse the polarity for a 6th Gen. I don't have time now but maybe I'll try within the next couple of weeks.

You don't have to do any of that. Flipping the fan blade won't help the direction the air flows, it will still flow the same way. Reversing the polarity of the motor would change the direction, but even Dc motors like the ones used in the fan's are designed to turn only one way best.

I know that there are two VFR owners right now about to try the VTR fan blade. One has his his bike at the dealership I work at waiting for Honda to cough up a recall wiring harness. The other one is a regular on another forum and will let me know in the next couple of days how it works out for him.

I think they are both going to find success, but I'm going to be cautious and wait to see.

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  • Member Contributer
I think I am going to take the $23 gamble and be 6th gen guinea pig #3

I will let you know how it goes

Anxious to hear how it goes... my 6th gen runs warm in the 5-30 mph speeds... I'm guessing a fan working WITH the natural wind direction would be much more effcient than trying to fight it as Honda designed it... but then again, I'm no engineer!

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I've ordered the helix at my local dealer's over here in southeastern Spain. we have had unseasonably cool weather up until this week. Last night at around 20.00 hours (it's daylight until 22.30) I was forced to ride through satellite townships of my (smallish) city, which has undergone rapid expansion. On the outskirts you can find yourself traversing one small town after another with no gaps, loads of traffic lights and only one lane per direction.

The bike rapidly got up to 106ºC and the fan kicks in, entering into that vicious cycle whereby the fan's effectiveness is nullified by the natural airflow created by the forward movement of the bike. I spent half an hour "boiling my eggs" and worried that the electrical system was suffering (heat is it's enemy). My R/R kicked the bucket two summers ago under identical circumstances.

On arriving at my destination, I left the bike running to see if it was capable of refrigerating the system whilst stopped (no antagonistic airflow). No way José... it stayed at 104ºC, it did not rise, but it did not drop. The fan was on for what seemed like an eternity and eventually cut out WITHOUT having dropped the temp to 96ºC which is when the thermoswitch is designed to cut it out. I guess that is a safety mechanism, designed to save the battery... I hope I didn't blow a fuse.

I no longer give a stuff, I am willing to try the experiment... from what we've seen so far it certainly doesn't appear to be any worse at least. I'm willing to risk the paint peeling or the plastic deforming... I doubt very much that will happen as while your riding, hot air is being forced through from the inside out anyway, and besides, the front and rear edge of the radiators are sizzling hot and physically in extremely close proximity to the fairing...

Stay tuned for the results...

Edited by Auspañol
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UPDATE

The fan fits the 6th gen's also.

Mother Honda finally delivered the wiring harness for a local VFR owners wiring harness recall, so we got the bike in and on the lift.

to quote the tech "it fit as good or better than that screwed up original fan" (gee, can you tell he doesn't think much of the suck in honda fan designs!!!).

Anyway the bike has been cycled a couple of times in the heat soaked and mostly still air of the one shop bay, so we know that it works.

I was hoping to get a shot at test riding it but we were to busy.

So there you have it folks.

The VTR fan works on Vtec bikes too!!!!!.

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Guest onedowneaster

Hello all; I am a new guy to the forum, Yes my 2000 VFR has a tendency to run toasty. I read about

the fan blade modification in another forum and quickly called my dealer and ordered

one.Just picked it up yesterday and havent had a chance to install it. But I have been

noodleing

about the modification for a week or two and in every scenario that comes to mind I

believe the blade that pulls air out of the engine compartment and thru the radiator is

a superior design than the sucker blade. I believe one of the biggest advantages of

the puller blade would be in slow traffic with the fan motor on. In this situation the air flow

and fan are working against each other. Anyway most of this has already been said in the

previous replies,but guess I am just trying to get my feet wet. eddie

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Hello all; I am a new guy to the forum, Yes my 2000 VFR has a tendency to run toasty. I read about the fan blade modification in another forum and quickly called my dealer and ordered one.Just picked it up yesterday and havent had a chance to install it. But I have been noodling about the modification for a week or two and in every scenario that comes to mind I believe the blade that pulls air out of the engine compartment and thru the radiator is a superior design than the sucker blade. I believe one of the biggest advantages of the puller blade would be in slow traffic with the fan motor on. In this situation the air flow and fan are working against each other. Anyway most of this has already been said in the previous replies,but guess I am just trying to get my feet wet. eddie

Yeah that's pretty much the problem right there.

Install the new blade and be happy.

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Guest vfrvern

I've been corresponding with Jes on this issue on the STN forum and wanted to share my findings with you regarding this fan mod for the 6th gen model VFR's

Well, I just got back from a great road test with with the VFR post fan modification.

I rode in many different situations with the temps ranging from 70 degrees all the way up to 106 degrees. EEK! I even had the opportunity to compare notes with a friend who rides an 07 model.

In the morning the temp was in the low 70's when I put the bike on the interstate. As expected there were no issues and the coolant temp maintained 190 or so at 85mph.

I met up with my friend at 7:30 and we traded VFR's, he was riding my 04 and I was riding his 07. As we made our way up Palomar Mountain the air temp was around 78 degrees. Before long his temp was in the low 220's and his fan kicked in at which point his temps rose rather quickly up to 234 and remained with the fan running for the rest of the climb. My friend reported to me that the temp on my 04 hit 225 and held constant with the fan running.

After switching back to my bike I did some further testing up and down the mountain. I discovered that in a situation when the bike is under a load the fan is unable to get the temp down low enough to turn off. However,the fan is able to maintain the temp in the 215 225 range (depending on the load) as opposed to getting into the 230's such as my friends' 07 and higher (240s) as seen previously on my bike.

At idle with the temps above 90 degrees the fan can hold the temp around 215 - 218 but it was unable to get the temp down low enough to shut off. However, once under way under normal riding conditions the temps dropped 210 or so and the fan remained off.

On my way home I saw a high of 106 on the interstate and decided to push the bike hard by running 90+. At those speeds the temps rose to 223 and the fan engaged. Once again the fan could not cool sufficiently to turn off but It did maintain the temps at a range of 218-221 consistently. This is where I had my most severe problem with the temps creeping into the 240 range. Also, I observed that when getting within 100 feet of another vehicle that the temp rose slightly but once back into the air stream it would fall back into the same levels.

Finally, In traffic at speeds up to 50mph with temps in the mid 90's the VFR ran consistently in the 209-213 range with the fan OFF. At a traffic light or in slow heavy traffic the temp would quickly spike to 222 and the fan would kick in slowly reducing the temp to 218 or so. But once moving at around 20 mph the temp dropped steadily down to 210 and the fan could disengage. In the past the fan would not have had enough time before the light changed to cool down below it's cutoff point. Once under way it was stuck on and the temps hovered around 220's in traffic. The only way it would shut off is if I were to pull over and wait for a few minutes but that was useless because the temp would climb back to 222 at the next stop anyway. Hmm... Let's see, Fan off bike runs cooler, Fan on Bike runs hotter.... Makes sense to me Headscratch....

I ran the VFR under some of the most demanding conditions that most people will likely see and it performed much better than it ever has. The highest temp it ever got to was 225, hot but tolerable. I am now comfortable taking the bike out on my upcoming 3800 mile journey through the 4 corners states. I can also go on record to say that this mod seems to work better than the stock setup for the 6th gen model VFR.

Jes,

Thanks once again for your detective work figuring out that a VTR fan blade is compatible with the VFR fans.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that after the fan had been running for about 5 minutes while the bike sat on the driveway the bike (especially the clutch) was pretty hot to the touch as hot air works it's way up between the side fairing and the gas tank. However it was no big deal as it cooled off quickly once the bike was in motion.

This might be one of the reasons that Honda designed the fan to pull inward.

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