5th gen cooling fan mod

[windunderhawk 2]

Hi All,Got a 5th gen. looking to make cooling fan blow out rather than in. have been informed via VFR World that a fan blade off a VTR 250 will work P/N19009-KM3-003.Any one have experience with this? Thanks, Scott.

[Dutchy 2868]

No, but why would you want to? 

 

A manual override switch does make -more- sense: I fitted a simple one on my RC51

 

 

[windunderhawk 2]

Thanks, The 5th gen fan blows in towards engine,OK when not moving but when moving pushes against natural air flow and seems to slow cooling when moving slow.

[Cogswell 1139]

That's why the switch works well. In those instances use it to turn the fan off.  Turn the fan on in stopped traffic before things get too hot. Switch it back to normal when appropriate.  The VTR blade pulls hot air off the headers and provides less cooling when stopped.  Google SPDT or DPDT (doesn't matter which) switch to find the type that will provide that type of control over the fan.  Easy install, just need some wire and blade connectors. 

 

[windunderhawk 2]

Thanks, have already installed manual switch.

[ducnut 32]

You need the pictured fan blade. It’s a direct-fit, outward blowing blade of a more efficient design. 

 

You won’t find inward sucking fans on a Honda, post class-action lawsuit threat from early GL1800 owners. As a result, a recall was issued by Honda and those early bikes were swapped to an outward blowing design, as was the subsequent production bikes, which fixed the constant overheating, in mixed traffic, of the GL1800. 

In addition to the blade change, I added a 4” fan to the inside of my right radiator, which is wired to constantly run and blows outward. The bike definitely runs much longer, before the main fan kicks on.

[windunderhawk 2]

Awesome, Thank you. Do yo happen to have a P/N and source for the 12v 4 inch fan you indicate?

[windunderhawk 2]

Also,what improvements did you notice in low speed cooling performance?

[boOZZIE 78]

1 hour ago, windunderhawk said:

Awesome, Thank you. Do yo happen to have a P/N and source for the 12v 4 inch fan you indicate?

Dude, get off the eggnog, p/n above 1st picture😊

[ducnut 32]

2 hours ago, windunderhawk said:

Awesome, Thank you. Do yo happen to have a P/N and source for the 12v 4 inch fan you indicate?

It’s just a high CFM, 12V, 100mm fan off eBay. I can’t remember the thickness, maybe 20mm or 25mm. For sure it’s all that’ll fit up in there. And, the seller no longer has them available, as I had previously checked for someone else.
 

Pic of it below. I just used automotive, electric fan zipties to mount it. 

 

1 hour ago, windunderhawk said:

Also,what improvements did you notice in low speed cooling performance?

As I said, the bike runs a lot longer, before the main fan comes on. 

 

9 minutes ago, boOZZIE said:

Dude, get off the eggnog, p/n above 1st picture😊

Dude! He was asking about the auxiliary fan I added. Eggnog much? 😁

 

 

[windunderhawk 2]

Wow, no eggnog yet, ordering fan,gonna do flush and use engine ice. Thanks sooo much, Merry Christmas.

[windunderhawk 2]

And I thought I was anal with my VFR.Bet you have it parked in your living room.🏍️

[ducnut 32]

30 minutes ago, windunderhawk said:

Wow, no eggnog yet, ordering fan,gonna do flush and use engine ice. Thanks sooo much, Merry Christmas.

I soaked the radiators in a de-scaling solution, installed new AS3 silicone hose and clamp kits, changed all the O-rings, new thermostat, new radiator cap, and filled with Engine Ice. I can’t say what improvements this all made, because I completely disassembled the bike right after buying it. But, it has never gotten hot in two summers in central IL, USA. 

[windunderhawk 2]

SHES A BEAUTY.

[Mohawk 582]

So the main issue here is air direction & an outward blowing fan does cool much more efficiently than the stock one. The standard swap here is to use a VTR1000 fan blade, Firestorm in USA. But there is a caveat.

 

If you fit this fan blade in place of the stock VFR one, then you MUST  fit a stone guard grille covering the gap between the engine front left side & the lady radiator. It must cover the whole slot. If a 6mm plus stone gets thrown up from the road & gets into the fan blade it will destroy the radiator cooling vanes when the fan activates. 
 

You have been warned.

[windunderhawk 2]

OUTSTANDING! Makes sense got any suggestions/photos on how to fabricate? Thanks.

[boOZZIE 78]

2 hours ago, ducnut said:

It’s just a high CFM, 12V, 100mm fan off eBay. I can’t remember the thickness, maybe 20mm or 25mm. For sure it’s all that’ll fit up in there. And, the seller no longer has them available, as I had previously checked for someone else.
 

Pic of it below. I just used automotive, electric fan zipties to mount it. 

 

As I said, the bike runs a lot longer, before the main fan comes on. 

 

Dude! He was asking about the auxiliary fan I added. Eggnog much? 😁

 

 

Sorry, yeah just a wee nip last night 

[ducnut 32]

5 hours ago, windunderhawk said:

Awesome, Thank you. Do yo happen to have a P/N and source for the 12v 4 inch fan you indicate?

Looks like there are quite a few vendors on these, now. 

https://www.ebay.com/i/184055859580?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=184055859580&targetid=809743844145&device=m&mktype=pla&googleloc=9022571&poi=&campaignid=6470498059&mkgroupid=80514858234&rlsatarget=pla-809743844145&abcId=1141156&merchantid=110359196&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7v3Iuc3P5gIVR_fjBx0dOAmREAkYAyABEgKYK_D_BwE

[RhINO 1]

Aren't the fans blowing outward from the factory? Why is an outward blowing fan better? That's counter intuitive at least

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[JoelF 6]

Hard to blow against all the air coming in the front, even at a walking pace.

[windunderhawk 2]

Exactly my thoughts, changing mine to super hawk fan and installing protection for radiator.

[tireguy 5]

I changed my stock fan to the VTR fan, flushed the system , filled with Engine Ice and changed the thermostat switch to one that comes on at 180F, stock was about 190?  10 or more years ago when I also installed the A&A Perf supercharger.  Hard to say for sure what difference the VTR fan made since I changed so much on the bike at once but I can say it doesn't overheat.

I do recommend changing the thermostat while you have things apart though. I had one that would get stuck partially open once in awhile.  While going down the highway at 70-80mph on a 70 deg day the bike started overheating.  The next day the bike was fine without any service.  Changed the thermostat and never happened again.   Lets face it, these beauties are getting older.

 

Ducnut....great work there....your bike looks great!

[ducnut 32]

Fan should kick on ~210°F, with the stock switch.
 

I tried the commonly available ~185°F switch, but, my fan continuously stayed on, even on the highway. The coolant coming out of the engine is hotter than the fan switch parameters, so it should do that. I don’t believe my coolant temp ever got above ~185°F, unless I stopped in traffic. I ended up putting the stock switch back in and just supplementing the stock fan with the small, auxiliary fan. My thinking is, the small fan can get a head start on cooling what comes out of the engine, instead of the entire capacity of the radiators getting hot, then, the main fan having to pull the entire capacity back down. The bike definitely goes much longer before the main fan kicks on, which is what I was trying to achieve. Also, the auxiliary fan is disposable. If it can help conserve the NLA main fan, all the better. I DO have a spare fan, just in case this one ever fails.