mello dude

Great info!

MD

Super job!

MD

Kudos to you - I am having a hard time visualizing the body work. Isnt the exhaust about where the seat would be?

MD

Interesting question MD... I have access to a CMM machine...

I work in the automotive engineering/manufacturing world for a living. (bleah) The good side of it is I know a lot of people who I can ask to do oddball bike stuff my geek brain dreams up. (very cool)

MD

Another curiousity question ---

Assuming you started with a stocker triple for baseline, did you do measurements with a basic digital hand held caliper for this, or did you go whole hog and have a CMM house set up and pick-up the critical points and print out the data? (Been there done that.)

MD

WOW! WOW! Totally cool!

Stem questions - so did you make a stem from steel alloy or is it Honda part? What is the oven/freezer trick?

(I can make a guess, but it doesnt hurt to ask.)

Again beautifull!

MD

2 a set of ducts that will keep the heat from the headers and the engine block from 'pre-heating' the cooling air that get flows through the rads.

Probably the best (but not the cheapest or easiest) way to keep header heat out of the engine compartment is to have the headers ceramic coated. I know JetHot coats the inside and outside of the tubes, so you get a double wall of insulation.

Alternatively, you could use asbestos header wrap tape to insulate the headers and keep the heat out of the engine compartment, but I wouldn't recommend it. Several people have told me of their header wrap experiences that ended badly. Basically, the pipes get eaten from the inside out since the heat can get into the pipe but can't escape to the outside, which drives up the temperature of the pipe wall. Ceramic coating prevents this by having an insulating layer on the inside of the pipe.

Of course, either method requires pulling the headers off your bike, which would make it a winter project for me.

Did the header wrap thing when the bike was down. Cant say anything negative yet. Its a wait a see thing. Temp wise I've seen 230 degrees in 90 degree stop and go. Dunno if the header wrap plays a part or not. The main reason I did it was to insulate the heat baking the Penske shock. Also supposidly there is a bit of a power boost. (Hotter exhaust gases = higher gas viscosity = faster flow = more go)

Maybe I should start saving pennies for a Motad.

MD

So, just out of curiosity, what is the next step? Bigger radiators? thermo switch that turns the fan on sooner? Addition of a second fan on the right radiator? or a manual fan on/off switch?

Enquiring minds want to know....

PS my new fan is on order, should arrive late this week.

I went to my dealer to order the SH fan and they say they are on back order. Meaning no way can they tell when I would get one if I ordered.

Just curiuos - how many of us jumped out and ordered one? New demand - new shortage?

MD

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

How about Magnesium???

Ha ha ha. I was just over at Tim's place this evening visiting and I made some off hand comment that he should machine the clamps out of magnesium.

Admittedly in my engineering travels I have not had the opportunity to play with magnesium. But doesnt that material degrade over time? (years) Kinda why the major mfrs avoid it for structual parts?

I'm thinking 2024 is a strong candidate.....

MD

Can't wait to see it all in 7075-T6. Now hurry up so I can finish assembly :pissed:

Just for fun - ok I'm a sick bastard.....

For the sake of engineering argument on materials, what about a 5000 or 2000 series aluminum such as 2024-T3? The 7075-T6 is strong as hell, but not so great in the fatique end of the stick. -It still maybe the best, just want to here other opinions.

MD

For what it's worth:

Service Honda lists the part for $22.78 (USD)

Ron Ayers lists the part for $27.20 (USD)

Simple search with P/N provided (19020-MBB-003).

I think _*MY biggest issue is the stop and go, moving behind a behemoth (slowly), where the fan is on for a long time and the temps don't seem to go down.

If JES_VFR has good results, this mod may be something I pony up the big cash for (I'm a frugal/cheap bastid).

Well I gave the standard msrp price since I got mine for 18.00 (hey, I'm a parts counter monkey, remember guys).

Anyway, I have an update:

Last night I actually had the fan switch on while limping along on some residential back streets last night (I had a roofing nail in the back tire and about 11 psi left).

The temp was 224 when I heard the fan switch on. At the time I was creeping along at about 15mph as I was about eight cars behind some bluehair heading home from her nightly church meeting. It only stayed at 224 for a few seconds and by the time I was another block down the street, it switched off again.

Oh and for the detail people. At 2230 hours last night I installed a stop-n-go mushroom plug with the pistol grip tool and filled the rear Avon to 48 psi.

So today I ran it pretty hard on my way into work, but did not encounter enough traffic to get the vfr past 190F.

And on the commute home tonight at 2015 hours, the indicated temp did not pass 223 until I was home, with the engine idling as I dismounted to unlock and open my garage door.

Again the temp immediately stopped climbing and started to decrease.

I don't think that the push/pull issue is one at all, since either way the fan motor's work is to move air through the radiator core.

As for it moving hot air from the header pipes, oil cooler and cylinders through the radiator to the exterior of the bike, I'm not sure that makes a huge difference. I mean heat is being removed from within the motorcycle and dumped into the atmosphere. I don't think that it matters a hell of a lot if it is drawn from the radiator or from the other sources, those calories are removed from the bike's systems and others will have to migrate in from somewhere.

What I do notice is that when the fan kicks in, I can easily reach down and feel the heat coming out of the left side. Before when it was sucking in air on that side and supposedly dumping heat out the right side, I could not feel heat on the right side. I also think that there is much less heat bleeding into the cockpit area at a stop light.

I think that I need to borrow a couple of small digital thermometers to monitor the temps in these areas.

I'm tentatively calling this a success.

So wiring wise - was it a snip it and reverse it job?

MD

I know the list of brands is far from complete but I added the major brands that seem to be talked about most here, and those you can find most anywhere - at least in the US. Other seems will be a large portion of this poll.

discuss, but dont biotch here. Facts mostly please, just gathering data here in the form of a poll

If you want to throw more fuel on the fire - add a survey lines - break in with dino and add synthetic later ~7500miles or short break in oil and change immediately to synth on first oil change. I'm sure that will light a fuse....

MD