May have fixed my cooling issue on my 5th gen.

I don't know how many have seen my thread or two about cooling issues with my 1999, but it seemed like nothing was working. I've used air conditioner coil cleaner, switched to distilled water and Red Line Water Wetter, etc etc. Still I couldn't get it to cool, even at idle.

Well, since my fairings are off, I happened to notice something about my left radiator and the fan. On top of the radiator is a plastic fan cowl, to block the fan from pulling outside air instead of through the radiator. See part number 9 on the Bike Bandit parts diagram:




Well, there is nothing on the bottom of the radiator and quite a bit of overlap where the fan sticks out past the radiator, which was allowing it to suck a lot of air from the environment, instead of through the fins of the radiator. I didn't think to get a picture of it before I put duct tape on it to create an experimental fan cowl, but here it is in all its backyard mechanic glory:



I know it doesn't look like much because of what tape I had to hand, but for the first time that I can recall, the fan comes on and then actually cools enough to shut down!

I need to finish reassembling it after my crash to see how it works in the canyons, but this is a free first step. I'm going to have to figure out how to fabricate something out of plastic or aluminum, but the amount of air pulling through the radiator is greatly improved! I can actually touch the radiator once the fan clicks off.

And yes, I know the front bottom of the head is dirty. I'm open to suggestions of how to remove 80,550 miles of baked on dirt, etc.

 

As you can tell in the bottom picture, there is a significant amount of open fan that was pulling air below the radiator. Since I have temporarily taped it, ALL of the air is getting drawn through the radiator and it cools much better. I wonder if the 6th gen is like this too? It's interesting how different the fan sounds now that it is pulling air from through the radiator entirely.

I'm thinking of getting some thin aluminum and seeing if I can fashion some sort of cowling for the bottom of the radiator there. I won't need to be anything particularly strong, just needs to cover that part. I'll keep this thread updated.

I just looked at my friend's 2002 and it isn't this way on his bike. His fan lines up with the radiator. I don't know, perhaps the previous owner didn't line something up right, I supposed that's possible, the bike was crashed.

Can someone else look at their fan on their 5th and let me know what it looks like there? I have a feeling that this is what's been preventing correct cooling on my bike.

 

I sold it, LOL.
Zero help, I know.

 

It's just a shit design and the rads are too small for where they put them. At idle and not moving is where they have the biggest problem. form before function.

 

Wonder what they would be like on a 1000CC vfr then.


Glad to hear you seem to have it sorted Lint. Well done on the ingenuity.

 

Whom ever at Honda thought this was a good design should be shot, race bikes never sit in traffic. I get what Honda wanted to see happen, But??? In this case anything that doesn't let the air move like it should could be a problem. So yea, maybe what you've done will help. Though could you have least used gray duct tape. SMH

 

Yeah, I'll have to buy some, or black gaffer's tape, which is thicker and stronger.

 

after looking at this photo I got after cleaning this area, as I rarely visit way up in there. thanks for making me get in there.

 

Our weather has been cool here, relatively speaking. However, I have ridden it a couple of times, including high rev twisty stuff and in traffic. Thus far, my bike is running cooler. How much of this is due to the super fabulous tape job above, and how much is due to the radiators being heavily cleaned inside and out, along with a really good burping and cool air, I'm not sure, but the fan never even came on while sitting in traffic. I'll have to wait until it warms up here, it seems that winter finally hit here, now that it' nearly Spring.

 

Yea , amazing what a little cooler air does huh, your winter is like our summer, I rarely hear the fan come on IF.. but here's to your tape job working as well later on.

 

I think part of it too May be that it's no longer running lean as it was before, due to the new map in the PCII.