VFR fan mod with VTR fan blade

Discussion in '6th Generation 2002-2013' started by twisted04, Apr 3, 2010.

  1. twisted04

    twisted04 New Member

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    I was concerned about my 04 VFR heating up in traffic and at slow speeds. I heard about a VTR 1000 fan mod to fix this. I was asked to post steps and results so here they are. I am a 25 year veteran professional mechanic and have been riding and repairing my own bikes for over 30 years. I did this the long way (no short cuts) to see how long it would take using basic tools and it took me about 1 hour to complete taking my time and stopping to take pictures. I can say it makes a very big difference as the temperature drops very quickly now as opposed to going up until you get moving fast enough to overpower the fan with incoming air. When the fan kicks in and you start moving it cools down as it should. The steps for anyone who hasn't done it or is unsure how are as follows:
    1. Remove the front cowl at the front of the fairings; 4, 10mm bolts near the bottom and 4 black button clips (2 on either side by the forks). The bolts holding the cowl are shorter than the fairing bolts, to make it easier to figure out what bolts go where, cowl, fairing etc, set bolts from each section in different piles or cups.
    2. Remove the left side fairing; 7, 10mm bolts (4 long around the front, 3 shouldered at the middle/back) and 2 button clips underneath holding the fairing halves together.
    3. With the fairing out of the way remove the bolt underneath and behind the radiator to remove the lower radiator bracket.

    4. Remove the bolt to the rear of the radiator and easily (it is only aluminum) pull the radiator toward you to remove it from the locating pin. Leave the radiator hang, it doesn't go far.

    5. Unplug the fan connector and the single spade terminal from the temperature switch terminal making sure not to break the switch


    6. Remove the 3, 10mm fan bracket bolts, one is underneath, the other two are hidden by the fan shroud at the top of the radiator. They can be accessed from the bottom or the top with a 1/4" ratchet and deep 10mm socket.


    7. Drop the fan assembly out to the bottom and remove the fan blade, 8mm nut, making sure not to bend the motor shaft. My blade was a little difficult to remove as the fan blade appeared to be locktited on. Use a screwdriver and work one side then the other to work the blade off of the motor shaft. I ended up breaking the center out of the fan blade. No great loss as I didn't plan on putting it back on. When reinstalling the fan assembly make sure it goes in between the radiator and the fan shroud and with the long leg in the upper right.

    8. Reinstall the radiator assembly, plug in the electrical connectors, reinstall the fairing, and the front cowl.
    The fan seemed to be a bit louder but nothing that concerned me, I like the better cooling. The new blade also moves a lot of air compared to the stock fan. Someone had complained in another forum about the warm air heating up their leg but I didn't notice anything different, maybe when summer hits it will be different but again I like the better cooling.

    If anyone has any questions or if I missed anything let me know or make corrections. Enjoy the upgrade I know I will feel more comfortable not pushing 227*+ in stop and go traffic.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Deadsmiley

    Deadsmiley Member

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    I have the VTR fan blade but haven't done this upgrade yet because someone had mentioned that it was necessary to drain the coolant to the the radiator off. I am glad too see I don't have to do that because I just replaced my coolant!

    Thanks for the writeup. The pictures are excellent!
     
  3. drewl

    drewl Insider

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    Nice write up
     
  4. dogman

    dogman New Member

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    I have done this mod on my bike, and just been through an Aussie summer.
    Here is what I found.
    This mod works OK, and the cooling is better as long as you are moving foreward.
    If you are stationary for any length of time, the cooling is actually worse than standard, because the fan is blowing air through the radiator that has been preheated by the headers and engiine.
    I have fitted a manual override switch to mine and what I do is turn the fan on when the engine gets to about 90degC. A better solution would be to replace the thermo switch with a lower temp one, but I dont ride in traffic so its not an issue for me.
    Incidently, its not much of an issue to drain the coolant and remove the radiator completely to make the job easier.
    This mod is worthwhile because the fan isnt fighting the natural airflow when you get moving.
     
  5. Marrib

    Marrib Insider

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    I've done this mod. I found it very hard to get the new fan mounted up correctly. It took about three hours. But, I'm not a mechanic. As Dogman noted: in traffic, this setup is argueably worse. I do ride in traffic in elevated temps (i.e. 110F). However, the cooling process is accelerated with any flow that gives ambient air to the fan. I don't think a lower thermo switch would do much good since its stop/go traffic anyway (no flow to speak of). I'm not sure of a solution. Maybe fans on the other radiator?
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2010
  6. jspeed

    jspeed New Member

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    i have the same problem. i called xs boost performance. they said they could make a manual switch setup and keep the factory switch just in case. but thats just puttin a bandaid on the problem.it will work great but two fans would be sweet.
     
  7. Fireman777

    Fireman777 New Member

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    I've been wanting to install a fan on the other side. I think this would be a more effective way of maintaining the lower temp...
     
  8. Lindavathar

    Lindavathar New Member

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    is it even posible to install a fan on the other side? I haven't seen much spare space there, but I'm no mechanic to tell for sure...
    I use my VFR all year round and that includes lots of trafic ridding so it would help a lot to solve this "problem".
     
  9. jspeed

    jspeed New Member

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    put my xs boost fan controller on. EVERY vfr should have one of these. plugs in with ease. vfr gets about 195, turn on the fan, temp goes down. so simple. and if i forget the fan still comes on at 220. XS Boost Performance. its for a CBR but it still works.
     
  10. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    I have an NCB boost fan controller...cost about $10.00, and yes, the fan still comes on at 220.

    [​IMG]
     
  11. twisted04

    twisted04 New Member

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    I did notice the temperature creeping up if the bike was stopped for lengthy periods, but as soon as you start moving the temp comes down immediately. Before the fan mod, I would need to get over 40 mph before the temp would go down. I am in the process of installing a fan on the other side and will post my results. At this point if it works the cost will be minimal.
     
  12. Marrib

    Marrib Insider

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    Definitely post some pics on this. I'm all for another fan. Az is hot.
     
  13. Deadsmiley

    Deadsmiley Member

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    I am really interested in this experiment. Please follow up with the results. ;-)
     
  14. afinepoint

    afinepoint New Member

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    I guess I am a little confused. Sounds like you replace the original fan with another. What is the source of the new fan? OEM? Is the the installation identical to stock with the exception of the fan blowing in the opposite direction?

    Point
     
  15. Marrib

    Marrib Insider

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    Point:

    I replaced just the fan blade. I think (hard to remember now) it came off a 1000. Fan blades pull the air from inside to out. Installation is the same as stock. OEM? I think so. You can search this and get various hits.
     
  16. afinepoint

    afinepoint New Member

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    Sounds like the blade is reinstalled backwards. True?

    Point
     
  17. twisted04

    twisted04 New Member

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    No the blade is not installed backwards, that would give you the same result if it was possible to do so. The blades on the VTR are angled opposite the blades on the VFR. Using the VFR fan motor, it still turns the same direction, but the VTR blades being reversed change the direction of the air flow. Looking at the last picture, which is a VTR blade, the left side of the all the blades are closest to you, on the VFR blade the right side of the blades would be closest to you. I am still working on a second fan but the weather here has been unusually cool so it is tough to prove anything is going to be better or worse. So far the fan blade swap has been working better than the original.
     
  18. AndyJ

    AndyJ New Member

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    I'm interested in this as well, I do quite a bit of stop & go/low speed <25mph on my way home from work going thru town, my temp is usually 210-215.
    A few questions:
    So the VTR fan blade is just reverse pitch, the advantage being the fan doesn't need to reverse when you start moving again?

    JSpeed, this xsboost controller - seems like they have a bunch of different CBR versions, which one did you use? Are all the Honda connectors the same so it's still plug & play?
     
  19. afinepoint

    afinepoint New Member

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    True. I figured it out looking at the ceiling fan. I realized the motor would have to turned around as well. Thanks for the feedback.

    Hmmm hot engine air is now blowing across the radiator. If it works it work however.

    Point
     
  20. Marrib

    Marrib Insider

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    There is a huge thread out where a guy tested
    1. running at various speeds with stock fan
    2. running at various speeds with vtr fan

    What he found: in stop and go traffic, the stock fan is overcome by the forward speed of the bike at about 15mph. Thats when the bike will get the hottest. Over 20 mph or so (you'll have to give me some leeway on this until I find the thread), the air moves over the radiator regardless of fan.

    The vtr fan: At low speeds, the fan pulls very hot air off the exhaust. The bike cools very slowly at speeds below 5mph. At about 15mph the ambient air is pulled through the rad making the cooling much faster.

    Ii'll edit this with a link to the thread.
     
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