Furbird

Due to the hurricane, auxilliary fan installation has to be put off for a week. However, the ZX12 fan has enough mounts on it to use the through-the-radiator straps like electric fans for cars come with. It will also clear the front tire with no problems, plus there's room to manuever it around to get it centered. So technically, it fits. Now I just have to get the plastics off and do it. Pics will be forthcoming.

I have an FI bike. Wrap is not recommended as water gets trapped under them and causes them to rust (been covered on the board before). I have a full D&D system, so there is no restriction issue. Finally, coating is out of the question because the price is astronomical compared to a fluid change, extra fan, or t-stat mod.

I scored one for a ZX12 on ebay for $20 shipped. I also got one off a 600 (can't remember the manufacturer) for the same price, but that sucker is tiny. Probably going to put it on the tranny cooler on my van instead. The reason I'm thinking that a cooler t-stat switch would work is because the temps would never get the chance to get past midway. Once they get that high (when our fan comes on stock) it's hard enough to maintain that temp, much less bring it down. If the temp stays below that, it will be easier to keep it down when stopped. Another trick I thought about was adding a Dewalt drill battery under the rear seat and running a fan-only wire at 18 or more volts. That won't work on long trips, but for playing around town, it ought to keep the bike a lot cooler (if the motor can hold the voltage).

We all know about Water Wetter/Engine Ice/etc., and I will soon be the guinea pig for running 2 fans on the same radiator (fan came in Tuesday), but I've got a new one. Has anybody tried to run a different coolant temperature sensor? Also, does the fan run off of it directly, or is it controlled by the PCM or something else? If it's specifically sensor controlled, then it seems to me that you could put one out of another vehicle (preferably a car) where the fan comes on sooner. Does anybody know if this will work, or at least how the fan setup works on the Bird (FI models is what I'm specifying here)?

I won't run the Road Attacks due to negative reviews on here. I'm currently on ContiForce Max, but really liked the first version. These seem softer than the other ones I had.

I get about 10k out of a rear and 12k out of a front with Conti's. But some people on here only get about 5 out of a rear. So I guess the old phrase "your mileage may vary" definitely applies in this instance. I don't know why I get such high mileage, but I ain't bitchin about it

D&D provides a center stand retention bracket with their systems, and I believe that a couple of other manufacturers do as well (perhaps Vance and Hines, Two Brothers, and Erion, if I'm not mistaken). Apparently a lot of manufacturers assume we all have swingarm stands like we have a friggin track bike or something.

Anybody thought of making your own fan blade out of sheet metal?

Muzzy does not show a blade for the bird. Is this a "make it work" deal or is this a new product that they don't have on the site?

Mine's never cut off either, even when the fuse for the radiator fan blew. The temp got up past the high white mark, and that's when I knew something was wrong. I was in formation at the time for a huge charity ride, so I had to break formation and speed up to almost 60 in 6th gear to get the bike cooled down quickly. I then shut it off and coasted to a stop and replaced the fuse. Mine always runs hotter than I'm comfortable with, so I'm adding a second fan along with Water Wetter once the fan comes in. This one will be on a switch, and it will stay on after I reach operating temps. That should solve your problem as well. The factory fan is just insufficient IMO for southern climate. It's gonna rain today and the high is still gonna be 93 with a heat index of around 104-106.

Has anybody tried running two fans? I've been looking for another XX fan so I can mount it on the front side and have it hooked up to a weatherproof switch. After it hits operating temps, you could just turn it on and leave it on all the time. Around here, op temp is hit in about 3 minutes

Well according to that article, this opens up a whole new discussion. If using 100% water with Water Wetter is the best way to cool your bike, then why is the general consensus I've heard on here been to still use 50/50 with the Water Wetter? Lord knows 90 is a cool day down here, as I'm sure Bajjer will admit. Today was 96 with a heat index of 105, and we aren't even at our peak temps yet!

It happened to me, same setup too, rear was right, front was wrong. The kicker was, the arrow on the wheel and arrow on the tire were lined up PERFECTLY so it took me a whole 2 seconds to spot it. I showed it to the guy I know up there and you should have seen his jaw drop. They fixed it right then. I used to not check them until I got home, but now I check everytime I have one done.

Hell, I didn't even know we had one! Is this something you have to replace on a regular basis or is it like a GM truck, replace it when the fuel pump fails at 250,000 miles

Umm, I think I'll just pay the shop $35 a tire to switch them out and balance them on their $3,000 machine so it's right.

I thought that Water Wetter says to use less than a 50/50 mix with their products? I'm wondering what to use myself, as I have got to get some Water Wetter in my bike. It's 91 today with like 95% humidity, and the bike is getting hot. It's only hit out of the "range" once when the radiator fan fuse blew, but with the heat today, it was high enough to make me concerned. Of course, I was sitting in bumper to bumper for 10 minutes, so I was sweating like a Hebrew slave in all my gear, but I'll survive.

The general consensus is to never mix brands on a bike. The different tire compounds and overall construction can cause some weird handling problems. Now if you were going with another stock rear, that'd be ok, but since you're not, I'd get both done at the same time.

#1, unfortunately, that sounds like front wheel bearings to me. This can be caused by 3 things; 1) overtightening the front axle (most likely) 2) wear (not your problem, bike is new) 3) wheel installed backwards (don't laugh, I did it, and somehow it screwed them up) I'd be more apt to number one. Take it to the dealer, tell them they screwed up, and you have Johnny Cochran's ghost on speed-dial #2, more than likely it's the gaskets. There is a chance that it's just not tight enough, but unlikely. I changed my pipes at the 600 mile break-in oil change and didn't have to do the gaskets. Maybe I was just lucky.

Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with paying $500 for a helmet either when the $100 do just as good a job. I just don't know how well something that's not Snell certified would hold up in a bad wreck. And hopefully I'll never find out.

Open mouth, insert foot, I didn't know they were all full-face. DOT rules are so light that a bowl with a bungee cord could pass My theory on the helmet ratings is that the more certifications, the better. Think about something. If you fall down at speed, how many times will your helmet hit the ground? Probably a lot more than once. The pro guys can get away with only hitting once if at all, but the world is not a racetrack and we all don't get paid 2 million a year to ride a bike for 45 minutes at a time. There's a lot more shit to hit on the road than inside a car, especially now with Hans devices, padded cages, and even the helmet "cradles" that Nascar now uses so the helmet can't hit anything. What I'm getting at it is this. If you fall, and you're helmet cracks on the first blow, what happens if your head hits the next time, or 2, 3, or 4 times? "One strike" helmets are about as good as wearing a bowl with a bungee cord. After the first blow, it's like you never had one on at all.

Maybe they need to do a comparo regarding full face helmets ONLY and see what does better. I won't wear a bowl, because while it might be kinder to your brain, it doesn't keep your face from being grinded off in a wreck.

I run 87 at the dragstrip in mine, except when I'm messing with the bottle. No sense in buying 93 when 87 does the job. I get 35-40 MPG and all my riding is in town.

I run a 16/45 on the street because it a) helps low-end and makes it easier to wheelie. Today I received my new setup, a 12/49 (yeah, I said 12). But don't worry, that's not for the street. That's for my slick and wheelie bars so I can see what the Bird will really do on motor!

The reason for the strap is to prevent the front end from "springing" up thanks to the fork pressure. If the forks never move, they can't spring the tire off the ground. The only way to accomplish this is to strap the shit out of it, which means to where the fender almost touches the bottom of the fairing. Another drag racing trick is putting a strut in place of the rear shock. With that and a strap, your bike is now reduced to no suspension at all. I don't recommend you try this with a radial tire though as the sidewall stiffness doesn't allow the tire to crinkle and act as the suspension since you now have none. You've got to have some kind of suspension on the rear so that the tire can stay planted on the ground. You can lower the pressure to make up for it, but it still won't hook up like a bias ply tire would (like an ET street or a full on slick).

Strapping the front of the bird costs about $25 and takes about 30 minutes even if you have problems. The strap is available sometimes at bike dealers but certainly at motorcycle accessory stores that deal with sportbikes. If you can't find it local, they're on ebay, at schnitzracing.com, and at other aftermarket suppliers. Uses factory bolts on the bike, you just have to route the strap under the lines and over the top of the frame behind the trees.