Furbird

Jet Hot coats the inside and out of all their stuff. Best coating you can get. I haven't gotten a price from them in a long time but it used to be pretty steep. They also used to charge more for chrome since it has to be removed first. I wouldn't mind finding out how much it costs now just to do a header. You ain't gonna hurt a D&D canister

2000

The best way to do the headers would be Jet Hot coatings or something of that nature, but the cost is preventative. And while I'd like to wrap my headers, I can't take a chance of the wrap getting moisture in it and killing my pipes. Considering all the rain and humidity we have down here, that is very likely to happen. So unless somebody wants to finance my scientific exploration into how to keep our bikes cooler by paying for Jet Hot on my headers, then my little cheapo $20 extra fan idea will have to suffice

I had intended on doing that, but never got around to it. I wired it backwards but left the fan blade in it's original position. I was concerned about whether or not A) it would bolt back up, and what kind of clearance issues I would run into spacing it out from the radiator and getting it closer to the front fender. It's wired to blow in, but granted, it would have been more efficient if I had flipped the blade. The other, smaller fan I have is flipped, but it makes the blades stick out from the housing, so I will have to space it out to make it work. However, it will be so far off to the side, not to mention it's diameter is half that of the ZX12 fan, that it shouldn't be a problem.

Got it done today. Suprisingly easy. I used a fan off of a 2000 ZX12 that I scored on ebay for $20 shipped. It came with the housing, motor, blade, and the attached wiring harness. I used some big daddy wire ties to insert through the radiator to attach it, as the ones they sell for cars with the washers already on them require "modification" to the fins to say the least. 6 wire ties, 6 washers, got 'er dun. Grounded it to one of the bolts that holds the radiator up (metered it first and it was a solid ground), and ran the hot lead to an ignition source at a relay under the seat (part of my remote start system, but still is tied into the factory relays, so you'll have to catch your wire somewhere similar). It actually took me longer to remove the side panels than to install the fan. Seriously. Fan clears the front fender, even with my 240# ass rolling forward, slamming on the front brake, and pushing down. So I don't see any problems out on the road with it. Results: Not quite what I expected. It was about 85 degrees out when I got the bike done, so I rolled it out to the edge of the garage. Fired her off, and waited. Waited like 7 minutes or so, and it was finally creeping up to the point where the factory fan turns on. The nice thing was that when the factory fan turned on, the temp did not increase anymore. It stayed right at that level, instead of keeping on climbing up to about 1/8" or so short of the white mark before the red like it always does. I guess I was hoping it would never even turn on the factory fan, but considering what I have invested in the mod, it was worth it. I figure I'll take it down the busiest road in town and sit at red light after red light to see how it does in worst-case-scenario situations. I might even do it one day when it's 95, just for scientific purposes Final thoughts: If you can score a fan for $20-$30, it would probably be worth it. The factory fan for our bikes is small, in the middle, and directly above the headers, so anytime you can get a fan that is bigger and is on the already cool side, it's going to increase cooling. I offset mine to the brake-side of the bike, which makes the front fan actually cool an area that the factory fan doesn't. There's a little overlap, but for the most part, that fan is working independently of the factory one. I'm sure that if you take it out on the road you will see a drastic decrease in rolling radiator temperatures. I also have another fan, this one off a 600cc Kawasaki that I'm thinking of putting on there too. I could offset it to the clutch side, and that would pretty much put constantly-moving air over the entire radiator surface. I'll have to ponder that one and see if I can bring myself to pulling the side panel again to do it though

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.