I've complained for a while about heat on my bike and referred to it as Satan's Chariot. So, now that I had some time and after talking to some folks and reading these posts, I thought I would post some of the work I've done in efforts to cool things off and make the bike more comfortable to ride.
First off, my neighbor is an industrial insulation installer, so without him, I would have none of the parts or materials to make this happen. He provided me with aluminum insulation covering, 800 degree F rated rubber matting and 1300 degree F silver cloth type material. First, I took the aluminum and made shields that fit just above the headers and the intent was to get the heat they generate to be deflected out the tip over cover slots, rather than up and out the cylinder head fairing cut out and on to my shins. I attached them on the L side (bolt that holds coolant reservoir and front on the bolt that's forward on the tip over bars and hold the fairing on) R side (bolt that holds the charcoal can and front, same as the left). I then took the rubber padding and watched him make a cover for the airbox out of it. The thickness was about 3/4 inch and it fit very well around the airbox and frame and caused the tank to have a little trouble fitting back into place, but not bad. I also putt a small piece in-between the fairing and the bottom of the tank in the very small opening that is really only visible when the tank is up. I took the silver cloth and put it under the seat area.
Verdict, it didn't take long, so that was good, but since the temps haven't been that warm and its mostly in the 50-60 range outside, its very hard to tell if I did anything that really makes a difference. I used to feel quite a bit of heat from the seat, the gap between the tank and seat/frame and from the fairing cut outs by the cylinder heads. I would say the heat is completely eliminated from the frame/tank, still a little warm on the seat and the heat from the fairing is less, though still there.
Possible changes, I read about the Phoenix PD saying they put insulation between the cylinder head and bottom of the fairing cut out, I could do that with the rubber insulation pretty easily and remove the aluminum. I could replace the top rubber part over the airbox with the silver cloth as it would be thinner and maybe allow the tank to lay properly again. Also, I have a set of the Honda wind deflectors to install, but they are missing the section near the cylinder heads, so might need to fashion something out of plexi glass or something, since that is where the majority of heat is from anyway.
So, enjoy the pics and let me know what you think.
First off, my neighbor is an industrial insulation installer, so without him, I would have none of the parts or materials to make this happen. He provided me with aluminum insulation covering, 800 degree F rated rubber matting and 1300 degree F silver cloth type material. First, I took the aluminum and made shields that fit just above the headers and the intent was to get the heat they generate to be deflected out the tip over cover slots, rather than up and out the cylinder head fairing cut out and on to my shins. I attached them on the L side (bolt that holds coolant reservoir and front on the bolt that's forward on the tip over bars and hold the fairing on) R side (bolt that holds the charcoal can and front, same as the left). I then took the rubber padding and watched him make a cover for the airbox out of it. The thickness was about 3/4 inch and it fit very well around the airbox and frame and caused the tank to have a little trouble fitting back into place, but not bad. I also putt a small piece in-between the fairing and the bottom of the tank in the very small opening that is really only visible when the tank is up. I took the silver cloth and put it under the seat area.
Verdict, it didn't take long, so that was good, but since the temps haven't been that warm and its mostly in the 50-60 range outside, its very hard to tell if I did anything that really makes a difference. I used to feel quite a bit of heat from the seat, the gap between the tank and seat/frame and from the fairing cut outs by the cylinder heads. I would say the heat is completely eliminated from the frame/tank, still a little warm on the seat and the heat from the fairing is less, though still there.
Possible changes, I read about the Phoenix PD saying they put insulation between the cylinder head and bottom of the fairing cut out, I could do that with the rubber insulation pretty easily and remove the aluminum. I could replace the top rubber part over the airbox with the silver cloth as it would be thinner and maybe allow the tank to lay properly again. Also, I have a set of the Honda wind deflectors to install, but they are missing the section near the cylinder heads, so might need to fashion something out of plexi glass or something, since that is where the majority of heat is from anyway.
So, enjoy the pics and let me know what you think.
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