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'11' Nightrod Running HOT

So then are you saying that after you insatalled the new water hose and replaced the coolent with a pre mix mixture you started to notice your fans come on more rapidly,I would think you ment -40f below not 40f because stright water will give you 32f before freeze, it may be your coolent system has air in it and you may need to bleed your coolent system ,when the work was performed on your bike the refill of your coolent was not properly bled, if you are noticing a diffrence when the fans activate that is. ,and yes the fans come on at 230 deg f , if you do plan on addiing a tuner the more advanced tuners do give you the capability to adjust the the tempeture cut in and cut out ,I run a after market tuner and set my differantal lower this does make my fans stay on longer but I feel that the stock settings kick the fan on and off to rapidly and lesson the fans life span in general.I dont know what mesh screening you installed on you fan scoops but if the holes are not big enough or the desigin of the openings in the screen where not engineered for airflow this will definily hinder the movement of air flow across the radiator, a lot of guys install a mesh screen that is used for construction purpose this type of material was not engineered for air movement ,the type of screening that should be used is made for air louvers or dampers that air moves through it is most likly always made of aluminium and not steel and 9 times out of 10 its in a diamond pattern when they are made from steel they most always take the form of a rectangle pattern , like you would see on a residenta (condenser) air conditiong system outside a house.
 
The screens that I've attached may very-well be culprit causing the over-heating. While in new Mexico last month my riding-buddy suggested that I "rip those screens off" the bike. This is the same-dude that spent 20-minutes on his back two-years ago cleaning out the debris from the air dams on his '07' NRS after spending 16 hours on the road to visit me. Seeing the variety and amount of debris that he accumulated on that ride was what motivated me to attach the screens in the first-place. Anyhow, his suggestion was extremely-biased as he was dark-'green' while he made it. I'm gonna remove them to compare the running temp's in order to rule it out one-way or another.

And by the way,,,the 50/50 HD Pre-mix coolant says that it's freezing-point is "-34", while it's boiling-point is "269".

chiachio
 
Crocker said:
I dont know what mesh screening you installed on you fan scoops but if the holes are not big enough or the desigin of the openings in the screen where not engineered for airflow this will definily hinder the movement of air flow across the radiator,
Click to expand...

Just backing up this Very Good point. Unless it was designed for the application, it is amazing how restrictive a piece of screen can be.

I don't own a water cool/fan bike but fan blades which are designed to PUSH air need to have complete unrestricted flow to the input side of the fan. A piece of screen can easily cause cavitation.
Just my 2 cents.
 
I under stand the need for screening ,being I live and travel on many gravel roads in my area, and things do get noisy as gravel and debre build up and rattle around, and you do get tired of using a vacum to suck all the debre out , So I also screened my DX for that reason, but being my backround is in Air Balance and air movement in general I was able to get the proper material for this purpose Im not saying that I am getting 100% of the airflow ther is some hinderance but much less then Ive seen on other screening material forsale out there , I see a lot of adds on e-bay for screens for the vrods and everyone ive seen forsale on e-bay is for construction purpose ,none of the material ive seen was made for air movement. even HD does not offer this ,they offer a screen for the center of the covers ,but not for the actual air inlet ,that should tell you somthing rite there,Air movement is hinderd extremly easy without those 4 fins (turning veins) on the bottom of those covers they would not flow nearly 50% of the air that moves through the radiator, the size of the air inlet cover (intake plenium) would have to be much larger without those 4 fins to move enough air through the rad. Please keep us informed on your trials.
 
The screens that I'm using were purchased on E-bay, and are the higher quality (and cost) screens designed specifically for the NRS. Whoever designed them has gone-through the trouble to patent them, even though I hadn't looked for a claim that their air-flow restriction doesn't exceed recommended levels. There were quite-a-few offered, though most looked as if they'd be put to better use on a urinal. Regardless of popular opinion, they fit and look as though they were born on the bike and keep the 'dams' clear of all debris.

On my 4000 mile+ tour through the southwest last month I never had a single (*) issue with with the bike, let alone an overheating problem. The whole idea of my concern that the bike is running hot at-times is based on my comparisons with my buddy's '07' NRS while we rode together through the mid/southwest last month. It proved to be an inaccurate comparison due not-only by the difference in motor-size but because he also had a SERT module installed.
Anyhow, I became overly concerned by also installing the screens when I did the break-in service, and by switching the hose in the coolant system. The reason for that was due to the trouble I had switching it, as the entire length of plumbing is removed from the overflow tank to the radiator. Keeping the plastic tubing clearance above the front head was difficult and although it looks to be in it's original position there are no recorded distances to compare it to. I also suspect to the differences in coolant. During the break-in service I drained the original and replaced it with the HD 50/50 pre-mix. The original was Orange while the new fluid was Pink, though most likely that was the only difference between the two.

Before doing another long distance ride I'll be removing the screens to compare riding temperatures, most likely during Mid-July. Meanwhile I stay within 100 mile radius of the house. As you know, our fans 'pull' the air from the motor side of the radiator and mine kick-on at 170 degrees like they should. I'm not terribly familiar with the 'water cooled' system on the bike yet and going into my first summer owning it may have a lot to do with my suspicion.

(*) Was pulled-over shortly after arriving back in PA on I-70 by Trooper 'Baker' not-far from the mountains who said he clocked me at 84 MPH. Who with a very professional attitude and disposition wrote me my only ticket of the 12-day tour.

I'll post again with results from the temperature comparison after removing/testing without the screens...

chiachio
 
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