The Heat is Tamed!

The Old Wise One and I finished up my prototype mount for a heat fix for the pre-'06 FJRs. I have results.

Today, I took a 177 mile test ride in ambient temperatures of 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit with dew points in the high 50's to low 60's. There were little or no clouds and the sun was at his surly best. Generally uncomfortable riding on the Cobalt Cooker in the past. In these types of weather conditions the FJR would exhibit a tank warm enough to boil gas at an extended stop. My left thigh and nads would be very uncomfortable with air in the 130 degree range or warmer I estimate eminating from the left side of the bike. The tank would be warm enough to almost burn your thigh if you were riding in shorts(I know, SQUID!) and you let it touch the tank. Others here have reported the same conditions or worse on warmer days.

The Old Wise One and I embarked on fitting a set of Baker HandWings onto the Cobalt Cooker yesterday. Today's ride yielded the following observations:

The gas tank on the FJR, was COOL to the touch with slightly less than half a payload of fuel. In the past it would have been HOT, almost too hot to touch.

Left side heat, all heat for that matter, was gone above the ankle. Still have a little WARM air dirfting out across my left ankle, but not the HOT blast it was in the past.

The wings work wonders above 15mph or so. Below that it is the same old Cobalt Cooker.

In summary I would declare the heat issue solved on my '05. It is now as cool to ride as my '89VR. I am looking forward to the trek across the country to WFO no matter how warm it is!

Here are pics. Our mount is a simple prototype and involved drilling and tapping the stalks of the mirrors. Our next gen will be a little more refined and probably not adjustable to keep costs down. I may even look at really cheap bend and clamp strap type mount.

Interesting... any idea how this will effect gas mileage, if any?

Probably little or no effect on mileage. Its like sticking your hand into the windstream and deflecting it into the cockpit...literally...

1. Are those FZ mirrors and would it work with stock?

2. Doesn't look like it would work with aux lights mounted.

But good job as long as it works for you. :thumbsupsmileyanim:

Whats next, cup holders????? Great if it work for you, just to goldwingish for me... But then again I have a daylong :dribble: tractor seat on my bike....

Which hand wing did you buy? I went on the Baker web site and they have a bunch of different models listed but none of the wings look exactly like the one you posted. Also, the mounting hardware - was it included with the wings? :dribble:

chiri1 said:

Which hand wing did you buy? I went on the Baker web site and they have a bunch of different models listed but none of the wings look exactly like the one you posted. Also, the mounting hardware - was it included with the wings? :dribble:

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I would guess it's some of Daddys handiwork, he does this kind of stuff for shits and giggles. I was out today too, why didn't ya stop by? Ya coulda bragged the whole trip.......

They are the HandWings for the GL1800 in light smoke. I reversed the right and left side. The mounting hardware thats included is just the metal tab on the plastic and bolt that is between the tab and the aluminum block in the mount my dad and I built. A little black paint will make my mounts less noticeable. :yahoo:

Rad, I left from Dad's place(Faribault) and came home via Austin and Stewartville. Otherwise I would have stopped by and dragged your sorry butt along for the ride.

Nice creative solution. I like that it probably does not keep more heat around the engine area, as I think some of the mods do. Easy to remove in winter also.

Interesting idea. Glad it worked out for you.

If you mounted it with the mirrors (i.e. Tupperware, then HandWings, then Mirror) like some aux lights are, it may look better.

FJRottie said:

If you mounted ......... like some aux lights are, it may look better.

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Exactly what I was thinking. For those of us with auxiliary lights, I wonder if a mount could be faricated to attach to those brackets. Hmmmm, time to think.

Yep, make the mounting more elegant and I'd sure want a set for my bike.

interesting solution but I would never put something that looks like that on my bike.

Because we might make fun of you, mgm?

So when do they go into production...

Thoughts of mine...

I'm hating the heat as much as anyone. I nearly melted this weekend on a long ride. The tank is the worst of all. Cromeit solved the leg heat problem for me.

I'm not sure how this addressed tank heat. My only conjecture is that is breaks the still air pocket forward of the tank/frame. It also appears to direct flowing air to the midsection of the rider, cooling off the gut and jewels.

My main concern with your wings is that they are unattractive to say the least. Riders with aux lights might be able to fab something that looks a bit more eye pleasing.

Here is a radical idea. Would it be possible to make exactly the same rig as you did, by taking some 1st generation V-Strom handguards (small) and doing some creative Dremel work? I have these guards on the bike, and looking at your setup, I think they'd be a natural. I think that a creative clamping mechanism on the FZ1 mirrors is also possible.

I'd be willing to try this myself if anyone has V-Strom handguards to donate to the cause.

Cudos for going maximum creative on this.

Gave thought to a mount like the mount for the aux lights. Maybe be a workable option, would just require that it be bent significantly upward to allow the wing to pull the air in, up and over the tank. With aux lights mounted I think the wings effectiveness would be mitigated somewhat as the airflow would be compromised by the light fixture and the wings would need to be mounted further outboard. But I am sure someone can test it out!

We tried to stay high with the mount to allow the wing to pull the air into the cockpit. We already are working on another design that will mount the wing to the bottom of the stalk(FZ1 or stock FJR). Think of a wedge-shaped mount with the wing threading directly into to the bottom. Our initial two-block design does allow for adjustment of the wing in or out. The fixed one block design will put all of the adjustment strictly in the wing itself which appears to be a workable option.

I guess I can scratch FJRMGM off my Christmas list… :tease:

Give him a set for free....I wanna make fun of him. You do have a set designed for stock mirrors, don't you?

this combination fixed any heat issues I had:

1) Cee Bailey +2+2 with flip windscreen

2) Cromeit heat fix on left side

3) removing the rubber thingie inserts from either side of the tank

Until you do something to let the heat out from under the tank you haven't fixed the real problem with the tank getting hot - removing the rubber inserts does that.

---> "Because we might make fun of you, mgm?" - no, they don't need those things to have a reason to make fun of me.

It's because they don't really fix the hot tank issue.