Gen III Air Management

[PapaUtah]

My 2005 has been traded off on a 2013. After a year of riding I do believe Yamaha got the air management handled pretty well on the Gen III. However, things can always be improved upon...so...

I noticed a stream of hot air at ankle height on warm days on my new 2013. On most days its barely noticeable....but above 90 and humid here in the midwest its down right uncomfortable. I have the OEM frame sliders and decided to add Ankools to them. These are my first prototypes...they work...but not as well as I like. I am going to need to extended the lower edge parallel to the ground at the trailing edge to get the full effect I want. These work ok, but I taped some carboard on them to extend them down and they work wonderfully at a slightly longer length.

Next up is a more controllable stream in the cockpit area. Garauld provided a set of his light mounts. I modified them to go between my mirror extenders and the mirror stalk. It puts the mount at the perfect height for a set of air wings. I am milling the brackets to mount the wing to the arm tomorrow. Air wing should be here Friday and hopefully the weather will cooperate for some extended testing. I am mounting a 6x8 wing panel that will be cut to match the bottom edge of the mirror contour. Half the wing will be above the arm, half below. I will get pics up Monday when everything is mounted and hopefully have a short test done.

 

[JamesW]

Quite a creative endeavor.

 

[SkooterG]

Very nice! I admire your creativity and fabrication skills.

 

[Mudslide Miller]

Yes very creative. Where did you get the mirror extenders? Being a newbie on the forum, I didn't know if there was another thread on the forum about those or if they come from Yamaha.

 

[PapaUtah]

Mirror extenders come from SW-MOTECH. You can get them here:

https://www.twistedthrottle.com/sw-motech-mirror-wideners-yamaha-fjr1300-06

The wings from Baker, quite frankly, look like hell on the FJR. I ordered a set of 6x8 panels from them and I will cut them down to the correct pattern. The mounts from Baker are too short from the wing to mounting hole in Garauld's bracket, so I am milling a set out of aluminum with a little longer throw from the wing to the pivot hole to solve the issue. I enjoy being able to "close the doors" in cold weather and get a little extra air in hot weather with the shield fully up.

 

[PapaUtah]

Here are the new wing brackets that work with Garauld's fine mounts. Turned a block of aluminum into two matching brackets using my fathers ancient Bridgeport mill. They will get a coat of black paint tomorrow. Hopefully the wings themselves will arrive from Baker Built Friday and all I need to do is drill and cut them down to match the mirror contour and I am good to go with full air management on the 2013.

 

[PapaUtah]

Air Wings arrived today, installed this evening...

Took a test drive. These things are bigger than the original set I built for my 05 and they move a LOT MORE air. Full open is now almost too much. Closed they result in a nice warm cockpit. They will get a full trial the first week in August in Utah. If anything I may modify Garauld's bracket to push the mounting center back in line with the mirror. Other than that I cannot wait to try them on the open road. I can now have the windscreen full up for calm air around my head and have cool air rushing over my jacket and legs. I give myself

 

[Pterodactyl]

I just put a set of Air Wings on my GEN 3; the ones that mount on the lower fairing. They are listed as being for GEN 1 bikes, but they fit my bike very well. Rode about 300 miles today in temps in mid-90s and they work well. In the open position they direct a high volume of air on my lower legs where I've had the most issues with heat.

 

[Tanker]

Nice work there. Definitely two thumbs up!

Can't wait for more of you impressions once you've been on a road trip or two.

M

 

[PapaUtah]

I put 179 miles on the new air management system today. I think this gives me better air management that my previous mod on my 2005. If one wanted you could get by with slightly smaller wings...but I loved the absolute control the new setup provides. The wings provide more than enough air to overcome the tendency for my shield to want to pull engine heat up into the cockpit when I raise my shield. I get a nice cool slipstream into my waist and thigh area and was never hot with the doors open. I think they are even helping my Ankools work even better from an air pressure stand point as the Ankools pull in a nice cool stream when the shield is up and the doors are open to just past the neutral position. My head is left in a pretty stable bubble of air. Very little buffeting. I have a Laminar Lip on the way...I think that may be the golden ticket for me when it arrives. I think it will smooth the last little remaining burble I have just on top of my helmet. I should note I am 6'1" and have the mothership touring screen on my bike. In two weeks I shall give it the mother of all real world shakedown tests in the heat of the Utah deserts and canyons.

For now, for just a little bit of elbow grease I think the parts are out there for anyone to easily build out a system to handle any issues you feel your bike may have yet. I can't wait to get going...haven't felt like this about a vacation for a very long time.