VFR fairings mod

[notme]

I like the look of the factory pipes .....

me too!

Mine is still stock becides the snorkel and flapperbox mods. How did you do the 1 baffle extraction? Did you have any issues with the re-welding of the pipes?

I have posted as a seperate thread, and I'd be happy to help you out with tools and a workshop plus the experience......you bring the beers. Slashwylde wants to do a workshop day sometime soon I believe, and you'd be welcome.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=66103

Cant beat the sound of the V4 specially when all 4valves per head open up!

OH. HELL. YES.

[Qkchk:Me]

Keen for a ride this evening? Would be a good chance to have a look at that mod in the flesh.............


Vifferman you coming along tonight?

[Swoop]

I have posted as a seperate thread, and I'd be happy to help you out with tools and a workshop plus the experience......you bring the beers. Slashwylde wants to do a workshop day sometime soon I believe, and you'd be welcome.

Ooh! I could be interested in that as well (if allowed)!.

[Waylander]

Don't ya just looooove that V4 sound? It makes me happy in my pants.

Wondered why you hung out next to the VMax so much.

[notme]

I'm thinking a step further , and simpler (as in only needing one signal).

If the speedo signal at the ECU is above some level, disable the fan. If not, leave it alone. I would design the circuit such that the relay that disables the fan falls back to the "fan enabled" state in case of any problems!

This way it works at low speed as well as stationary....would need to experiment to find the speed at which the air coming in is starting to overpower the fan and create stagnant air.

Well, I got out there and did some science on waitangi day - see attached.

Looks as though disabling the fan above 50km/h would be a good thing.

[vifferman]

Well, I got out there and did some science on waitangi day - see attached.

Looks as though disabling the fan above 50km/h would be a good thing.

Wow - that's ... er... cool. Good work!
Of course, the graph above 100km/h is extrapolated, right? Or did you use your private testing facilities?

I'd imagine that below about 50 km/h, the airflow through the radiators is pretty pathetic. I reckon that ideally, the "disabling the fan above 50 km/h" mod could do with being paired with fitting another small fan to the right-hand side radiator, one that blows the air out through the radiator.
I've considered doing this, but there's a couple of caveats that have stopped me:
- I suspect the fan and shroud will interfere with airflow (when the fan's not in use), making it less efficient.
- There's very little room to fit one, so it would have to be small (and therefore possibly ineffective).

[notme]

Wow - that's ... er... cool. Good work!
Of course, the graph above 100km/h is extrapolated, right? Or did you use your private testing facilities?

"closed road, protective gear, no stunt bunnies harmed, etc" I only stopped at 140 cos it was clear that the effect was trailing off. I actually did 150 as well, and the time was within 1 sec so we were approaching the time where human error and reaction time etc was becoming bigger than the actual difference in time between results!

I'd imagine that below about 50 km/h, the airflow through the radiators is pretty pathetic. I reckon that ideally, the "disabling the fan above 50 km/h" mod could do with being paired with fitting another small fan to the right-hand side radiator, one that blows the air out through the radiator.
I've considered doing this, but there's a couple of caveats that have stopped me:
- I suspect the fan and shroud will interfere with airflow (when the fan's not in use), making it less efficient.
- There's very little room to fit one, so it would have to be small (and therefore possibly ineffective).

My next set of tests will involve borrowing mass flow equipment from work and trying to map airflow thru each radiator, with existing fan disabled, to determine the amount of cooling capacity that is removed from the radiator because of having a (deactivated) fan in front of it.

That should answer your question, sir!

[vifferman]

I just (less than a minute ago) went and had a look at the real estate. Because the cylinder banks are (necessarily) staggered, with the front one to the right, and the rear to the left, there's a larger gap between engine and radiator on the left than on the right. I'd imagine this is why Mr Honda didn't bother with fitting a fan to the right-hand radiator (which also lacks some shrouding and foam bits to 'seal' it against the fairing).
As a matter of fact, there's virtually no room between radiator and engine, and only a very small amount of radiator that's potentially available to stick a fan on: about the same amount as is uncovered on the left. So, sticking a fan over this 'naked' bit might be a bit naughty.

I guess an alternative is to stick it on t'other side - between the radiator and fairing. As (apparently) the effectiveness of the airflow depends to a large extent on the buildup of pressure under the fairing/behind the front wheel, and some reduction of pressure on either side, a fan might provide less interference there.
Or something.

Or not.

Dunno really....

[notme]

Ah well I won't steal expensive testing equipment then.

I caged it in to work today so no bikey to look at - good thing you went and investigated!

[notme]

If anyone's subscribed to this, 8 or so months later there are zero issues with either the mesh mod falling to bits (was worried about the epoxy holding up over repeated heat/cool cycles) or the bike's cooling.

Have also implemented the speed based fan disable, no issues with that either.

[nico]

what are these normal mods????

[notme]

I don't understand your question.....

do you want to know what the usual mods people do to VFR's are?

[nico]

Have you done any of the 'Basic VFR' mods to it yet?

Eg: Snorkel Removal and the vacuum mod?

Yup, I have done:

- Radar detector wiring
- LED lights for tail
- chopped down the rear spade
- exhausts have one baffle removed
- oxygen sensors disabled
- snorkel removed (LOVE the intake noise under VTEC!)
- Grills as in this thread
- crash bungs
- PAIR (vacuum) mod
- added a battery/electrical system warning light
- added VTEC indicator

ummm.... I think that's it until i get onto this fan mod!

if these could be explained a little

[notme]

Righto:

- Radar detector wiring

I wire my bikes with audio and power for my radar detector so that I get on and plug in my jacket plug (3.5mm standard audio jack) and have audio in my helmet. Radar can be mixed with ipod or phone or whatever if desired.

- LED lights for tail

I prefer them. Simple bulb replacement, not really a hard mod.

- chopped down the rear spade

The stock rear fender is frickin huge. i took it off just above the license plate.

-exhausts have one baffle removed

See http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...29&postcount=1

- oxygen sensors disabled

A common VFR mod, details are all over the net. Basically you unplug the O2 sensors and the ECU never goes into open loop control mode - this eliminates a slight hesitation when changing modes i.e. on the m'way but leads to higher (slightly) fuel consumption.

- snorkel removed (LOVE the intake noise under VTEC!)

The snorkel is a rubber tube that projects out the front of the airbox and faces down, the idea is that it is less likely to suck water and crap into the airbox than a straight hole. I hardly ever ride in torrential rain or desert sandstorms, so I applied another common mod which is to remove it. This gives the engine less restricted breathing and as an added bonus you hear a lot more induction noise, which with VTEC/MIVEC/VVT whatever is a GOOD THING.

Grills as in this thread

yeah.

- crash bungs

Not VFR specific obviously, but the fairing design means you can either get ones that have a weird projection so that they come out behind the fairing, or ones (like mine) that require cutting the fairing at a slightly dodgy point. No problem if you are careful and take your time.

- PAIR (vacuum) mod

Something or other Air Injection something. Emissions stuff that can be disabled to give better running at the expense of killing the planet. Again, a very common mod so heaps of info on the net.

- added a battery/electrical system warning light

I also do this on all my bikes, it's a module I designed that adds a warnign light to the dash - if there is a battery or charging system problem if tells you roughly what it is before it fails, i.e. over or undercharging, idle current draw, electrical system spikes etc.

- added VTEC indicator

This is nothing more than bling - the dash looked a bit lopsided since it is nicely symmetrical and I had added an electrical system warning light on the left side, so I added this on the right hand side. Just shows when VTEC is engaged.

More info:

http://wiki.vfrworld.com/index.php/VFRwiki

[nico]

kai-ora