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Improving the cooling of both water and oil

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2.7K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  headroom  
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#1 ·
I put a post on here about the cooling fan coming on earlier than expected and noticed that the exhaust down pipes (headers) were right in front of both the feed and return pipes from the radiator and the oil cooler. In this position they give out a lot of radiant heat and I was going to try and fit a heat shield behind them to stop it. This proved to be impractical, so I have wrapped them with exhaust pipe wrap instead. Easy fix !
Some people may like the look and others may prefer to see the shiny S/S pipes, so if you don't like the look, there is a "downpipe grille" on the market which fits in front of them.
I have fitted one of these grilles, but it took a lot of re-shaping to get it to sit neatly in the belly-pan part of the fairing. I pointed this out to the manufacturer (R&G) by email, but got no reply. Nev.
 
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#6 ·
An Aggressive exhaust pipe? interesting. Lots of guys try the wrap to make the bike seem more race track like. Don't know if it really improves things. Factories spend a lot of money to produce the optimal power output for a price. I'd imagine if a wrap were really necessary, they'd charge another $100 and apply it at the factory.
I've seen pros and cons in print but have no first hand knowledge.
The screen vent seems reasonable. Lots of guys mount some sort of screen to protect the engine parts hanging out on harms way from tire thrown debris.
 
#7 ·
What size wrap did you use? I have been thinking about doing this to my ST for a while. It typically comes in 2 inch wide strips, but how many feet did you use? I was planning on going back a little further than you did. Did you notice less hot air on your lower legs as a result? That's another reason I was considering it.
 
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#10 ·
I didn't realize the UK had hipsters too. Sorry, that's probably our fault.
 
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#13 ·
So in the old hot rod days header pipers were wrapped to hold in the heat as was done by the OP, but the pipes also deteriorated much faster because of the temperatures the pipes reached. However, I do not know if this occurs with stainless steel pipes. Might be something to look into.
 
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#15 ·
The engine temperature will not rise, in fact it will run cooler because the radiant heat from the exhaust header pipes is removed from the water circulation pipes and oil cooler, which is the whole idea of doing it. All that happens is that the exhaust gasses stay hotter for a little longer which helps scavenging of the exhaust gasses because they flow faster. It will not do any damage to the engine.
 
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