2018 F3L Radiators at 10,086 Miles

With the success of adding a filter in front of my 2015 F3s radiators I decided to do the same on my wife's 2018 F3L. I was surprised at the amount of gunk build up at only 10,086 miles.
You can see how much gets by the screen on the F3.
I went for a larger opening filter support by using 19ga ss wire. I used small aluminum angle and drilled holes for the wire every 1". For the top center I used flat aluminum with spacers made from scrap aluminum to allow for wire and the center tube. The black mark on the aluminum tube is where I ended the cut from cutting the tube down the middle for clearance of the tub.
Not the neatest weave job, but it does the job of supporting the filter.

KOTT Grills from Spyderpops work well on the RT's. Not sure about the F3 though.

I'm surprised one of the vendors on here hasn't made something like this. I would certainly buy one.

How does it hold up in the rain. Does it fall apart when it gets wet.

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Originally Posted by JP58

How does it hold up in the rain. Does it fall apart when it gets wet.

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The filter media is fiberglass so no issue with rain.

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Originally Posted by ARtraveler

KOTT Grills from Spyderpops work well on the RT's. Not sure about the F3 though.

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Had Knott Grills on our RT and they work well. The problem with the F3 is that the air flow is through the back of the fans and you cannot see the build up unless you take the front end apart. Also as it passes through the fans any thing entering gets an additional push when the fans kick in.

Another idea I used nylon black screening in front of the grill on outside, ran 2 years just took grill off very little bug guts inside. Rain does not bother the screening and held it on with black screws .

Always good to see the DIY project and how they work out. Should keep things clean in there for a good amount of miles more than stock....:2thumbs:

Pulled the grill off (4 screws) my 2018 F3s and radiators were plastered with bugs, cleaned out and was going to build a mount for a filter like the one here. Notice you could pull off the steel grid off the back side of the grill by removing several clips. Sandwiched the filter in between the two and reistalled clips. Total cost was a $1.09 for filter and if works (to cold to ride now) I still have half the filter for next year.

Interestingly enough, I was cleaning out my garage to make room for the new Spyder F3-S that will be arriving tomorrow and I came across a roll of landscape fabric. It's thin, black, and porous so water can get through for plants. In this use case, air for the radiators. I expect it should hold up to the elements rather well as that is what it is made for and seems to be extraordinarily durable. I immediately thought of this thread and will be installing it before the F3 ever sees the street. I'll post some pictures for reference as I install it, but will be following Mully's post above. The only question is, will there be enough airflow? I tested it by blowing air through it and it seems like it should be fine. We shall see.

What I've done to help keep the radiators bug/crap free is to wrap the front of my F3 grill with black nylon window screen.

With the grill removed, I cut a rough screen template and cut and fold the screen on the back side of the grill as I go. I use Gorilla tape where needed.

I cut a small slit in the screen in each corner to gain access to the four grill mounting points.

For me, this method has worked very well to keep bugs/crap out of the radiators and it's VERY easy to clean. I also polish/wax all the plastic shroud area behind the grill.

Air flows freely as I've never seen the temp gauge get any higher no matter the ambient temperature. Of course, I'm in NW Minnesota.

Alright, Here's the finished result using the landscape fabric. You'd never know it wasn't factory unless I told you. Was thinking about getting another BRP stone guard and sandwiching the landscape fabric between the two to get all of the slight wrinkles out. It would look even more factory then.

Rode the bike for an hour in traffic etc., and the temp never rose more than half way on the temp gauge. I was even stopped in traffic for ten minutes idling and the fans kicked on for about 60 seconds and cut back off. This tells me that there is enough airflow and the cooling system is operating as it should be. The temp outside today was 72 degrees.

This stuff is tough too. It is designed to resist penetration, but allow water to get through, and it is easy to cut slits to allow the grille cleats to pass through where needed when mounting it up. It is almost paper thin, which makes it easy as pie to install. It will not get saturated in wet weather and the bugs can't get trapped in between the fibers like on a AC filter mesh. They should hose right off, negating the need to replace it every year. We'll see on that.

I did a video of the process here: https://youtu.be/cAb2eBKJpqI

Here's a link to the product. Good stuff. One roll should last you the life of your Spyder.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sta-Green-B...-50/1001492362

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I did similar to VitoNam in post #11. I took off the grill and used two sided carpet tape and put the screen material on the inside of the grill.

Okay folks, so this past Friday the ambient temps got up to 86 degrees and I noticed my fans running after I came to a stop after just having been moving at 55 MPH. With that said, it looks like the landscape fabric is too restrictive. So, yesterday I removed it and replaced it with Polyester Pet Screen from Lowes. This works much better. I didn't hear my fans kick on at all today after 300 miles of riding. With that said, I would NOT recommend the landscape fabric. It sure was good at keeping the bugs from sticking to it though. It was worth shot. You never know unless you try.

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Originally Posted by Thunderpunk

Okay folks, so this past Friday the ambient temps got up to 86 degrees and I noticed my fans running after I came to a stop after just having been moving at 55 MPH. With that said, it looks like the landscape fabric is too restrictive. So, yesterday I removed it and replaced it with Polyester Pet Screen from Lowes. This works much better. I didn't hear my fans kick on at all today after 300 miles of riding. With that said, I would NOT recommend the landscape fabric. It sure was good at keeping the bugs from sticking to it though. It was worth shot. You never know unless you try.

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Good to know. I was going to buy some landscape fabric at Home Depot today. How is the screen working out? I guess the pet screen is stronger than the regular polyester screen and the grill on my '21 F3-S SS is the same as yours?

It works much better. And yes, it is much stronger than normal screen. Looks better than the fabric as well. Your grill should be the same as mine.

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Originally Posted by Thunderpunk

It works much better. And yes, it is much stronger than normal screen. Looks better than the fabric as well. Your grill should be the same as mine.

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Thanks. :2thumbs:

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Originally Posted by Thunderpunk

Alright, Here's the finished result using the landscape fabric. You'd never know it wasn't factory unless I told you. Was thinking about getting another BRP stone guard and sandwiching the landscape fabric between the two to get all of the slight wrinkles out. It would look even more factory then.

Rode the bike for an hour in traffic etc., and the temp never rose more than half way on the temp gauge. I was even stopped in traffic for ten minutes idling and the fans kicked on for about 60 seconds and cut back off. This tells me that there is enough airflow and the cooling system is operating as it should be. The temp outside today was 72 degrees.

This stuff is tough too. It is designed to resist penetration, but allow water to get through, and it is easy to cut slits to allow the grille cleats to pass through where needed when mounting it up. It is almost paper thin, which makes it easy as pie to install. It will not get saturated in wet weather and the bugs can't get trapped in between the fibers like on a AC filter mesh. They should hose right off, negating the need to replace it every year. We'll see on that.

I did a video of the process here: https://youtu.be/cAb2eBKJpqI

Here's a link to the product. Good stuff. One roll should last you the life of your Spyder.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sta-Green-B...-50/1001492362

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Shows YouTube video isnt available anymore. Can you repost?

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Originally Posted by Pirate

Shows YouTube video isnt available anymore. Can you repost?

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I took it down so that people wouldn't attempt the mod since it was a failed mod.

Why was your mod a failure?

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Originally Posted by VitoNam

Why was your mod a failure?

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Vito, see the quote of post #14 by Thunderpunk below - my bolding & underlining of the pertinent bits ;)

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Originally Posted by Thunderpunk

Okay folks, so this past Friday the ambient temps got up to 86 degrees and I noticed my fans running after I came to a stop after just having been moving at 55 MPH. With that said, it looks like the landscape fabric is too restrictive. So, yesterday I removed it and replaced it with Polyester Pet Screen from Lowes. This works much better. I didn't hear my fans kick on at all today after 300 miles of riding. With that said, I would NOT recommend the landscape fabric. It sure was good at keeping the bugs from sticking to it though. It was worth shot. You never know unless you try.

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:thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Thunderpunk

I took it down so that people wouldn't attempt the mod since it was a failed mod.

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I see. Is taking the grill off pretty easy? I'm a new owner and haven't had to tackle that yet. Of course we don't have the small dog sized bugs here in CA either. ;)

Yep. Grill removal is 4 torx screws then it pulls right out. You should have one in the tool kit.

Here ya go mate..A link to my recent foray.

https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...adiators-clean