air dam, fan manual switch, falken ze 512

[aka1004]

1. fan manual switch
if you live in warm climate or where there is summer, do get this mod:firstplace: average ryder should be able to do this. i went to las vegas strip to test it out and first pic is 100 degrees ambient temp with heavy stop and go traffic with fan switched on. temp stayed at 4 bar no matter how long i sat there. i turned off the switch and within 30 seconds, it went up to 5 bars.

2. air dam
i did not get the kinda result others have. it does seem like temp goes down to 4 bar from 5 quicker once i get moving but not by much. it went thru the similar cycle between 4,5 and 6 bars but 6 bars seems to be a lot less than before so that's something. on the way back home, i rode at different speed from 45-70 mph and ambient temp was at 96 degree once i got to highway speed, but i could never get to 3 bars as some has experienced. i think i am the one who tested this in hottest weather so far.
bottom line is for $25.50, there was an acceptable improvement.:thumbup:
i am going to palm springs this weekend and it's 100+ there so it will really get tested.

3. falken ze512 tires in 175 65R 14
:thumbup: spyder rydes better, turns better. it is so much easier to turn the wheel, at first it felt like they were slippery but once i got used to the new feel and started taking turns at decent speed, tires held the line really good. i can definitely take turns faster. spyder is much smoother too.

last pic is a barrier i made out of some weather stripping to may be block some of the heat from my right foot and that was a disaster. my foot was cooler but engine was running hot hot hot. even with fan manually on, it stayed at 6 bars. i pulled over and removed the weather strips and it went down to 4 bars in couple of minutes.

 

[SpyderWolf]

Sounds like some very good improvements.

I rode with my air dam installed at 97F outside, and experienced the same results you did. The Spyder stayed at 4 bars as long as I was moving. I know it was in the 80s on Doc's video, so I am thinking you will run 3 bars at 80 and 4 bars in the 90s. It will be interesting to see your results in the 100+ range as well.

Are those new Falkens the same size as the stock tires? If you don't mind me asking, how much were they? Feel free to send that in a PM if you want to.

 

[aka1004]

Sounds like some very good improvements.

I rode with my air dam installed at 97F outside, and experienced the same results you did. The Spyder stayed at 4 bars as long as I was moving. I know it was in the 80s on Doc's video, so I am thinking you will run 3 bars at 80 and 4 bars in the 90s. It will be interesting to see your results in the 100+ range as well.

Are those new Falkens the same size as the stock tires? If you don't mind me asking, how much were they? Feel free to send that in a PM if you want to.

they are 175 65r 14 and there isn't much room. i actually had to pull back the plastic fender to squeeze them in because installer at discount tires would not do it in fear of breaking them. once the the wheels were on the bolt, there is enough clearance but not by much. i paid little more than i expected at 243 bucks including 30 bucks for damage insurance.
$82 dollars per tires + installation + other crap... i possibly could have gotten them bit cheaper online but i like the free rotation deal at the discount tires. fronts tend to wear inside first so i rotated twice on last set at 25 bucks each time.

 

[SpyderWolf]

they are 175 65r 14 and there isn't much room. i actually had to pull back the plastic fender to squeeze them in because installer at discount tires would not do it in fear of breaking them. once the the wheels were on the bolt, there is enough clearance but not by much. i paid little more than i expected at 243 bucks including 30 bucks for damage insurance.
$82 dollars per tires + installation + other crap... i possibly could have gotten them bit cheaper online but i like the free rotation deal at the discount tires. fronts tend to wear inside first so i rotated twice on last set at 25 bucks each time.

Thanks for the information. When I got my powder coated rims in it took phone calls, and a long ryde, to many different tire shops before I found one that would even attempt to mount the front tires for me. Most of them said their equipment could not handle it, or they were afraid of damaging the wheel.

 

[aka1004]

today was little bit cooler here, about 80 compared to yesterday's 90+ and air dam made a more noticeable difference. i don't think i ever had 3 bars on 45 mph street i frequent and air dam made that happen.:thumbup:
a big test coming up tomorrow thou in 100+ weather in palm springs.

 

[SpyderWolf]

today was little bit cooler here, about 80 compared to yesterday's 90+ and air dam made a more noticeable difference. i don't think i ever had 3 bars on 45 mph street i frequent and air dam made that happen.:thumbup:
a big test coming up tomorrow thou in 100+ weather in palm springs.

Sounds like the theory is holding true so far. Best of luck with it on your ryde tomorrow.

 

[jabba11]

It stands to reason that results are going to vary some with ambient temp regarding the air dam. the difference between 4 and 5 bars degrees wise is a few so at one ambient temp youll notice a difference while at say 5 degrees higher you may not see a noticeable change but I would say that with my limited use of it it keeps the bike cooler.

 

[Campverdefela]

"i did not get the kinda result others have. it does seem like temp goes down to 4 bar from 5 quicker once i get moving but not by much. it went thru the similar cycle between 4,5 and 6 bars but 6 bars seems to be a lot less than before so that's something. on the way back home, i rode at different speed from 45-70 mph and ambient temp was at 96 degree once i got to highway speed, but i could never get to 3 bars as some has experienced. i think i am the one who tested this in hottest weather so far.
bottom line is for $25.50, there was an acceptable improvement.:thumbup:" These are exactly the results I'm getting here. It doesn't seem to matter if its in the 70's or 80's for my machine. Maybe its the differences between Spyders and the other mods we do. I will agree that with the dam my temps seem a bit more consistant.

 

[WaltH]

I was out today with the actual ambient temperature at 88F degrees (Spyder thermometer at 96F degrees) and I stayed at three bars so long as I was moving.

 

[SpyderWolf]

Rode to a dealership today, 1.5 hours there and 1.5 back. Outside temp when we left the house was 79 degrees, and it climbed up to 88 on our way there. Spyder ran at 3 bars on the temp gauge. On the way home it was 95 outside, and the Spyder ran at 4 bars on the temp gauge.

It sounds like most of us are getting the same results, which is also a good thing. :thumbup:

 

[aka1004]

Made it to palm springs and temp was between 60-104.
Spyder ran at 3 bars until ambient temp was above 89. Once I got inpalm springs area it was 100 degrees but there isn't much of traffic here so spyder ran mostly at 4 bars compared to mixed bag of 4,5 and little 6 without air dam. Than I ran into a road work with all lanes closed but one. It was 104 and I did not turn the fan on manually to See where this was going. About 4 minutes into it, spyder was at 7 bar so I turned engine off, turn the fan on manually, sat for 45 seconds, traffic moved a lilttle, turn engine on rolled and it went down to 5 bars. Sat there little longer and it stayed at 5 bars for couple of minutes at 5 bars. Traffic started move pretty good and down to 4 bars.

Verdict.
Do get the fan switch and air dam.
Utilize air dam for the most part, turn on the fan when needed in traffic+heat.
For 35 bucks, you probably will not have to worry about spyder over heating in extreme condition.

One more thing I have to do is put a better heat barrier on fuel tank. One of the exhaust pipe is running next to fuel tank and it gets hot hot hot. I heard adhesive residue sizzling because of the heat from the pipe.

 

[aka1004]

Falken tires

I mentioned that it's so much easier to turn the wheel with new tires but it's so much so, it felt it was slippery. I got used to to that feeling and it does turn better with new tires but at 95+ mph, front wheels got wobbly... I asked discount to set them at 28 psi but when I checked on way, it was at 24 with rear at 33. I set them at 29 when I got here but did not to test them.

Should I go higher or lower?
Now I lost confidence in them somewhat...

 

[SpyderWolf]

Glad to hear the air dam functioned as it should for you, and your manual fan switch sounds like it was a very good idea as well. :thumbup:

As for the air pressure in the Falkens, you may want to check a couple of the other threads on them. If I am not mistaken, some are running close to 35 psi in the car tires. I would double check with some others who have them before going up that high on the pressure though.

 

[aka1004]

Manual switch was done By other pioneers and yes, very good idea undead.