Burning Legs no more...
:yes: :2thumbs:
I am a fairly new Spyder owner. (Purchased our 2010 RSS bike two months ago)
In my humble opinion the SE5 Spyder has a design issue that causes excessive temperatures on the legs of the driver. This is most prevalent when the ambient temperature exceeds about 100 degrees F. In the desert southwest and Bullhead City Arizona in particular our summer temperatures have already reached 113 degrees and it is only the beginning of June. The right leg gets the brunt of the heat, except when the wind is blowing from the right side of the bike, then the left leg experiences uncomfortable temperatures. If stopped at a long traffic light, the initial heat appeared to be from the exhaust, (no leaks) but when the radiator fan kicked in the pain got really unbearable.
The following "fixes" describe an acceptable resolution of the engine heat problem:
First, I purchased and installed the Spyderpops "missing air dam" which seemed to help cool the engine more effectively (fewer bars while moving) but the leg burning continued at high ambient temperatures and while stopped. A partial fix at best.
In frustration I next tried two additional modifications implemented at the same time. The first was to wrap both exhaust pipes with 2" width graphite black exhaust insulating wrap from the engine exhaust port down to the spring loaded exhaust flange on the left side and beyond the spring (spring not covered) down to the bottom of the bike on the right exhaust pipe. The wrap was applied dry with about 1/2" of overlap. I didn't bother to wrap the exhaust pipes located at the very bottom of the bike as the frame adequately deflects that heat. I found the stainless steel "cable wraps" difficult to install and tighten so instead I used some steel wire like the type used to tie rebar. Looping one or two turns around the Fiberglas wrapping material and twisting tight with a plier was much quicker and far superior at clamping the pipe wrap to the exhaust pipe. I read about this pipe wrap on the forums.
Lastly I fabricated an air dam extension for the right side cowling to deflect more air from the cooling fan out the opening on the right side of the cowling. I got the idea for this from several forum posts (Australian and Domestic) Rather than using a "notebook cover" plastic material I chose a piece of aluminum
roof flashing and was able to gradually cut it to size in place. It was then screwed to the standard plastic air dam and for good measure was also siliconed in place. I added a strip of "continuous grommet" made of nylon material and siliconed it on the edge that is closest to the fan shroud because the cut aluminum edge was sharp. Since the radiator host runs along the top edge of the plastic air dam I was careful in the screw placement to avoid puncturing the hose.
The first test took place today and in 109 degree heat the only heat on the right leg (wearing shorts) was when my thigh touched the torx body panel screws. They were somewhat hot but easy to avoid by adjusting my leg position.
There was absolutely no uncomfortable heat felt on either leg even in stop and go traffic.
My Wife and I will be driving 750 miles next week through southern Utah, Zion National Park, Page Arizona, the south rim of the grand canyon and finally old route 66 back to Bullhead City. The temperatures can be expected to be well over 110 degrees at times so this will be a good test, though I am confident that the problem has been solved.
It took about an hour of driving to burn off the silicone coating on the "cool it" Thermo Tec exhaust wrap which I purchased from
Auto
Zone for about $50. During that time the bike give off some smoke but not to worry, there is no chance of a fire during this out gassing.
My next redesign project of a much lesser priority will be to resolve the brake squeal. I plan on trying some 3M VHB high temperature tape between the piston and the brake shoes. Again the idea came from several forum posts.
