The sun's out in England!

[GordonBH]

At last a few days of real sun and some great riding and it's amazing how a few extra degrees increases the engine background temp.

I've just ordered my 195 on 185 off switch as my fan was running all the time so I've popped the 33 wire from my 165-on switch and keeping an eye on the gauge.

Even riding in 74degrees (that's hot here in May) all the way through stop traffic in a big town it only hit 190 momentarily and I didn't need the fan overide at all.

I did smile when stopped at a local bike haunt for the first time on the A5, one guy knelt down for a closer look and tipped backward from the heat!

It sure did attract a lot of attention, even parked up amongst 100 assorted bikes I go in for a coffee and come out to a crowd around it. It's only a small block but they are blown away by 5.7 litres (nobody understands Cubes here). You guys told me this would happen

[Iron Maiden]

[petitemoose]

Never been an attention whore but you get used to the crowds. Then one day you will walk out and there will be nobody there and you will be like ... WTF Did you guys not notice my BIke??? Then you check yourself and remember this post

[CanuckHoss]

Every 502 I have owned and a couple 350s, I have installed a toggle switch inline for the fan...I can turn it off when I want...that is generally when I am approaching a bar, group of poeple or what have you where I am parking. I will turn the fan off about a block or so before getting to my destination.

The switch is under the right hand back of the tank and easy to get to. I have never forgotten to turn it on where my temp has passed 210 which will not hurt a thing. On warm days if I ride away and there is slow slow traffic my experience with the bike tells me it is warmer than normal and I look down at 200 degrees and remember that I did not switch it on again when I left.

But Ric forgot to turn his switch on one day and heated his bike pretty good...

To each their own..some will say it is unwise... but I like the lumpy motor sound for people to hear rather than the high speed fan.

PS...you will become an AW..."attention whore' lol

[hogv8]

I don't like the idea of taking a chance of overheating my engine so I have my fan switch wired so I can turn the fan on whenever I like . This way I can turn the fan on before the thermostatic switch turns it on automatically . This way if I know I will be pulling into somewhere where I know the fan could come on while parking I turn the fan on and cool the engine off and then turn the fan off before I pull in and this normally gives me enough time to get parked before the fan comes on automatically .

[GordonBH]

I guess I'm a Prospect AW, so I'll google "psychiatrists" ready for when the crowds disappear "Guitar Man" by Bread comes to mind,

I've got a fan override on my dash so I can always flick that on. I'd better not "do a Ric" so will keep eyes very open in town. The ride on Sunday was great at 3 1/2 hrs with just the one stop - loved every minute of it and mixed riding produced 25 mpg(British). But man, I've got to get better earplugs, that ole V8 on open pipes really roars when I twist it and my generation was the first into heavy rock so I ain't got the best hearing anyway.

[Ric]

As the result of boiling my rad completely dry because I thought the switch was on. Oops

So, as the result, I disabled that 'off' switch, because I don't care if people hear the fan when I show up to bars or fuel stops. The new 'S' curved fan I have now puts out 1000 more CFM than stock, and it's is whisper quiet.

I DID use that fan switch to rewire it to a 'fan on'… because the 'fan on' on my dash was always intermittent. Sometimes the fan would come on… or the light would turn green indicating a fan 'on' condition… but the fan remained idle. So I just nipped this wires and rewired it to Barry's original switch. Actually, I pretty much rewired the entire bike now.

I was in England way back in 1978 with the Canadian Forces. I was there a month, and only had one day of sun. It was in May.

[hogv8]

As the result of boiling my rad completely dry because I thought the switch was on. Oops

So, as the result, I disabled that 'off' switch, because I don't care if people hear the fan when I show up to bars or fuel stops. The new 'S' curved fan I have now puts out 1000 more CFM than stock, and it's is whisper quiet.

I DID use that fan switch to rewire it to a 'fan on'… because the 'fan on' on my dash was always intermittent. Sometimes the fan would come on… or the light would turn green indicating a fan 'on' condition… but the fan remained idle. So I just nipped this wires and rewired it to Barry's original switch. Actually, I pretty much rewired the entire bike now.

I was in England way back in 1978 with the Canadian Forces. I was there a month, and only had one day of sun. It was in May.

Ric , what fan do you have . Do you have a part # ? I'm running a Spal high performance straight blade pusher and it's loud . Would like to try a curved blade fan . I've heard they are much quieter .

Thanks , Jack

[GordonBH]

Hi Ric,

Aaaah 78 - a great year (admittedly not great sunshine-wise) - but I was riding a Suzuki GS750 then. If you ever get back here you must PM me and we'll meet up (goes for Jack too). I'd also like the part # for a quiet fan if you've got it.

Boiling dry is BAD NEWS. When I get my new switch, I'll fit it straight away, I assume you don't lose a lot of water/AF mix if you release the pressure in the header tank? I plan to just release pressure and unscrew old and whip in the new (PTFE'd ready)

[Ric]

ZFU14S
14" 2785 fCFM Zirgo Ultra High Performance Radiator Cooling Fan.

I paid $184.00 Canadian, including shipping from the U.S.

The only potential down side is… the new fan only has four mounting points… where the stock unit had six. But I have the threaded rod set up that Adrian mentioned on the Trike Site…. #6 all-thread with two coats of heat shrink… and stainless washers and nylar lock nuts… Keeps it snug to the rad.
Wish I'd have done this from the start… It's good.

[hogv8]

Ric , so the 4 mounting points are in the same location as the stock fan or in other words where the 4 holes are in the radiator ?