TOPIC:

I fitted the Beowulf stainless Steel radiator guard today. But whilst in transition I realised there is a potential cooling improvement that may help anyone with cooling issues. At the top and bottom edges of where the guard mounts to the radiator there are gaps where air can escape ( taking the easy route,) and thus reducing the air flow through the radiator matrix. I have added some sticky backed foam 10 x 10mm to prevent the loss. This is true for the OE guard too. All the air that now goes through the guard has no option but to go through the radiator matrix.


Foam is behind guard , shown in red.

I must say that I think the radiator cover looks beautiful, BUT it must reduce the air flow through the radiator by a significant amount. It will be interesting to see the effect when the warmer weather comes. As we know, the cooling capacity on these bikes is marginal in some circumstances.

biltonjim wrote: I must say that I think the radiator cover looks beautiful, BUT it must reduce the air flow through the radiator by a significant amount. It will be interesting to see the effect when the warmer weather comes. As we know, the cooling capacity on these bikes is marginal in some circumstances.

I totally agree. There is a chance that reduced air flow could result in running hot. But I will give it a shot...I have reinstalled my digital temperature indicator so I can have a good idea what's happening. The first sign of higher temperature and the nice shiney grill will become a nice shiney garage wall plaque.
I have designed many laser cut wall art items in the past, it could be time to fire up my autocad again and do some less restrictive radiator grills.

The weather was good today, 9 deg C and dry. Took the z13 for its annual MOT test. It passed with an advisory that the right hand front brake disc has slight warping. I will get the dti on it tomorrow and check. The good news is, the temperature gauge stayed at the low end of the normal band with the new radiator guard, it was only 9 deg C ambient temp, but looks OK so far. My newly calibrated temperature gauge is working great too. It's on the low end of the normal range when the thermostat opens at 82 deg c. I have calibrated it so that 100 deg c is the high end of the normal range, above 100 the needle goes towards the red zone.
Just need some warm days to prove the new grill is ok.

Oh well that sounds promising. Out of interest, which fan switch have you installed?
How did the guys at the bike shop react to your bike? I guess a lot of their staff have never seen a Kawasaki 1300!

biltonjim wrote: Oh well that sounds promising. Out of interest, which fan switch have you installed?
How did the guys at the bike shop react to your bike? I guess a lot of their staff have never seen a Kawasaki 1300!

I have never looked at the fan switch, I guess it's the stock ZG one. The bike has never had any cooling issues... other than an incorrect reading gauge. You are right , the MOT testing guy had never seen a z13. He has ridden a cbx...but now he's seen the best of the six's , he's hooked !! He loved it.