Updated DIY Radiator Guard

[AdvRonski]

Last winter I used the down time to make a stainless steel rad guard, details- HERE
It turned out a little on the heavy side, but it could probably with stand a shotgun blast, and seemed to work well.
I did have one incident, though. ( This one time, at band camp.............)
While heading home from Moab via Sego Canyon, I hit the freeway at Thompson, and ran her up to 90 mph in the 100+ degree heat. After about 30 minutes, the coolant temp shot up, and it began to spray Engine Ice onto my right boot.
I had to slow to 45-50 to keep it at least close to the normal temp, but I made it back to Grand Junction OK.
After topping up the coolant the next day, I had no further problems for the rest of the year.
But, I wondered if the tight mesh of the rad guard wasn't flowing as much air as I thought.
I decided to make a lighter guard out of stainless steel, without the expanded metal, but with a coarser, heavier gauge mesh.
Here's the chunky original-



And the new, improved version-



The lighter outer frame still makes a fairly stiff structure when mounted-



But, how to measure relative airflow through each guard?
I made a crude airflow meter from cardboard and duct tape, and used a partially shrouded fan to provide the air.
First, the baseline reading. ( Try not to laugh too hard at my contraption)-



The unrestricted airflow moved the weighted flap about 7-8 inches. Actually, the flap is "zeroed" at 2 inches, but I just didn't think to move the high-tech base to set it to zero. So, call it 5-6 inches.

OK, now the original guard is put in place-



Wow, only about 1.5-2 inches of deflection/airflow. That guard really choked off the air to the radiator!

And, finally, the new and improved version is tested-



Holy Cow! Roughly 3.5-4 inches! That's about twice the flow of my original guard!
Granted, the whole thing is pretty crude, but it's clear that airflow will be much improved.

Plus, it's almost a pound lighter-





The installed unit fits and looks good. Well, to me anyway.



Next Up- I update the waterpump with a CJ Design Super Shaft and 2009 impeller and cover.

[rossguzzi]

Aint science wonderfull :)

[bajarider1]

Nice work and I like how thorough you were in the R&D department.

[Steveman]

Looking at the "old" design it was clear that this will cause trouble, covering at least a third of the radiator. Way to much imho.
Cross my fingers that new design will work. I use no rad guard BTW and never had an issue

Merry Christmas !

[HeatXfer]

Nicely done.

[Scott Baja]

Very impressed! Clean nice looking work, and very clever testing. You are to be highly commended!

[Vicks]

brilliant

[gefr]

I find your lab equipment brilliant. Nice improvisation. Cheers.

[Megadeus]

You best Redneckonize! Ya' Hear!

[DesertSurfer]

I wonder if the fatter mesh creates a large backwash diverting flow to the outside of bike's radiator as well as restrictive flow?

Great food for future thought.

[Zuber]

" I'm not a Doctor, I have a Master's Degree",..." IN SCIENCE!!"

Were did you find the wire mesh? McMaster-Carr?

[AdvRonski]

Originally Posted by Zuber

" I'm not a Doctor, I have a Master's Degree",..." IN SCIENCE!!"

Were did you find the wire mesh? McMaster-Carr?

I had to think about that one a bit, but it was Summit Racing- http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aa...2270/overview/
They also have the AN fittings and hose for the remote oil drain mod- $50 shipped.