Author |
Message |
Rotorhead
| Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 10:01 pm: |
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My fan seemed to last forever and it gave up the ghost. It failed at 35,720 somewhere in NM while on a long road trip. I still had to ride it home and it was still cool out. I pulled the fuse to the fan fuse to keep from frying the system. I was never in stop and go traffic so I didn't worry about over heating. Now that I'm home and comuting back and forth to work ,8 miles each way, how long would you run the bike before stoping? I need to replace the fan but Al's online store is closed for a bit. I took out the fan to let more air flow through. I hope it will run ok till I get the fan in. WWUDO? |
Ft_bstrd
| Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 10:03 pm: |
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Ask Etennuly. His died coming back from homecoming. |
Etennuly
| Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 10:07 pm: |
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Well, mine died 500 miles from home last year. I just watched traffic and shut it off and coasted up to it when ever I could. I stopped and added some Lucas oil additive to help with viscosity and possible oil boiling issues. I got it fixed within a couple of days when I returned home. I think you will be OK as long as you keep it moving. Stopping in traffic on hot days would be tough on it. Wasn't exactly Homecoming, more like coming back from Home. (Message edited by etennuly on June 25, 2008) |
Rotorhead
| Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 10:54 pm: |
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To be honest with you my drive home took another 5,000 miles. I have had no hot oil or even pinging issues just kept movin'. It was never above 80 out but it is getting hotter on the ride home. Just wondering if anyone out there has run that long with a failed fan. Maybe I'm the only idiot that is. |
Etennuly
| Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 11:00 pm: |
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It will go into "Run Skip Mode" if it gets to hot. That is where it will fire every other time to cool the engine. It sounds like you haven't been there. Pinging would be another bad sign, you haven't been there. If the heads were out in the open like on a Sporty it wouldn't even need fans. Sounds like you know the signs and if you saw them you would stop and let it cool. IMHO party on and keep the close eye! Also on an 8 mile commute it is just getting up to temperature any way. The book says to ride ten miles or more to reach full operating temp. (Message edited by etennuly on June 25, 2008) |
Dennis_c
| Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 11:14 pm: |
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the 08 uly fans don't come on until you shut the motor off or has to be supper hot. I rode with two 06 ulys there fans never stopped running even when it was 60 outside. |
Aeholton
| Posted on Thursday, June 26, 2008 - 08:51 am: |
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My fan died on the way up to Barber the first year I owned it. I continued up and all the way home (approximately 800 miles) without it. I just removed the small factory scoop to allow more air around the head. That is when I decided to get the RSS. |
Az_m2
| Posted on Thursday, June 26, 2008 - 09:21 am: |
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I hit skip spark mode for the first time last weekend. It was a lovely 115 degree afternoon in Phoenix. Running down the freeway, went into skip spark 2 times for a couple seconds. When I got home I found I was about 1/2 quart low on oil. Freaked me out for a second when I saw the check engine light flashing. |
Ksc12c
| Posted on Thursday, June 26, 2008 - 10:32 am: |
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The same thing happened to me in the Black Hills last Summer. Highs in the upper 90s. Bike went into skip spark mode. Pulled over and I realized I was a 1/2 quart low on oil. Kevin |
Seanp
| Posted on Saturday, June 28, 2008 - 03:08 pm: |
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Mine died the day before yesterday, riding from Florida to Connecticut. It happened in Pennsylvania, and I called ahead to Danbury Buell in CT. I rode it there, 300 miles or so, with a dead fan. They've got the bike right now - hopefully they can fix it before I leave to Homecoming on Monday! |
Rclaytonsharp
| Posted on Monday, June 30, 2008 - 07:34 pm: |
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I noticed that the XBRR we had on display at the shop didn't have a cooling fan! It did have a functional right side scoop built into the fairing and zero-clearance insulation on the inside of the frame rails. But no fan.. I guess the RR doesn't have to idle in traffic. |
Rotorhead
| Posted on Tuesday, July 01, 2008 - 09:12 am: |
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I have never had spark skip or noticed high temps or used oiled after taking the fan all the way out. It is a HUGE hole when the fan is out of the way. I did a 450 mile loop around south central TN on Saturday it was hot out upper 80's. I had the same gas mileage as with the fan installed and no pinging all day. SO far ,knock on wood, I haven't seen any ill effect of removing the fan. Except the engine light is on all the time which won't tell me if I have another failure. I think I may be on to something here. I'm thinking with a RSS ( I know, throw the spears now) I could run all summer without a cooling fan. Remember I don't do stop and go traffic. There just isn't any in north AL. |
Rclaytonsharp
| Posted on Saturday, July 05, 2008 - 11:02 am: |
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How many cubic feet of air does the fan move in a minute? What MPH is that equivalent to? Call that the threshold, where the air generated by the fan is equal to the air generated by the roadspeed. I can see the need for the fan at idle and at cool down after the engine is shut off but does it obstruct the flow of air above the threshold speed? |