| Author | Message | ||
     Bobmcc |
Well, so much for my rigid aluminum heat shield. It's dead after valiantly defending my inner thigh for the last 3K miles. You can see the fatal damage here where the cylinder head fins knifed through it.  There just isn't enough clearance between the rear head, the seat pan, and the frame to fit anything but the most carefully crafted shield. But rather than whining about my failed design (ok, I whined a bit) it was a great learning experience and many miles of unroasted riding. As others have noted, the focus of the most painful heat is the narrow gap between the seat and frame. I'm wary of the blanket approaches because I'm afraid they'll restrict airflow and raise the head temperatures. So I'm trying a new approach. Under the airbox cover I installed a trimmed piece of flashing held in place with ShurTape and carefully color-matched to the frame as shown here.  Along the edge of the seat pan I glued a piece of rubber from an old gutter-mount roof rack (remember those?) to make a gasket as shown here.  Here are views of the new gasket on the seat and installed.   First ride was this morning, too cool to notice anything. It occurred to me, after installing this shield version 2, that a piece of readily-available auto door or trunklid gasket glued along the frame would probably block the heat and hold up even better. Maybe that will be version 3. Regards, Bob | ||
| Ulyessesman |
hey bob, let me know how that works out, i have a brand new 08 uly , im stationed in iraq right now but will be going on r&r in sept... if it works really well i may do the same on mine , plus i got a lot of carbonfiber to install mostly asthetic stuff and a new k&n filter but other than that she's all stock, take it easy man ill be watchin the thread, latter | ||
| Bobmcc |
Hey, Ulyessesman, only a few hundred miles on v2 so far. It's functionally as good or better than v1, it's an easy fix, it doesn't look out of place, and it doesn't touch the engine. Durability of the rubber section will be a function of the adhesive I used, an "industrial strength" long cure, high-heat craft glue. Your '08 has a shield around the rear brake reservoir... I'd like to get one of those for the summer months. Then again, I know I'm gonna miss the heater when it's late October - November ;^) Thanks for your service - Bob | ||
| Etennuly |
My seat has a larger gap than yours. I closed it in using a foam tape. For the first time I felt heat on my left leg!  I was wondering if you noticed the same. Mine is an '06, I do not have the '08 deflectors. I generally sit back some, so I took the tape back out. | ||
| Florida_lime |
Your '08 has a shield around the rear brake reservoir... I'd like to get one of those for the summer months. Then again, I know I'm gonna miss the heater when it's late October - November Those side heat shields pop on and off very easily, so you can take them out for winter riding. I added some for most of my Florida riding, but take them out in the winter. I was looking for MORE heat on Easter Sunday, leaving North Carolina for Florida. I had to wait until the temperature got into the 30's before I headed out that morning.  | ||
| Bobmcc |
For the first time I felt heat on my left leg! I was wondering if you noticed the same. No, the left side isn't noticeable, but it did make the heat from around the brake rez noticeable on the back of my leg. Not painful, just noticeable. And a comment for any lurking Uly skeptics out there, the right side heat was only an issue when I was riding near-naked, which for me means Fieldsheer Air Pants. And I always grip the frame with my legs which puts the seat-frame gap right on the skin. Which brings up another question about riding style vs. heat management. If you ride cruiser-style with your legs splayed out (no offense intended) you probably won't mind the heat? Lyme- stay warm!  - Bob} |
