My 1600 has been suffering some overheating problems.
The cause seems to lie in the steady build up of crud BEHIND the black V-shaped louvers in the lower belly pan area of the front of the bike.
The louvers of the V are angled downwards, probably to stop stones flicking up and dropping in from above. That would make sense and explain why the louvers are angled down, stones will hit them and bounce off.
One posible theory is that, as the front tyre rotates, it is pushing / forcing road water and muck UP (at high speed) past the angled down louvers. The water can drain out or evaporate off but the muck has nowhere to go and builds up.
You can't see through the louvers, so the build-up is invisible, eventaully enough to reduce the airflow to the lower portion of the radiator. The only solution at the moment is to clear the muck out on a regular basis, a pain as it requires removal of the whole of the lower fairings. The answer might be to cut a hole (if possible) to allow the muck to fall / vibrate its way out somehow .....but that might only allow more muck in?
The cause seems to lie in the steady build up of crud BEHIND the black V-shaped louvers in the lower belly pan area of the front of the bike.
The louvers of the V are angled downwards, probably to stop stones flicking up and dropping in from above. That would make sense and explain why the louvers are angled down, stones will hit them and bounce off.
One posible theory is that, as the front tyre rotates, it is pushing / forcing road water and muck UP (at high speed) past the angled down louvers. The water can drain out or evaporate off but the muck has nowhere to go and builds up.
You can't see through the louvers, so the build-up is invisible, eventaully enough to reduce the airflow to the lower portion of the radiator. The only solution at the moment is to clear the muck out on a regular basis, a pain as it requires removal of the whole of the lower fairings. The answer might be to cut a hole (if possible) to allow the muck to fall / vibrate its way out somehow .....but that might only allow more muck in?