I am from South Africa. It gets pretty hot here.
As high heat cycles increases wear on the motor I decided after purchasing a new ZX1400 to look around at recommendations as to how to get a more stable engine temperature.

(Been there, done it) Some twit recommended wrapping the exhaust in thermal rapping. What a counter productive thing to do. It helps a little whiles driving but a couple of minutes after switching the motor off the coolant in the motor starts boiling as the exhaust headers are actually used to convey heat away from the heads.

I then purchased a used fan from a Honda 1000 RR (cost about 55 dollar)and fitted it to the right side of the radiator. The amount of air that is being moved by this fan is about 30% more than the ZX fan. In the past without the wrapping and the 2nd fan, as soon as I got to a situation of 5 bars the ZX fan was not capable to bring the temperature down. Now with the 2nd fan and wrapping that stops about 6 inches from the heads I cannot get the temperature to rise above 4 bars. The 2 fans kick in and within less that 2 minutes it switches off.

I have come to a couple of conclusions : 1. Wrapping and a used fan cost about the same. Used fan (or 2nd fan)works, wrapping does not. 2. The ZX fan is a pissy fan and it is also fitted on the wrong side of the radiator. On the left, is the feed to the motor. Why not fit it on the right where the hot coolant enter the radiator.

I have read in the forums that the ZX does not like traffic. That is a shitty argument. If I end up having to drive in the desert at 30 kph, should I use a horse ?
This is a typical example of a manufacturer wanting to save a couple of bucks or to save less than 1kg. in weight and stuffing a otherwise good product up.

Fit a second fan!!!!!

Sipho - thanks for the post. Can you please provide part numbers and perhaps even a picture of the installation?

Loadedmind
Sorry, I am not going to take it apart again to take pictures. Had to do it twice already as the first try with the thermal wrap did not give the result I wanted. In-situ as is, you will not be able to see anything.

My idea was to buy any fan that would fit. The space you have is a diameter of 195mm and a overall thickness not exceeding 65mm. I was lucky that the fan I got was presented to me. On it was written with a pen Honda 1000RR. I think any second fan will be better than no second fan. I was just lucky to get the one I got. Look for a fan that has the thickest blade thickness that does not exceed a total thickness of 65mm. The blade of the fan I got is about 6mm thicker than the original ZX fan.

The fan was fitted with a Y bracket that I made myself.
The top left of the Y utilizes the existing fan center top bolt.
The top right of the Y, is a hole in the bracket that fits over the Air Bleeder Hose for Thermostat Housing.(The second from top thin pipe below the radiator cap) Fitted a rubber backing behind the bracket and a thin rubber pipe over the radiator pipe to protect it from vibrations. The Air Bleeder hose keep this in place.
The bottom bracket fasten to a piece of aluminum angle that was riveted to the bottom rail of the radiator. The bottom rail does not have a water channel in it. Careful when drilling. There is only about 6mm to the first channel.

Wiring was done as follow:
Splice into the existing fan wires. Run this to a Relay. Connect at 86 and 85 on Relay.
Take live (+) direct from battery through a 15amp fuse to 30 on the Relay. From 87 on Relay run to positive on fan. Negative can be earthed on the frame.

This wiring has a interesting side effect. When the original fan is switched off it spins slower till it stops.
Once the current is cut from the bikes heat sensor, the fan becomes a generator and generate enough electricity to power the relay so that the second fan run for about 15 seconds longer. (Additional Cooling??) Driving at 200kph does not spin the original fan fast enough to operate the Relay.
If you don’t like it you can fit a resistor to stop it from happening.

This installation is very easy to do. If you can weld you can do it. (to make the bracket)

Yeesh - weld job, eh? I don't own a TIG/MIG. Thanks for posting the info nonetheless.

??

Was checking out Hub’s profile. He’s quite an old bokkie. Maybe he must give his comments to a grandkid to read and to see if it makes sense. With old age the brain slows down a bit.

Maybe he does not realize that the world is bigger than the 300km he can travel on a tank of fuel. Bikes are developed for the European and American markets. Not for 38 deg. plus that you get in African and the 1300m plus above sea level.
Sorry Hub, I have not seen snow in 20 Years.

That’s a little better. I might know a little more about boiling point of water than you do.
Sea level 100 deg. C – 1219m above 95.8 deg.C
But that has absolutely nothing to do with it, as the cooling system is pressurized to a specific pressure as per the radiator cap.

The thing that makes the difference is ambient or air temperature. How does a radiator work? Hot water from the engine enters it, and is cooled down by the ambient air temp. that flows through the radiator fins.

Higher altitude equals less air pressure. I.O.W. there is less air to flow through the radiator at altitude than there is at sea level. Meaning that a bike driven at sea level, and one driven at altitude at the same speed, and ambient temperature, will have a difference in heat buildup because of less denser air, meaning, less cooling. Difference is not that big and the standard system should be able to handle it.

If you factor in ambient temperature it makes a huge difference. If the ambient temperature is 38 deg. C you should know, that the airflow, to get the same cooling as at 20 deg. C ambient temp. should be about 3.5 times more.

How do you get more air? By driving faster.
Now you end up having to travel in city traffic at 30 kph. The volume of air that flows though the radiator at 20 deg. C might be adequate to keep the bike temp. stable.
At 38 deg. C, to get the same stable temp. I need to drive at least 105 kph. I don’t think all traffic will be banned from the roads because I need to drive faster to get a stable temp. If I am now forced to drive at 30 kph. the bike will get hot. Remember the altitude is not factored in. If you want I can supply you with all the calculations.

The problem I have with the ZX, and quite a number of other bikes, is that the Fan is fitted on the side of the radiator that feeds the coolant to the motor. By the time the coolant reaches the fan area it might have cooled by 5 deg. or so. Now it ends up with a distance of 200mm where there is an increase of airflow and it can cool down faster, but only for a very short time. That means not a lot of cooling. You should know that the higher the temp. of the coolant the more air energy is needed to bring the temp. down. If the fan is fitted on the right, initial cooling will be faster and less air energy is needed to cool down coolant with lower temp. IE it will be more effective.

I can go on and give you a complete lecture on this, and the effect of temperature expansion of parts and, how bad extreme temp. cycles are for the motor, as well as the effects of air pressure on fuel mixtures, but have better thing to do.

Will not even waste my time to try and figure out where lungs, swim trunks, starbuck and coffee filters come in.

I don’t mind anybody disagreeing with me as long as it makes sense. The forum can be very productive if it is used for constructive purposes.

Over and Out

Hub
What is your native language. Maybe I can get someone to translate it for you. English is not your strong point.
Air flows through the radiator, water flows in the radiator. Where is the air in the radiator????????

lol

I had no idea what he was saying.

You have to work for it, but it's worth it... -bg

Geez....sounds like my friggin "engine limiter speed" discourse.What a HOOT!Went on YouTube and got some good insight on "valve float"...ya...don't wanna go there.....no more high ends runs for my baby ....over and out!

BTW...it gets hotter'n a hornet's nest in Africa....but I also think the Japanese engineers know what they're doing .

Sipho....change that coolant to engine ice or somethin....maybe she'll run a tad cooler for ya....might be worth a try?I ran WaterWetter for a while...course,here,the highest temp is around 85....rarely.I didn't notice any difference with mine.Back to stock coolant for me.

If ya want to try and decipher what our Hub is saying....better bring yer lunch.He knows what he's talking about...but he aint givin it away fer free.Shall I translate for ya?....he's saying stock is the bomb.It'll work anywhere.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 12/22/2010 @ 1:09 PM *

May wantta add a tad bit o' preload there my man....no sense havin to replace a fine set o' seals now .(She's a SPORTBIKE...not a couch)

* Last updated by: blue07 on 12/22/2010 @ 5:17 PM *

Hub I don't really care about the fysiks prerfesser but I have 2 fans on my 14. While it may not run cooler because the fans kick on at the same temp and kick off at the same temp it does kool down kwiker.

"who knew?"....I did.That's why they said..."BETWEEN the upper and lower level marks" .(oops...I did it again...sorry..."I know nothing") .