Plastic radiator fins/guards - do they help cooling or not ?

[DeeCee]

Does anyone have information that shows the plastic radiator fins/guards assist with cooling ?

I ride in a hot desert environment so need all the cooling I can get. Seems the fins/guards may restrict airflow rather than assist.

Any comments or reference to previous threads most appreciated

[tweav]

I've always thought that they were there for protection more then anything. As far as better cooling I can't see that they could help much , if they do at all . If your bike gets hot put on some small fans

[Chickenhauler]

Does anyone have information that shows the plastic radiator fins/guards assist with cooling ?

I ride in a hot desert environment so need all the cooling I can get. Seems the fins/guards may restrict airflow rather than assist.

Any comments or reference to previous threads most appreciated

The little plastic louvers are more preventing roost and stones, etc from impacting the face of the radiator and damaging the cooling fins than improving cooling efficiency.

If you're having overheating problems you can try products such as Water Wetter, or another coolant that raises boiling temps...maybe oversized rads for extreme situations like you may be encountering (sand, heavy drag, high temps, etc)

[WR_Dave]

Another thing to do to help cooling is make sure your jetting isn't too lean, use the Water Wetter or Engine Ice and maybe make some fan shroud extensions to catch more air. I saw that the factory race bikes had the leading 2-3 inches from another set of fan shrouds riveted to them to grab more air. If you ride in the sand alot, have you washed the sand dust out of the radiators to keep them clean and improve air flow? The small fans are also a good idea. Good Luck -- WR Dave

[jetin]

I don´t know about deserts. The finns stops mud from goggling the radiators, yammaha don,t boil or overheat at muddy tracs, they work fine. In sweden ther is a race in november, Gotlands grand national. Very muddy. My bike did fine. My bros Kawazaki overheated.

here you can see for your self

skål

jetin

[SID013]

Does anyone have information that shows the plastic radiator fins/guards assist with cooling ?

I ride in a hot desert environment so need all the cooling I can get. Seems the fins/guards may restrict airflow rather than assist.

Any comments or reference to previous threads most appreciated

I removed my original radiator plastics to fit the radiator guards & also use Engine Ice as I ride in beach/sandy conditions. I have been considering fitting the Polisport front fender below which looks like it could improve airflow to the rads.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

[WR_Dave]

I just zip-tied the original fins back onto the rad guards and trimmed the bottom corners where the front fender touched them until it didn't touch anymore. It keeps the mub from getting into the rad core and plugging it up. WR Dave.