Just got back a little while ago from some trail riding in my area down near Jordan Lake. This area has some quad trails that I ride on every now and then. After I got my mapping GPS, I couldn't help but notice a good potential trail route that connected a gap between two other trails. The section was about 2.1 miles and required some serious bush whacking to make it through.

The path getting to the start ...



A short quad section:







Now we start off the beaten path.



The air temperature is 100 F and humidity is high. Damn!



About a half-mile in ...



I overheated. Temp warning light lit, fans were running, I decided both bike and rider would take a break.



Pick up a few passengers along the way ...



Back on the trail, or lack thereof. I have no idea what this was, but there were a couple of these in the area. Didn't see any remnants of roads leading in or out, though.



Making progress. This is about a mile in.



This is the second time the bike overheated. For those who don't know my panel, the bulb lit on the right is the temperature warning light. Also, I have the Vapor's coolant sensor on the "hot" side of the engine leading into the left radiator. It's showing 229 F.



Back at it. I'm getting pretty tired at this point. But there was more to go.



This is the 3rd time I overheated. But there was light at the end of the tunnel - I was nearing the track marker I took on a previous ride where I knew the quad trail was that would lead me out. Oh, and a hearty +1 on those Ken Sean folding mirrors. I don't know why it took me so long to pick up a pair of those - well worth every penny. This ride would have been _much_ harder with out them.



Ah, alas. This looked like a superhighway after struggling through the woods, over logs, through briars, getting hung up on vines, and through boggy creeks. My water from my 70 oz camel back was depleted at this point and I was drenched. And once I got a little speed up, the coolant temp dropped back down to a much more comfortable 200 F or so and once back on the road way down to a chilly 153 F.



I will say that it would take a good bit of work to turn that route into a decent trail. Maybe I'll work on that later this fall when the temps cool down a bit.

This represents the typical terrain in my area - eastern woods, with a mix of pine and hardwoods, soft loamy soil in the woods, roots, pretty hot in summer, generally high humidity. A little west of here are the mountains and I've been meaning to get over there and do some ORV trails.

BTW, I couldn't help but notice when I was down near the lake that those boats make a heck of a lot of noise. Makes me wonder why the noise police seem to ignore them but dirt bikes are on the top of their list to eliminate. While I heard the boats just fine from nearly a mile away speeding across the wave tops, I guarantee you they did not hear me.

EDIT: fix image links

 

Great report and pics, thanks!

Why do you think your bike was overheating?

What coolant mods have you made? My guess is you are not running stock fan...right? What fan?

The overheating worries me....

 

I upgraded my gas tank to the 3.2 gallon IMS which required removal of the stock radiator fan in order to make it fit. I made up a replacement using a pair 60 mm high RPM fans mounted in a custom bracket with an aluminum air guide. While these fans have always worked fine in the past, the very low speed brush maneuvering, spinning over logs, tangling up in briars and thickets with near zero air flow from forward motion might have been too much for them. It still might have been too much for even the stock fan, I don't know. It was darn hot out and I was riding it pretty hard while inching over that terrain. The 2.1 mile track took about an hour and a half, just to get an idea of how slow and technical the going was.

I did just recently order another pair of those fans, though and I plan to put another pair on the left radiator. The left radiator is this "hot" side, so they might even actually have a greater cooling effect there.

But just keep an eye on your over temp light. As long as you stop and cool down a little when that comes on, you should be fine.



Edit: fix image link

 

Great story and pics.

The terrain looks fantastic. I do like that type of riding but at that temp. mmmm
You would have slept well that night.

na

 

Are those fans weather proof Brian? The first time I saw that rig I was like "Pfft. Yeah right. Those are computer fans." I didn't think they'd last through the first puddle, but to my surprise you're still running em.
They must not be your typical PC fan...??

 

Actually, those in the photo are PC fans and turn at over 4000 RPM. They've taken quite a beating, doused by heavy thunderstorm down pours, water crossings, etc, and they've kept running. But I'm kind've surprised they've stood up after all this time and relatively harsh environment compared to what they were designed for.

As you may know, Todd (bmwhd), our moderator, did the first IMS 3.2g tank install and I followed his instructions for fitting the tank. However, he had yet to find a solution to the fan problem. I came up with the solution in the photo and made the bracket shown and also made Todd one and mailed it to him. Todd did me one better and was able to find a weatherproof version of a fan of the same size and specs. He sent me the part number but I'd been lax on ordering and replacing mine, but it has been something that has been in the back of my mind. I know the PC fans aren't designed for this harsh abuse and I doubt they will last.

So last week, I ordered 4 of those fans Todd found. My plan was to use all four fans, replacing my original two and adding two to the left side radiator increase flow. Sometimes I have a plan or idea to do something but it doesn't materialize unless I see there being a real benefit. After yesterday's ride and overheating three times, I am right now at this very moment adding the other two fans. Also, I think I've come up with a better mounting scheme, eliminating the need for the bracket all together, which is nice since there are no bracket mounting supports on the left side radiator. I'll try and follow-up with some photos afterwards.

But yes, you are right - those are PC fans and while they've lasted longer than I anticipated, they are quite durable. I did seal the back side with red RTV silicone, though, so that may have helped. And while those are still working fine, I am in the process of replacing with weatherproof versions.

 

Second pair of fans mounted. I just spread apart some of the cooling fins and slipped a screw through, used some black RTV silicone sealer behind the washer and let it set up good before tightening it down. The nuts are only finger tight and I'll keep an eye on them before tightening down any firture. They really shouldn't be needed with the silicone holding the screw in place. Radiators are fagile so I don't really want to use it for structural support, but I think this will work since the fans are very very light and there's not much to hold. I redid the right radiator the same way.

I took a test ride a little bit ago and they seem to work fine. The kicked on quite a bit throughout the ride but I never saw the temp get to red where the overtemp light turns on.

Back side with the fans - I put a stripe of white-out so I could tell more easily when they are on. They are very quiet so you can't hear them like the stock fan.



Front side - you can see the sealant squishing out from under the washers.




Edit: fix image links

 

Nobrakes, those are some awesome pics man.... Kind of makes me want to go get a KLX to go with my ZX10. I love looking at the pics all you KLX guys post up. Have you figured out how to mount a fishing pole on that thing?? lol

Nice work on the bike... They actually make a radiator tie down kit just for the installation of fans and and coolers. You can get the kit at any autoparts stores for about $7 bucks or so... Don't know if it would have worked for your application. Looks good man...

.

 

Hey thanks BigRig. I've found tons of great fishin holes while out riding. The only problem is I have two boys that are fishin' age, and a third getting close, so that precludes a lot of the good spots I've found since they'd shoot me if I went out fishing without them. And while I could take just one, that'd be out of the question also.

Thanks for the tip on radiator tie downs - I never even knew such a thing existed. I'll definitely check them out.

 

http://www.thepartsbin.com/sitemap/b...ler~parts.html

There's a link that shows what they look like. We use them on our dirt track race car, so they are durable.

Ya, I understand about the fishing. lol... Me and my boy just went last week. He caught his first turtle. It was awesome. He had a grin from ear to ear. So did I!! We ended up bringing home some trout and some large mouth bass....




[IMG]local://upfiles/1248/AF814F782CED48CFAF20C06238F030C9.jpg[/IMG]