OP
OP
Starting to wind up this project. Have been riding the bike for some 2,000 Kms now and all is well.
Installed new to me Aspy muffler that unfortunately had the extension resonator removed. This resonator is a miniature glass pack muffler that cuts the sound of the GW. I took the ones from the old exhaust system and have them installed in a temperary fashion and will come up with a more permanent solution as I get her completed.
Here are some pics of the new to me exhaust system. The chrome is in excellent shape.
I have the rad extended about 1" at the bottom and 1/2" at the top. To move the top out I took a new hose and made the connection to the rad a 1/2" longer. Works well and looks great. I was able to use a hose from NAPA for the bottom connections.
With the rad extended out I believe I have room to put in a different rad fan. This should also assist in roviding a good cooling system. I have been corresponding with SilverDave (from the GWDoc site) by PM and it appears that the Honda engineers have designed the 1200 system to operate at a temp gauge range of 5 bars when cruising. When the system heats up in traffic and such, the fan when should be sufficient to bring the temp of the cooling system back to 5 bars. I read in the owners manual that the operating range of the 1200 LTD is between 2 and 8 bars. If the temp gauge goes to 9 bars, immediately shut the bike down and investigate.
I have also had the a new rad core installed. Some old pictures. These pictures do not look that bad, but when I held the core up to the light, the restriction in the tubes was very apparent.
This has helped as has the install of a new thermostat from Honda. I probably could have just had the core cleaned, but the price wasn't that much cheaper (remember I'm in Canada) and with the amount of other work I've done, I should now have trouble free motoring from the cooling system. I also installed a rad fan manual switch that I do use to get a jump on cooling in heavy traffic scenarios. The system does cool down from 6 bars to 4 bars after getting back on the highway. There is also an LED fan on indicator light installed (thanks to SilverDave's schematic). Just another way to monitor the operation of the system.
I have removed the aftermarket rad cover. I measured the air restriction from the aftermarket grill and found it to reduce the cooling area by about 18%, a significant amount for a cooling system that is just large enough for the 1200. I have been operating the bike with no rad cover (the OEM is just a mesh that might stop extra big bugs). I think this is helping a lot as well. Here are some pics of the OEM and aftermarket rad grills. The after market rad grill has 17 slats that 1/8" by 10". The rad size is 10" by 11". OEM rad cover first
Aftermarket rad cover looks good, but as has been said, need all the cooling possible.
I was able to use the original lower fairing rad mounting brackets. To keep the lower fairings from spreading and consequently losing the fairing piece between the two lower outer fairings, I installed a 1" aluminum flat bar between the sides as a safety measure.
I modified the lower left fairing with a heat gun. This enabled me to push the fairing out to clear the alternator. I had to shave a bit off the forward louvers to miss the alternator pulley. Other than these small adjustments, this fairing fits well.
The alternator starts charging around 2000 to 2400 RPM. When at idle, around 1000 RPM, pretty much on battery. Bring it up to approximately 1200 RPM and get a full charge going. I have a 4" crank pulley and 2" alt pulley.
There is no alternator whine that I have noticed.
I have earmarked Thursday this week to take off the lower fairings, inspect and make sure all is well.
Overall very pleased with the results.
Cheers
Installed new to me Aspy muffler that unfortunately had the extension resonator removed. This resonator is a miniature glass pack muffler that cuts the sound of the GW. I took the ones from the old exhaust system and have them installed in a temperary fashion and will come up with a more permanent solution as I get her completed.
Here are some pics of the new to me exhaust system. The chrome is in excellent shape.
I have the rad extended about 1" at the bottom and 1/2" at the top. To move the top out I took a new hose and made the connection to the rad a 1/2" longer. Works well and looks great. I was able to use a hose from NAPA for the bottom connections.
With the rad extended out I believe I have room to put in a different rad fan. This should also assist in roviding a good cooling system. I have been corresponding with SilverDave (from the GWDoc site) by PM and it appears that the Honda engineers have designed the 1200 system to operate at a temp gauge range of 5 bars when cruising. When the system heats up in traffic and such, the fan when should be sufficient to bring the temp of the cooling system back to 5 bars. I read in the owners manual that the operating range of the 1200 LTD is between 2 and 8 bars. If the temp gauge goes to 9 bars, immediately shut the bike down and investigate.
I have also had the a new rad core installed. Some old pictures. These pictures do not look that bad, but when I held the core up to the light, the restriction in the tubes was very apparent.
This has helped as has the install of a new thermostat from Honda. I probably could have just had the core cleaned, but the price wasn't that much cheaper (remember I'm in Canada) and with the amount of other work I've done, I should now have trouble free motoring from the cooling system. I also installed a rad fan manual switch that I do use to get a jump on cooling in heavy traffic scenarios. The system does cool down from 6 bars to 4 bars after getting back on the highway. There is also an LED fan on indicator light installed (thanks to SilverDave's schematic). Just another way to monitor the operation of the system.
I have removed the aftermarket rad cover. I measured the air restriction from the aftermarket grill and found it to reduce the cooling area by about 18%, a significant amount for a cooling system that is just large enough for the 1200. I have been operating the bike with no rad cover (the OEM is just a mesh that might stop extra big bugs). I think this is helping a lot as well. Here are some pics of the OEM and aftermarket rad grills. The after market rad grill has 17 slats that 1/8" by 10". The rad size is 10" by 11". OEM rad cover first
Aftermarket rad cover looks good, but as has been said, need all the cooling possible.
I was able to use the original lower fairing rad mounting brackets. To keep the lower fairings from spreading and consequently losing the fairing piece between the two lower outer fairings, I installed a 1" aluminum flat bar between the sides as a safety measure.
I modified the lower left fairing with a heat gun. This enabled me to push the fairing out to clear the alternator. I had to shave a bit off the forward louvers to miss the alternator pulley. Other than these small adjustments, this fairing fits well.
The alternator starts charging around 2000 to 2400 RPM. When at idle, around 1000 RPM, pretty much on battery. Bring it up to approximately 1200 RPM and get a full charge going. I have a 4" crank pulley and 2" alt pulley.
There is no alternator whine that I have noticed.
I have earmarked Thursday this week to take off the lower fairings, inspect and make sure all is well.
Overall very pleased with the results.
Cheers
