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Is this cool or naff ??

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rickm
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Is this cool or naff ??

#1 PostAuthor: rickm » Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:25 am

OK, so I’ve fitted this oil cooler “kit” which I purchased at the NEC show last year.
I’ve adapted the bracketry to enable the radiator to be inverted to prevent draining overnight and “dry” start-ups which can occur with hoses coming out from underneath the radiator.
As you can see, it sits well up in the airflow and away from the exhaust headers and other hot engine parts, so should work pretty efficiently. Taking function over form I’m happy with things... except it does look a bit agricultural at the moment !
The hoses are quite thick, and therefore won’t easily route under the tank along the frame rails. The biggest problem is getting them past or under the front of the tank.
I've looked at getting some 180 degree adapters to effectively lower the hose as it comes off the radiator, making it easier to tuck under the tank, but can’t seem to find anything that I could just bolt on.

Guess I could just leave it as is? At least it’s different, and the hoses don't actually touch the tank !
Any suggestions / comments welcome.
I’m not precious about this, so be honest !

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H2B GPZ900R

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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#2 PostAuthor: Gonzo » Mon Jul 16, 2018 12:46 pm

I've always thought that visible pipes from oil coolers look a bit naff / cluttered.
Some bikes have them hidden up under the tank / over the top of the engine, which looks better but strikes me as defeating the object of the cooler in the first place.
So, my answer to your question is; yours look naff and especially so being that high up as they detract from the rather lovely tank.

'Just sayin'!
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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#3 PostAuthor: Julian_Boolean » Mon Jul 16, 2018 12:54 pm

They look a bit naff, I've run mine under the tank and out through the opposite side triangle to the wiring loom, but I have the bare minimum of wiring rather than the inch thick loom that Kawasaki thought was needed.
Why not get non flexible metal hoses made up like Kawasaki did for the GPZs?
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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#4 PostAuthor: rickm » Mon Jul 16, 2018 1:20 pm

I tend to agree, they can't stay where they are at the moment.
Taking Gonzo's point, I also don't want to negate the effect of having a cooler in the first place by routing the hoses all around the hot parts if I can avoid it.
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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#5 PostAuthor: rickm » Mon Jul 16, 2018 1:39 pm

Julian_Boolean wrote: I have the bare minimum of wiring rather than the inch thick loom that Kawasaki thought was needed

Yes, next winter's job is to simplify the wiring as much as poss !
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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#6 PostAuthor: Big Fluff » Mon Jul 16, 2018 4:27 pm

I've made copper tubes before to run between the frame rails with small flexis on the ends to the cooler.
This means you can run the same ID, you can hide them, and they're cheap and fun to fabricate.
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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#7 PostAuthor: chrisNI » Mon Jul 16, 2018 4:59 pm

Kawasaki ran them over the top of the engine on the standard cooler

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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#8 PostAuthor: ADRIAN H » Mon Jul 16, 2018 5:29 pm

chrisNI wrote:Kawasaki ran them over the top of the engine on the standard cooler


+1 over the top best route.
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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#9 PostAuthor: FER » Mon Jul 16, 2018 6:14 pm

Just a thought , look at how they were run on the original '81 bike . Change the fittings to allow the hose to run down the back of the cooler , along the lower frame rail and up the back into the engine . Do that and they never get in the way .
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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#10 PostAuthor: rickm » Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:17 am

Thanks for all of the suggestions (and honest feedback!).
I know that on the GPZs the pipes went up and over the top, and on some other models they went down, under and round the back of the engine. I want to at least keep them away from the exhaust headers if poss. A lot of aftermarket kits run then round the side of the engine, which will likely keep them in cooler air, but the visual impact raises mixed opinions?
I don't have the equipment to fabricate some copper pipes that I would be confident would seal at both ends.
I think I'm going to have to somehow tuck them under the tank. It's not too bad on the right side, but the fuel tap interferes more on the left.
I'll keep you posted with some more pics as and when I get it sorted !
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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#11 PostAuthor: Julian_Boolean » Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:25 am

When I got my Z the oil cooler lines ran round the left side of the engine and were very close to the exhaust headers, I think it worked more like an exhaust heater than cooler.
Using the same hoses mine now runs over the top with the hoses running between the coil mounting plates, the bike now runs much, much cooler - but it has had a top end rebuild, new ignition and carbs as well.
I like the idea of replacing the hoses with pipes - I'd probably use stainless steel rather than copper, the steel pipes would help dissipate the heat and you could have quite tight bends without worrying about kinking the pipes.
The other thing I'm considering is altering my spare (leaky) petrol tank so that the base of the tank is further from the head, which would allow more cooling air around the head, the tank would still look the same from the outside but the base on the inside will be at least an inch higher, I also want to move the fuel tap to behind the carbs.
I may also be going a bit mad with the modifications and should really be concentrating on stopping the carbs leaking fuel.
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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#12 PostAuthor: rickm » Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:50 am

Julian_Boolean wrote:When I got my Z the oil cooler lines ran round the left side of the engine and were very close to the exhaust headers, I think it worked more like an exhaust heater than cooler.
Using the same hoses mine now runs over the top with the hoses running between the coil mounting plates, the bike now runs much, much cooler - but it has had a top end rebuild, new ignition and carbs as well.


I presume the hoses run through the frame above where the horns used to mount?
I guess you can do this with only the necessary (minimal) wiring !
Couldn't post up a picture could you?
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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#13 PostAuthor: chrisNI » Tue Jul 17, 2018 11:09 am

On the standard R the hoses exit the bottom of the cooler and then curls back up over the engine and down between the carbs.They don't go through where the wiring goes. These pics shows (just about) one doing the same route with steel hose and after market cooler. Hope this helps...

z1pb113.jpg


z1PB116.jpg

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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#14 PostAuthor: rickm » Tue Jul 17, 2018 11:26 am

That's interesting, the hoses run right behind the engine block gathering all that heat.
This is kinda what I'm trying to avoid !
At the moment I've routed mine behind the carbs, one between 1 & 2 and the other between 3 & 4, and then curling forward to the take-off. Currently the radiator is sitting too high to feed the hoses under that part of the frame (with the hoses coming out at the top, which I'd like to keep).

Nice bike by the way :up
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Re: Is this cool or naff ??

#15 PostAuthor: Julian_Boolean » Tue Jul 17, 2018 12:18 pm

I'll try to remember to take a picture, no idea where the horns should be as my bike is far from standard, from memory I've got the wiring loom going through the right hand triangle of frame tubes and the cooler hoses through the left triangle, my cooler feeds are at the top of the cooler.
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