Cooling the bike

[cad600]

Anyone have cooling issues? If you live in the south, you more than likely do. And the FZR radiator does little to inspire confidence. I thought the best swap was going to be a YZF600 rad. But as it turns out, it's not that much bigger. People have done some interesting radiators, so I thought I would share the little bit I've found. Unfortunatly I don't have a picture of the YZF rad as it's mounted to the bike, but a ZX7R radiator might be a better solution.



Measurements:
FZR600 - 16-3/4" x 7-5/8" = 127.72 sq. inches (.887 sq. ft.) of cooling surface
YZF600 - 15-1/2" x 8-1/2" = 131.75 sq. inched (.915 sq. ft.) of cooling surface
ZX7R - 16-3/4" x 12-3/4" = 213.56 sq. inches (1.483 sq. ft.) of cooling surface

Now all of these radiators are about the same thickness (within a 1/4") so you can see that the YZF isn't much better than the FZR. But the ZX7R offers nearly twice the cooling capacity. The ZX7R is curved so we'll see how mounting goes. Just thought more people would be interested.

[95FZR600]

I know spyder installed the zx7 but it stuck out to much. Are you trying to conceal it behind the fairings? If I were doing the ZX7 I would want to hide it like the stocker radiator.
And spyder's bike didnt have any side fairings on so maybe thats why I didnt care for the look.

[cad600]

Spyder used a newer ZX6 Radiator I think. But they are probably close to the same size. I know the swap has be done before and I think it can be hidden in the fairings. The biggest issue is going to be the tube routing. It's not that easy with the YZF and I'm expecting the ZX7 to be just as difficult. But if it's not going to fit in the fairings, I'll start searching for a third option. The manual switch may still be a better solution. If nothing else, it would definatly be cheaper.

[95FZR600]

I plan on doing the switch to turn the fan on because like you said, the traffic and heat sucks in Atlanta.

[sweekster]

That's a BIG difference. Not sure that will fit behind the fairings but I could be wrong about that. I do know of the CBR F2 radiator being able to fit even with fairings on. Would be an awesome mod if that can be pulled off.

[FasterThanUr]

Im using a O5 R6 radiator I got for $50 bucks off E-Bay.It has two fans and dose a good job cooling the bike.I dose stick out a little on the bottom and has a couple extra hoses not used.Heres a couple of pics I took right now..

[haunter]

Im using a O5 R6 radiator I got for $50 bucks off E-Bay.It has two fans and dose a good job cooling the bike.I dose stick out a little on the bottom and has a couple extra hoses not used.Heres a couple of pics I took right now..

what did you do about the lines?

I have a late model R6 one and it runs backwards of the current one on the bike....

[95FZR600]

Is it larger in capacity?

[FasterThanUr]

The r6 has bigger hoses and looks a lot like that 7R rad.I used the existing hosing routed it like it is in the pics and slid a pice of copper into the hose and than slid the whole hose into the bigger one that go's to the rad.
These are the best pics I can get without pulling off my upper.

[megaloxana]

Are we talking about cooling issues at a stand still(ie traffic) or cooling issues while riding?

[Spyder]

Spyder used a newer ZX6 Radiator I think.

Old post but just figured Id clerify that I did use a 636 radiator, not a ZX7.

[cad600]

Old post but just figured Id clerify that I did use a 636 radiator, not a ZX7.

Hey there Spyder. Got a question for you about this. Were you able to mount the fan with the radiator? The ZX7 radiator I have will fit with out much problem, but only if I don't use the fan. The curvature of the rad itself gets in the way here. Just wondering what you experienced.

[reelrazor]

I've been looking thru the piles of used heater cores at my buddy's auto repair shop (he saves ones he takes out and sells for scrap and by winter's end has a nice pile).

Some of them look like they would make nice supplemental radiators...I know the one for my truck was only $21-all aluminum.

Just an idea.

[the_finch]

The 1990 ZX-7 Radiator I won on ebay two months ago was just $35 shipped.

And someone (I think Haunter) sold me a newer R6 radiator a long time ago that I might rob the dual fan setup off of for the conversion.

After finals get over in a few weeks I'm mounting that sucker...

[Spyder]

Old post but just figured Id clerify that I did use a 636 radiator, not a ZX7.

Hey there Spyder. Got a question for you about this. Were you able to mount the fan with the radiator? The ZX7 radiator I have will fit with out much problem, but only if I don't use the fan. The curvature of the rad itself gets in the way here. Just wondering what you experienced.

Im running 2 YZF600r fans w/custom mounts.. I had to shoe horn them in as tight as I could so I could keep the bottom end of the rad away from the tire. Got them both hard wired to a mini toggle, not that it ever needs it..