For 'GK Owners - Question on Lowers

[redliner1973]

For those with a 'GK. Do you remove your lower cowlings in the summer or leave them on year-round? I have found that during a rainstorm, if they are on, water does not get in my face (open-faced helmet), however, if I leave them off, face area gets drowned with water. Since that means air is being directed around by the lowers, would removing them make the engine run hotter, cooler, the same? Opinions?

[Anonymous]

There has been subtantiial discussion on this forum regarding the cooling benefit of removing the lower fairings on the GK in the summer months. There has been no discussion that I recall about the consequences of rain drenching from the removal of same.

I for one, plan on pulling the lower fairngs off soon for the summer season and find out for myself.

There has been no discussion that I can recall regarding performance implications of just about anything you want to do with the fairings.

RG

[dpep]

I ride without lowers year round and have never encountered rain in the face. Of course I always have a face shield on my open face helmet. I usually peer over the top of windshield, but in a driving rain I may bend a little lower to increase protection.

[focus frenzy]

could it be that the lowers force air to go through the head for better cooling?
without them when the oncoming air hits the head it is forced around the head and the currentrolls up behing the fairing into the vacume that forms behind the screen??

where is a wind tunnel when you need one!

on my voyage the fairing sucks all the heat from the radiator up and in my face.

[dpep]

on my voyage the fairing sucks all the heat from the radiator up and in my face.

That seems to be the pattern on my GK also, and not just the heat. My exhaust developed a leak at the crossover connection under the bike. On my trip back from Las Vegas a couple of years ago, I found myself getting very sleepy and having to pull over during the day. I did not know the source at the time so I made it back sticking my head out to one side or the other to do my serious breathing. It was a situation where the dead air space behind the fairing could have been the deadly air space.

[marczozaya]

Interesting discussion!
I removed my lowers for the season recently for a ride through Death Valley and into Nevada a few weeks ago. I felt more air flow but it was hard to tell if it made that much difference for the bike.

Focus frenzy's suggestion that air might be forced onto the heads to provide better cooling bears some consideration. My thinking was that removing the lowers would allow for the heat around the head do dissipate more freely and allow for more air flow.

Recently I posted a question in the generaal discussion forum about my wife falling asleep while riding on the back of the GK dpep's comment about his experience with exhaust in the fairing air space has me thinking that the exhaust leak that I've been procrastinating about fixing may be the culprit after all. Noticed I had a headache and generally felt off a few times during the trip too and didn't understand why.

I just assumed there is more than enough air flow to take care of exhaust from the bike to worry about it. Time to fix that exhaust!

Thanks again guys for this discussion!

[dpep]

Recently I posted a question in the generaal discussion forum about my wife falling asleep while riding on the back of the GK dpep's comment about his experience with exhaust in the fairing air space has me thinking that the exhaust leak that I've been procrastinating about fixing may be the culprit after all. Noticed I had a headache and generally felt off a few times during the trip too and didn't understand why.

I just assumed there is more than enough air flow to take care of exhaust from the bike to worry about it. Time to fix that exhaust!

Thanks again guys for this discussion!

Do not procrastinate on a brake problem or an exhaust leak. If you don't have time to fix it, take a car.

[Giblet]

Since I do thermal testing of telecomm power equipment for a living I can share a bit of what I have learned. Air cools best when it is moving. Sometimes we place a baffle(s) in a certain position to redirect airflow across the fins on a heatsink. Baffles also can be used (to a point) to speed up air velocity by reducing the area the air has to flow through due to the buildup of pressure on the supply side of the baffle. At some point the restricted area begins to have a negative effect. Point being, lowers on the GK fairings probably do both. Thats why I put mine back on when I got my bike. You have to realize too that the higher the ambient air temperature is, the less heat it will accept. First consideration should always be safety. If exhaust is pooling up behind the fairing you should do what ever is necessary to minimize or get rid of it. I think at one time my brother had a sniffer he used to detect exhaust &/or freon leaks on cars. I'll email him and see if he still has it. That way I could do a driving test & find out at least about the exhaust. If removing the lowers makes you more comfortable and poses no safety risk then do it. It looks really ugly but then we ain't in a beauty pagent here. I may be able that to take some temperature measurements as well to gauge the temperature effect of the lowers. Let me get my electrical issues silved and I'll see if I can't nail down some answers about this.

[redliner1973]

I do have an oil temp guage on the bike, however, all I notice is with the lowers on, the temp goes up faster, but stays at about 200-230 depending on OAT. If I remove them, the temp goes up slower, but It does not stabilise at 200-230, moves between 180-240. I was just wondering if they made a difference that I just wasn't seeing or what..

[Giblet]

Sounds like you are creating turbulance around the oil temp sensor by removing the lowers which could explain the larger temperature swing. I can move units around in my enviromental chamber and sometimes affect temperatures depending on whether or not the units fans are fighting airflow from the chamber circulation fans.