I was concerned at the temps I was seeing on my new to me 02 XX. It would climb up to 225* temps, and then cool down, and this was in 50* weather, stop and go traffic, with me at the head of the line at each light.


After some research here, I was offered by "The Duck" info from his fan section on his build project (Thank you very much!!). I saw he used two after market fans, so I decided to do the same, but with two similar SPAL fans like one of the ones he had used. I also decided to flush the cooling system with vinegar and distilled water. The results are drastic. It took 5+ minutes before from the time the fan turned on, till it shut off. Now, it takes less than 2 minutes. I have 1/2" clearance between headers and fan brackets, and there is no issue with it from my testing. I also removed the factory tab that was mounted on top of the radiator to protect the factory fan. I see it as an obstruction of air flow for the oil cooler now.

I had planned on changing out all of my standard bulbs for LED's to lessen the load on the electrical system in preparation of installing the twin fans setup, as well as a safety factor. I had only changed out the tail lights prior to the initial run of the new fan setup. The factory settings of when the fans are to turn on/off are -
On - 208*-216*
Off - 199*-207*

Mine WAS at 215*/205*. I say WAS, because I changed out the headlights from H7 blues, to LED's. After the swap, now my fans come on at 210*, and off at 200*. Very interesting. I have included pics of my work, and some links to videos.

Here is a link to the video of the first run after the new fans were installed, with cooling system purged of all air, and topped off correctly -
Work :: First Run Clean & Flush, Water Wetter, New Fans video by wildman926 - Photobucket

Here is a link to the video to show (very hard to see if at all) that the H7 light stays almost the same, when the fans turn on/off -
Work :: First Run New Fans, Affect On Charging System video by wildman926 - Photobucket

Here is a link to the video that shows the lowered temps of when the fans turn on/off -
Work :: Cooling After LED Headlight Install video by wildman926 - Photobucket



org fan setup.jpgnew fan setup.jpgfan header clearance.jpgno rad center tab2.jpgno rad center tab.jpg

nice work. Weird how changing to LED's droped the temp 5 deg. Could you tell me around the running temp in traffic. I can't pull up the videos on my phone for some reason. . . .

Nice work.

I need to do something to my bird too, as seeing 230 Fahrenheit and higher makes me cringe... Even driving around behind cars at speeds slower than I'd like I can see 200. (cruising at my own pace it hangs at 185)

This is a project for a few months from now, but It will probably be based on this. Nice job... I will also be installing a manual fan switch so when I know I'll be sitting for a while I can preemptively put the fan on.

I have had the bike a very short while, and have taken it for a short ride after I got him home 100 miles from where I bought it. But, while bringing it home, and on that short ride before the maintenance, it would climb up to 225*, in 50* weather. I was very uncomfortable with that as it only leaves 25* window before shut down.

The temps always go down while riding, it was while still that worried me.

I have not taken it for a ride yet, as I am waiting on parts, which should be tomorrow (master chain link).

Originally Posted by tomfraser

I need to do something to my bird too, as seeing 230 Fahrenheit and higher makes me cringe... Even driving around behind cars at speeds slower than I'd like I can see 200. (cruising at my own pace it hangs at 185)

This is a project for a few months from now, but It will probably be based on this. Nice job... I will also be installing a manual fan switch so when I know I'll be sitting for a while I can preemptively put the fan on.

I have a manual switch on standby, if needed. But honestly, I don't think it is necessary, as I had the bike running for over an hour idling, and it never got above 217* with the new fans installed, and 212* with the leds (running idling for 20 min). I believe the new fans, Water Wetter, new coolant, and clean and flush has cured the problem.

Originally Posted by Uglystick

Nice work.

Thank you very much.

The one thing to note, the factory fan has numbers on it that read "3303a" as it may indicate 330 cfm, 3 amps. The SPAL fans that I have installed are rated at 342 cfm, 4 amps. So I have doubled the air flow across the radiator, and the load on the system. That is why I wanted to LED so the second fan would not hinder the electrical system.

Here are a couple of pics on the LED headlights. They don't do the LED's justice, as they are much brighter than what the pic shows, and almost impossible to look at. The second pic shows the top bulb still the H7 blue to compare. It is really not a comparison in person. The LED's are brighter hands down.

LED headlights.jpgLED Blue H7.jpg

Yes very nice work.
I am pleased to see you managed to find sufficient space behind the rad, the std headers are an 'unknown' to me so you have contributed a very useful bit of info to the 'Bird pool of knowledge' that resides 'here'.

Glad the info was useful

To help everyone out, I used the following parts -

SPAL USA
SPAL Fan 5.5" 342cfm, 4a VA31-A101-46A

Flex-a-lite 32124 - Flex-a-lite Trimline Bracket Kits - Overview - SummitRacing.com
Flexalite Mounting Brackets 32124

I soldered the hot/red wires of the fans to the Black/Blue wire of the factory connector, the Ground/Black from the fans to the Black of the factory connector, and then heat shrinked them separately, then together. I used the factory mounting points and screws on the top directly to the fans, and cut the brackets to fit for the bottom using the factory screw, and fan connecting points using another longer set of screws/nuts. I also used flat washers, lock washers, and "blue" Loctite on all screws and nuts to keep things in their place. HTH...

So i take it your running 3 fans now. Factory and the 2 supplemental?

HI, what is the diameter of the standard fan? my thunderace that i am breaking has twin fans .

Wild man, I went down a different pathetic and installed a much larger fan on the outside of the radiator. Mine is a daily and it gets a mix of major stop start traffic in the middle of Sydney but then it gets freeway use as I live 1 1/2hrs out of Sydney.

The temps didn't change at all whilst riding in traffic, maybe a little lower thanks to the water wetter but at lights the temps will still climb but when the fan cuts in they drop very quickly.

I used to see 125degrees C but the most I've had is 105 . I've had this setup for about 6mths.

Very interested in your LEDs any links to the types you got

Thanks for your great write up

I used 2 fans, removing the single factory fan.

The diameter of the factory fan is 7.5" or 38mm.

The LED's for the headlights were off of Ebay, H7 SMD LED. You want the SMD type. Here is the link -
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

One thing I left out that I noticed while putting the fairings on, is that I used a .15 " or 3.8mm washer between the lower mounting bracket and the engine, where it bolts to the engine. I did this to get extra clearance between the fan brackets and the headers, as I was nervous about the fan brackets being too close to the headers. It did not interfere with the mounting of the oil cooler. There is also a .5" or 12.7mm space between the lower radiator and the center fairing brace. Here is a pic of the two.

Lwr Fan Bracket Spacer.jpgradiator center fairing clrnce.jpg