three modification defeat hot air

1. tank，cover the airbox and frame with fiberglass, which is coated by aluminized paper.I think it will prevent the tank from hot air. frame may be hotter and tank should cooler.




2. seat, fiberglass two.



3. seat cover, the cover is 7mm thick, the big hole will allow cold air go through and cool the seat down.




the temperature in Guangzhou China is 20-30C(68-86F) now, will know if these modifications works next summer.

Look forward to your results. I don't know the ST13 that well but will the lower tank get too hot?

Interesting seat cover material... Have you ridden much with it? How does it feel from a general comfort standpoint?

I've had the "foil" over the airboxes on both the 10 & 12 for several years. I find that the tanks don't boil as much.

I think they get hotter than the pre '08 bikes do. I still say they added more to the cats in the '08 & later exhausts!

paulcb said:

Look forward to your results. I don't know the ST13 that well but will the lower tank get too hot?

Interesting seat cover material... Have you ridden much with it? How does it feel from a general comfort standpoint?

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The fiberglass did not change the air flow, it just prevent tank from hot air, the air heat fiberglass instead of tank. the lower tank may as hot as before.

the seat cover material is well known in China, it is similar to the honeycomb structure, almost all rider can buy a seat cover made of this material, I buy this kind of seat cover several years ago.
advantage:
1.you can feel cool air down you butt when ride, of course with thin pants.
2.if you park you bike under sunshine for a while, the black seat will be very hot. you will feel no heat with this seat cover on you bike. you can park your bike anywhere, no need to find shade.
3.in the rain, the seat will not too much wet.

disadvantages:
1.you may slide forward when very hard brake, but I think it is not a big deal.
2.after you wash your bike, the cover may contain some water in it, keep wet for a while.
3.you must use some force when install the seat on your bike because it is 7mm thick.

Here is a photo of an expensive tank foil product. They offer an even more expensive gold coloured foil as well. I don't think that there reflective properties would surpass the multilayer insulative abilities of our improvised barriers. Here is also a shot of the bottom of a Corbin. Taping Reflectix to the bottom helps a bit,,, not a lot,,, but still a worthwhile effort,,, Cat'

We have a product called Bead Rider here - wood or ceramic beads bout 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter woven together into a mat that is strapped over the seat. This promotes air flow under the rider and supposedly distributes the pressure and 'massages' you as you move slightly while riding. Downside is that they are VERY slippery, the ceramic one can get hot in sunlight (though most of us wear heavy pants that will protect the skin), and for vertically challenged riders who can only touch the ground with their toes, the bead rider adds about 12 to 13 mm to the height of the bike's seat.

I've noticed the welcome cooling effect, and the additional seat height. If you don't remove it every week or two and wipe down the seat, you end up with a dirty seat and dimples in the seat's foam and covering.

Catmandu2 said:

Here is a photo of an expensive tank foil product. They offer an even more expensive gold coloured foil as well. I don't think that there reflective properties would surpass the multilayer insulative abilities of our improvised barriers. Here is also a shot of the bottom of a Corbin. Taping Reflectix to the bottom helps a bit,,, not a lot,,, but still a worthwhile effort,,, Cat'

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your tank looks great, hope it is not too much expensive!

but you can not see the fiberglass under the tank unless you lift it up, the fiberglass cost me no more than 10USD, and it can cover two tanks and two seats.

SMSW said:

We have a product called Bead Rider here - wood or ceramic beads bout 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter woven together into a mat that is strapped over the seat. This promotes air flow under the rider and supposedly distributes the pressure and 'massages' you as you move slightly while riding. Downside is that they are VERY slippery, the ceramic one can get hot in sunlight (though most of us wear heavy pants that will protect the skin), and for vertically challenged riders who can only touch the ground with their toes, the bead rider adds about 12 to 13 mm to the height of the bike's seat.

I've noticed the welcome cooling effect, and the additional seat height. If you don't remove it every week or two and wipe down the seat, you end up with a dirty seat and dimples in the seat's foam and covering.

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slippery is a big problem, beads will roll between you and the seat.
dimples in the seat's foam and covering is another problem.
honeycomb structure material is a good solution, it not too much slippery, it is soft will not leave dimples, it is not hot at all, it is only 7-8mm thick, and it is cheap, cost me only no more than 10USD.

Where did you buy the seat material?

DavidR8 said:

Where did you buy the seat material?

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I am living in Guangzhou China, buy seat cover from taobao.com. link: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z09.2.0.0.215920fsvIm4K&id=532113370041&_u=ju01gfefc1

50RMB, about 7.7USD, ship included.

robinyu said:

I am living in Guangzhou China, buy seat cover from taobao.com. link: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z09.2.0.0.215920fsvIm4K&id=532113370041&_u=ju01gfefc1

50RMB, about 7.7USD, ship included.

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Thank you for the link, however, I would wager that most of us over here do not speak your language (or read it) as well as you speak ours. This plastic mesh might be available on eBay - does this have a specific name, or brand that we can use in the search box?

SMSW said:

Thank you for the link, however, I would wager that most of us over here do not speak your language (or read it) as well as you speak ours. This plastic mesh might be available on eBay - does this have a specific name, or brand that we can use in the search box?

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I used Chrome's Translate to English feature. Works pretty good. Should give you enough info to do some Googling.

SMSW said:

Thank you for the link, however, I would wager that most of us over here do not speak your language (or read it) as well as you speak ours. This plastic mesh might be available on eBay - does this have a specific name, or brand that we can use in the search box?

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the seat cover I buy from Taobao has no brand, it is made in very small factory.
sorry I don't know the name of the material, after search eBay with lot's of keyword, found two item:

one locate in japan: link:https://www.ebay.com/itm/LK-Zielogan-Coolsum-3D-Cooling-Ventilation-Seat-Cover-Black-1-Piece-/263118547362?hash=item3d431669a2:g:-ucAAOSwZ0NZbHtX&vxp=mtr

the other locate in Vietnam:link:https://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-BLACK-SEAT-COVER-SIT-FLY-FOR-SYM-JOYMAX-125-250-300-GILERA-NEXUS-500-/172622036629?hash=item2831133e95:g:cicAAOSwzgBYx4RC&vxp=mtr

they use the same material as my seat cover. you can try contact seller, ask if they can produce some seat cover for motorcycle.

If you want, I can buy a seat cover from Taobao, and ship it to you. I don't know how much ship will cost.

I would be careful with modifications that transfer load or transfer heat. The load is still there and the heat is still there. With high performance aircraft, structure cracks occasionally appear. The easy fix is to reinforce the area of the crack which then transfers the load to another area that could catastrophically fail. Blocking heat from the tank, a large heat sink sometimes, puts it somewhere else.

paulcb said:

I used Chrome's Translate to English feature. Works pretty good. Should give you enough info to do some Googling.

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Never even thought to try that. Thanks!

SMSW said:

Thank you for the link, however, I would wager that most of us over here do not speak your language (or read it) as well as you speak ours. This plastic mesh might be available on eBay - does this have a specific name, or brand that we can use in the search box?

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try this keyword: Breathable Mesh

I found this on Bang good....

https://www.banggood.com/Motorcycle-Seat-Cover-Waterproof-Breathable-Motorcycle-Sun-Cushion-p-921724.html?rmmds=search

might be the same.

I just looked at the Vietnam ebay listing...it does look the same.

or this....in different sizes:

https://www.banggood.com/3D-Motorcycle-Scooter-Seat-Cover-Net-Breathable-Protector-Black-p-1057651.html?rmmds=detail-left-hotproducts

klaproth said:

or this....in different sizes:

https://www.banggood.com/3D-Motorcycle-Scooter-Seat-Cover-Net-Breathable-Protector-Black-p-1057651.html?rmmds=detail-left-hotproducts

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Yes,this item looks good. but my seat cover is special for a particular type of motorcycle, CF650TRG(made in china) has same seat size as ST1300.
wish the xxl size of this seat cover fit ST1300.

Catmandu2 said:

Here is a photo of an expensive tank foil product. They offer an even more expensive gold coloured foil as well. I don't think that there reflective properties would surpass the multilayer insulative abilities of our improvised barriers. Here is also a shot of the bottom of a Corbin. Taping Reflectix to the bottom helps a bit,,, not a lot,,, but still a worthwhile effort,,, Cat'

Click to expand...

You can do the same thing with Mylar bubble wrap for almost nothing. Mine was free as it was packing material for some lab supplies I received. Still have some. Did mine 13 years ago, works great. Just be aware that it is conductive.