When riding at 90+ degrees the heat radiating from the engine area was a bit much for me. After reading about the Phoenix Police Dept ST1300 Heat issues in MCN (2010) and the information about heat issues here on ST-Owners I started on my quest to reduce the heat.
The area that got to me the most was the high temp at the sides of the tank (tank pads area). Always kept my knees off the pads when hot, but even the radiant heat was high.
Over the last couple years I tried numerous materials under the tank: ?? bubbles-double sided alum foil insulation, 3/16? carbon fiber cloth, DynaMat, and Nomex cloth.
None of these materials made a significant improvement, especially the high temp cloths, (except to reduce my discretionary income
), then (boing ) I realize that although they can with stand flame and high temps they were porous and the heat just past thru them.
One day while drinking a very hot Dunkin Donuts coffee it hit me how my hand felt no heat thru the styrofoam cup. So I cut up a bunch of DD sty-foam cups, flattened them with a luke warm clothes iron, then double-sided taped them to another layer to make a sty-foam sandwhich. (see photo)
I cut out shapes and adhered them to the inside of the tank area (photo) using Scotch Mounting tape.
Finally, I bought the Baker Air-Wings that a number of you recommended here. I wasn?t wild about their looks but being red and translucent they look decent on my bike (photo).
The results are impressive: 1st, my tanks pads are much cooler; 2nd, I can control the amount of air scooped in across my knees and upper legs. Another plus for the Air-Wings was that this Winter I kept them folded in tight to the fairing and it drove cold air out around my legs more and allowed for a little more heat from the fairing vent to drift on me.
The area that got to me the most was the high temp at the sides of the tank (tank pads area). Always kept my knees off the pads when hot, but even the radiant heat was high.
Over the last couple years I tried numerous materials under the tank: ?? bubbles-double sided alum foil insulation, 3/16? carbon fiber cloth, DynaMat, and Nomex cloth.
None of these materials made a significant improvement, especially the high temp cloths, (except to reduce my discretionary income
), then (boing ) I realize that although they can with stand flame and high temps they were porous and the heat just past thru them.One day while drinking a very hot Dunkin Donuts coffee it hit me how my hand felt no heat thru the styrofoam cup. So I cut up a bunch of DD sty-foam cups, flattened them with a luke warm clothes iron, then double-sided taped them to another layer to make a sty-foam sandwhich. (see photo)
I cut out shapes and adhered them to the inside of the tank area (photo) using Scotch Mounting tape.
Finally, I bought the Baker Air-Wings that a number of you recommended here. I wasn?t wild about their looks but being red and translucent they look decent on my bike (photo).
The results are impressive:
1st, my tanks pads are much cooler; 2nd, I can control the amount of air scooped in across my knees and upper legs. Another plus for the Air-Wings was that this Winter I kept them folded in tight to the fairing and it drove cold air out around my legs more and allowed for a little more heat from the fairing vent to drift on me.
