heat management of 06

[PerfectBlueride]

Looks good to me :glare:

 

[Warchild]

Hmmmmm.... these three photos have my interest....

So my question is.... which one of you 2006 owners have taken your FJR through some serious rain?

Anyone yet?

 

[ionbeam]

Is this a picture of Mother of a Whistler? The air flow over the bottom side of the W where the noise is generated?

 

[mindtrip]

Hmmmmm.... these three photos have my interest....So my question is.... which one of you 2006 owners have taken your FJR through some serious rain?

Anyone yet?

No major rains yet, but not without trying! I've gone out on weekend rides when it looked for sure like it was going to storm like a mutha-bleep-er, but the rain seems to want to stay off the FJR! Maybe this is a new change from my T'bird, where I seemed to hit massive rain on what started out as sunny and dry days!

Anybody have any opinions on the adjustable fairings, as to which position is best in cold/hot weather? I've ridden with them both ways, and have even tried riding one open/one closed, then switching them. The Yamaha website is decidedly lacking on information regarding this feature, though IIRC I saw somewhere that they suggested the open position would be cooler as it would direct more air away from the rider's legs. However, subjectively it seems like open is warmer, and I suspect it's because the open cowels create a bigger negative-pressure space behind them, thus sucking air from the engine right to my shins. But it's somewhat difficult to tell which is hotter/colder. I've tried to figure out ways to objectively measure this, including with those forehead thermometers strapped to my shins, or having my GF try to shoot my shins with an IR thermometer while we ride, but can't think of a good way to measure this in riding conditions.

 

[Luke]

Drove through very heavy rain for 20 miles at 80mph, moderate rain 15 miles at 60mph, light rain 50 miles at 80mph and also light rain 30 miles at 50-60mph. No problems at all. Didn't notice water coming through the vent but it probably does. The rider side of the shield is dry and think all else within the shield's airflow protection stays dry too. The bike felt firmly planted and stable even in hard rain at 80mph!

 

[TheAxeman]

Not to get off topic but does anybody know what the control knob below the glove box is in this pic?

 

[twowheelnut]

The rider side of the shield is dry and think all else within the shield's airflow protection stays dry too.

Now, that's impressive! Earlier models suck in and splat not only rain, but bugs, too!

Heated grips, Axe.

 

[TAPnTX]

Uh, hate to tell you this but someone stole your clutch lever!!!

Todd

 

[STL FJR]

So my question is.... which one of you 2006 owners have taken your FJR through some serious rain?
Anyone yet?

Petey has ... we all rode in the rain all day last Saturday. He seemed pleased.

 

[Feejer/Weejer man]

If Yamaha conceded no heat issues with all the other models why all the changes?

 

[Fencer]

Not to get off topic but does anybody know what the control knob below the glove box is in this pic?

This is a pic of an AE. The knob is the controller for the standard heated grips

Anybody have any opinions on the adjustable fairings, as to which position is best in cold/hot weather? I've ridden with them both ways, and have even tried riding one open/one closed, then switching them. The Yamaha website is decidedly lacking on information regarding this feature, though IIRC I saw somewhere that they suggested the open position would be cooler as it would direct more air away from the rider's legs. However, subjectively it seems like open is warmer, and I suspect it's because the open cowels create a bigger negative-pressure space behind them, thus sucking air from the engine right to my shins. But it's somewhat difficult to tell which is hotter/colder. I've tried to figure out ways to objectively measure this, including with those forehead thermometers strapped to my shins, or having my GF try to shoot my shins with an IR thermometer while we ride, but can't think of a good way to measure this in riding conditions.

I agree open is warmer (blocking more wind) & therefore open for winter close for summer. I don't think the faring adjustment is to manage heat from the bike but to control wind flow over the rider.

Like these on ebay

ebay

 

[crizyal]

It is definately warmer with the flaps open. I agree that it creates a larger area of neg pressure (less air flow). I noticed that you can feel engine heat much better when the shield is up, when it is compleatly down I have no heat at all.

 

[Unixguy]

Drove through very heavy rain for 20 miles at 80mph, moderate rain 15 miles at 60mph, light rain 50 miles at 80mph and also light rain 30 miles at 50-60mph. No problems at all. Didn't notice water coming through the vent but it probably does. The rider side of the shield is dry and think all else within the shield's airflow protection stays dry too. The bike felt firmly planted and stable even in hard rain at 80mph!

I've studied and been a fan of the notion of laminar flow since I installed a Parabellum windshield package on my K75RT 8 years ago. That was such an improvement over the stock windscreen behind that big fairing I took notice (I'm also a sailor since my youth, and have studied airflow around sails) and have made observations on all my bikes since regarding what works and what doesn't. In general I will posit that most bike manufacturers don't have a blue clue about what makes for clean windscreen airflow and good protection with the smallest amount of windscreen.

I just took delivery of an '06 last week, and have been checking the airflow when I think of it. I would seem that with the substantial gaps below the "W" and the screen in general that there would be a pretty good potential for laminar flow (a clean airstream coming up the back side of the windshield) but so far I haven't seen much. Part of it is going into the vent intake that feeds the outlet under the instruments, and I'm going to experiement with blocking that and see what it does to the airflow up the back side of the screen. That being said, all of the venting does alleviate any significant low pressure zones behind that screen that might cause a lot of rain to be sucked in.

Having also had a K1200RS and an R1100RT in the past, I will simply state that the 2006 FJR windscreen is hands down the cleanest airflow and the best protection in all positions that I have experienced. When down the airflow is reasonably clean but I wouldn't mind if it went down just a bit more (I'm 5'10" with a long torso and short legs). When it's part-way up the airflow is slightly turbulent but tolerable (ride a BMW GS sometime if you want to experience head bobbing turbulence). When it's all the way up it creates an amazing calm space that only marginally effects the handling of the bike, whereas the R1100RT practically sucks the rider into the instrument pod with back pressure when it's all the way up.

Cheers.

Rob

 

[Ari Rankum]

I just took delivery of an '06 last week, and have been checking the airflow when I think of it. I would seem that with the substantial gaps below the "W" and the screen in general that there would be a pretty good potential for laminar flow (a clean airstream coming up the back side of the windshield) but so far I haven't seen much.

There's a new (to me) phenomenon that came with my '06. Bugs now get smeared on both sides of the windscreen. While the ones impacting the windward side of the screen tend to splat, the ones impacting the inside tend to smear in long streaks. While harder to clean up than smoke contrails (but tastier), bugs provide strong evidence for good laminar flow up the backside of the screen.

 

[TnLS]

Not to get off topic but does anybody know what the control knob below the glove box is in this pic?

This is a pic of an AE. The knob is the controller for the standard heated grips

So I suppose this might be a good place for me to put my gerbings heat controller or datel volt meter? What do ya'll think??

 

[Luke]

TwoWheelNut, and others,

I don't know what I was thinking before (I must be getting older :blink: ), but when I woke up this morning it occurred to me that what I posted earlier wasn't correct. The sight of the windscreen in the rain flashed across my memory and I have to say that the inside of the shield was indeed wet. The water looked as if it were pushed from the right and left edges to form a static line of water vertically on the shield. Kinda looked like the spine of a back. But the water did not appear to move anywhere else. I was not bothered by any water spray etc. In fact I lowered the screen a few times and then back up in order to force some direct air across my helmet to clear off some static water droplets from the face shield. As stated before, there was no problems caused by the improved airflow, but the shield was wet on both sides.

 

[MadDogMcQ]

I too noticed that in addition to the bugs splattered on the front of the bike, I also get them splattered on the clocks! :wacko:

 

[ponyfool]

Holy thread resurrection!

I noticed that the other day too, several dead bugs around the dash area. Better there than on me though!

 

[nubfjr]

we hit some big time rain in WV last week and i didn't notice anything bad about the protection against it. I have a +2 Cee baileys windshield and have it on the topmost position and my jacket was mostly dry when i rode 80 miles in it. I have a bmw Rallye 2 suit so that kept me pretty dry. But the shield was ok and didn't see any water "pouring" through those ventilated areas