another stupid newbie question

[Pierre - Team PMR]

Do you guys have working radiator fans?  The race bike I bought doenst have a radiator fan and I was just wondering if it was needed for racing.  I know, kinda stupid question, but just want to be sure

[Dave_Alexander]

Fans are really only useful for stop and go traffic.  If you're moving, like when racing, the fan actually impedes the airflow a bit.  For this reason most full-time racebikes run with the fan removed.  You just need to keep your eye on the temp if you're stuck on the grid for a while.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

     I removed my fans too but took it a step further, I changed to Evans coolant. This stuff doesn't boil till something like 370* and has a much better thermal transition of heat from your engines metal parts to the coolant and helps to eliminate hot spots that form when water based coolants begins to boil. I was sitting on the Grid at MAM this summer when it was literally 100* outside and my bikes temp was staying very reasonable without a fan. Another advantage of Evans is that you don't have to take it out of the bike in the winter, it doesn't freeze till way below 0*. All this and it's legal for use with CCS!

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

Mike is there a shop that sells Evans in stock? Preferably around Madison.:D

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

Mike is there a shop that sells Evans in stock? Preferably around Madison.:D

     I personally don't know of anyone who sells the stuff locally, I ordered mine directly from Evans. I should also point out that the stuff is kinda expensive, but is a one time investment well worth it! If I remember correctly the stuff is like $25 per gallon (I think there is a quantity discount also? so talk a buddy into doing it too!) and there's a hitch to it's proper use. You must drain your bike completely, refill with straight water, run the engine till hot, then do it all over again to make sure there is not any chemicals in the system at all. After this your supposed to drain all the water out of the bike that you can possibly remove and fill with the Evans coolant. Then you run the engine till hot (to make sure the thermostat opens), let the engine cool down, and drain the Evans coolant out as well as you can. Save the Evans coolant that you drain out for future use (make sure and identify this stuff as the flush coolant). Sadly your not supposed to use the stuff that you flush out the engine with for anything other than that purpose. At $25 per gallon it's a definate temptation to use it in your engine, but don't! The reason for doing this is to remove as much of the water from your cooling system as humanly possible. The stuff used to flush with will contain water to some degree and is not desirable for the best use of this coolant. The nice thing is that if you keep the small quantity you used to flush with, you can use it in the future for other bikes that you need to flush (such as your buddies bikes for a small nominal fee- like dinner!).
     Once you switch to this stuff (which is a cool purple color) you cannot ever add water to it to 'top it off', you need to have some extra Evans coolant with you for topping off or fills after major spills. This isn't saying that you can't ever go back to a water based coolant, just that you need to remove this stuff first if you want to for some crazy reason. Also this coolant is envirionmentally freindly and won't kill ya if you drink it (even though not suggested).
     The website has some very technical info about the stuff and why you don't want water in the system at all. The individual I delt with on the phone was really knowledgable and nice to talk to and got the stuff out on UPS the same day. Their phone # is 888-990-2665, and the web address is www.EvansCooling.com.

[r6_philly]

unless of course if you race both WERA and CCS, then Evans is not allowed (in WERA). Just want to point out.

Water works well enough... even without the fan. When is below 70 outside, my bike actually runs cooler than normal operating temp when out on the track.

[MightyDuc Racing]

Buy an air-cooled bike.   ;D

[Jeff]

Evans is absolutely the ticket.  I've been running it for 3 years now.

WERA blows.  If the AMA and CCS can see that Evans is fine, what's WERAs problem?  Somebody owns too much stock in Redline...

www.evanscooling.com is the only place I've seen it sold.  I know there are some distributors, but you won't find any local in WI.  

I should have my 5 GAL drum next week :-)

[Super Dave]

Why aren't you guys going to Wal-Mart and buying Sierra?  It's a whole lot cheaper.

Pierre, no fan it no problem.  I've seen some bikes melt the fans.

I'm working on my air cooled bike.  And who needs valves for that matter.

[RC51Racer]

The Sierra is about $7 - 8 a gallon, the Evans $25 a gallon.  Same stuff, and you can get the Sierra (others available as well) st your local Wal-Mart.

Mike

[Pierre - Team PMR]

The Sierra is about $7 - 8 a gallon, the Evans $25 a gallon.  Same stuff, and you can get the Sierra (others available as well) st your local Wal-Mart.

Mike

Is that really the same stuff with the same boiling point?

[Super Dave]

Propylene Glycol.  It might be mixed with water.  That's what Engine Ice is, for $31 a gallon or something.

Bottomline, it is legal, it is very slippery, and it will not expand when it reaches it's freezing point...it contracts.  

You wanna use Water Wetter...use Palmolive...same active ingredients.

[RC51Racer]

Thanks Dave...couldn't remember how to spell it..... ;D