Post by oldchopperguy on Jun 1, 2013 1:52:42 GMT -5
Guys and Gals...
While "Lil' Bubba" has been down for repairs, I decided to make mods to the fan-scoop and exhaust which have been "growing a beard" for several seasons, waiting for some scooter down-time.
I've had good results with a fan-scoop now for 4 seasons. I believe it will work even better with about a 2-inch extension behind it, to put it past the floor-plastics at speed, and, away from the hot exhaust header when sitting at a red-light.
I made an extension from a 4" female/female PVC coupler cut to length. I ground off the shoulder inside, and painted the inside black to hide all that white color. I wrapped the outside in chrome trim tape from Auto-Zone, to match the chrome fan-cover I replaced the original with.
I beveled the ends to self-center the extension in the scoop, and on the other end, center in the small "boss" around the fan-cover stone-guard.
To prevent the long mounting-screws from breaking off the mounting "ears" on the scoop, I made stand-offs from hollow anodized knitting needles, with small O-rings at each end. I made short stand-offs to go into the countersunk scoop tab-holes too, so the stress is where it belongs, and to keep the screw-heads from buggering up the chrome. Now, the screws can be snugged down tight without breaking anything.
For screws, I used LONG 10-24 stainless machine-screws cut to length and tapered on the ends to make them self-tapping.
Here are some pix... They're pretty self-explanatory.
Here's the scoop, on the extension, on the stock cover...
Here's the scoop and extension with stand-offs...
Here's a detail of the rear. You can see the white PVC where I beveled the edge, and the stand-offs. The chrome tape looks doggone-near "factory". Amazing!
Here's a detail of the long screws with ends tapered with a grinder, while spinning them in my fingers. Also, the purple-anodized knitting-needle stand-offs for between the scoop and the fan-cover, and, between the screw-heads and scoop countersunk holes. Wish I could have found RED ones... Couldn't, so purple has to do... Precision, square-cutting these perfectly is EASY with an X-Acto miter-box and razor-saw!
Here's the EXTENDED scoop mounted on the scooter. You can see it now extends past the plastic, and past the hot exhaust. As a final cosmetic trim, I stretched a 3" O-ring around the extension, at the fan-cover. A small detail, but it seals the junction, and, looks "finished"! I'll do another thread on the exhaust too...
That's the scoop mod... I do think it will help keep the engine temp down some. The stock scoop was good, and this setup should be even better. You could just use long screws for this, but I think they'd exert TOO much leverage, breaking the mounting ears. The stand-offs relieve all stress. They also give the thing an old-school blower-drive look that I like.
Hope this mod may be of interest to y'all, especially if you ride in HOT climates like I do...
Leo (keepin' it cool) in Texas
While "Lil' Bubba" has been down for repairs, I decided to make mods to the fan-scoop and exhaust which have been "growing a beard" for several seasons, waiting for some scooter down-time.
I've had good results with a fan-scoop now for 4 seasons. I believe it will work even better with about a 2-inch extension behind it, to put it past the floor-plastics at speed, and, away from the hot exhaust header when sitting at a red-light.
I made an extension from a 4" female/female PVC coupler cut to length. I ground off the shoulder inside, and painted the inside black to hide all that white color. I wrapped the outside in chrome trim tape from Auto-Zone, to match the chrome fan-cover I replaced the original with.
I beveled the ends to self-center the extension in the scoop, and on the other end, center in the small "boss" around the fan-cover stone-guard.
To prevent the long mounting-screws from breaking off the mounting "ears" on the scoop, I made stand-offs from hollow anodized knitting needles, with small O-rings at each end. I made short stand-offs to go into the countersunk scoop tab-holes too, so the stress is where it belongs, and to keep the screw-heads from buggering up the chrome. Now, the screws can be snugged down tight without breaking anything.
For screws, I used LONG 10-24 stainless machine-screws cut to length and tapered on the ends to make them self-tapping.
Here are some pix... They're pretty self-explanatory.
Here's the scoop, on the extension, on the stock cover...
Here's the scoop and extension with stand-offs...
Here's a detail of the rear. You can see the white PVC where I beveled the edge, and the stand-offs. The chrome tape looks doggone-near "factory". Amazing!
Here's a detail of the long screws with ends tapered with a grinder, while spinning them in my fingers. Also, the purple-anodized knitting-needle stand-offs for between the scoop and the fan-cover, and, between the screw-heads and scoop countersunk holes. Wish I could have found RED ones... Couldn't, so purple has to do... Precision, square-cutting these perfectly is EASY with an X-Acto miter-box and razor-saw!
Here's the EXTENDED scoop mounted on the scooter. You can see it now extends past the plastic, and past the hot exhaust. As a final cosmetic trim, I stretched a 3" O-ring around the extension, at the fan-cover. A small detail, but it seals the junction, and, looks "finished"! I'll do another thread on the exhaust too...
That's the scoop mod... I do think it will help keep the engine temp down some. The stock scoop was good, and this setup should be even better. You could just use long screws for this, but I think they'd exert TOO much leverage, breaking the mounting ears. The stand-offs relieve all stress. They also give the thing an old-school blower-drive look that I like.
Hope this mod may be of interest to y'all, especially if you ride in HOT climates like I do...
Leo (keepin' it cool) in Texas
jet
