| Author | Message | ||
     Etennuly |
My '06 Uly fan died at 9:12 am Sunday August 26, 2007. It was a solumn occasion, the bike fully packed for the return trip to East Tennessee from Northern Pennsylvania. The fuel tank was full and I was dressed in full gear ready to get on the way. Two of my riding buddies from up there met me at a gas station as I watched the last plume of smoke rise from what was once a pretty good fan. The bike, a 2006 Ulysses, was dressed in orange with a full complement of HB bags loaded to the hilt with stuff. The route was planned only as South on some roads, none of them being interstate highways. To the bikes favor was an oil tank adorned with HD 60W. Filled to the lower end of the dipstick it was complemented with a pint of LUCAS heavy duty additive. This was done to wart off any evaporation of oil in the heads as things were about to get warm. Plans set, riders in place, trip on! It started in Northern Pa. at 9:30 on old rt 6 at about 60 degrees with some fog. Riding on it didn't get to 85F until about 2:00. I knew I could ride the Uly in a way to retard the build up of heat the fan is supposed to fight. The bigger issues that cause excessive heat are; ambient temperatures, going too fast, overcoming aerodynamic drag, going up long hills, riding in slow traffic, stop lights, and stopping/shutting off the engine. Most of the issues could be handled by pulling in the clutch and letting the bike coast from speed while idling, allowing the oil to circulate while producing little heat. I would ride a distance back from cars in front of me and to the side for clean air to the engine. I rode first, that way I could time street lights and stops from a distance to again pull in the clutch and idle in. As I pulled into gas stations, or for break stops I idled in and shut off the engine as it coasted to a stop. We took two days to ride 645 miles and I kept the bike under 60 MPH all of the way. 59-60 seems to be the optimum speed to get enough air and produce the least heat for a given speed. I only have the left side factory scoop. The Uly performed flawlessly. It never once became hot enough to hit the "run/skip" mode. I lost no oil at all. I checked it every time we stopped and it never showed any signs of overheating. This bike is very capable of "limping" home with a fan failure with no long term damage if it is prepped correctly(heavy oil) and handled with care. I had figured at the beginning of this "no fan" adventure that I would be calling the wife to make a long journey with a trailer to rescue me, but one step at a time the Uly pulled through.  Just got it back from the dealer today with new fan installed and a couple of loose bolts, but what the heck, I got wrenches. | ||
| Alchemy |
Interesting to hear your techniques. Did you remove the fan to facilitate air-flo or leave it in place. Sounds like you left it. I would not have thought to add heavier oil but I guess that makes sense as it will be running hotter and the higher viscosity thin the oil less. I have not considered viscosity in relation to temperature but it makes some sense. I usually think of it related to the mechanical aspects of the engine and the designed oil flow patterns. I may have learned something. I take it the loose bolts were from the dealer work and not the heat. | ||
| Teeps |
Etennuly, Was the engine hard to start at refueling stops? I have pondered the cooling fan's true purpose, other than what is suggested. Though I have yet to conduct my own testing, with the fan removed, (too lazy) I suggest that the fan's true reason for being there is 2 fold. First; and I think most important, it prevents the fuel boiling in the fuel lines. I believe this is for hot restarts, and emissions. Second; to remove "some" heat, at engine shut down, to prevent oil coking on top of the head. Too bad we can't see Buell's test data, regarding heat management, and how it relates to the operation of the fan. Obviously, things work as presented. But that wailing fan...!  (Message edited by teeps on September 01, 2007) | ||
| Etennuly |
The fan was in place, and as usual following a dealer repair, it is a good idea to go over everything that was done. No biggie, just a loose Battery cable and a nut missing on the ECM mount. It seems to me that the fan's main purpose is to cool the rear cylinder when it reaches a given temperature. When shutting it down it will cool it quicker to keep residual oil in the head from boiling away. I am certain that when you shut it off, the temperatures go way up for a time as the air flow through the head and exhaust pipe have stopped, and the resident heat in the metals are retained until the air flow from the environment cool them. There is not much chance of that happening given the location of the rear head and cylinder. The bike started every time with no signs of being too hot. I did not let it get overheated though. When ever we stopped for fuel I would push it away from the gas pump to the store front and usually we took about half hour breaks. I don't recommend running with out the fan, but it can be done with out damage if you take the right precautions. | ||
| Aeholton |
When I went up to Barber back in April '06, my fan quit on the way up just north of Montgomery, AL. We continued on, rode around there for 3 days and rode the ~600 miles back home (Palm Harbor) via my dad's house near Panama City. Not once did it go into the "run/skip" mode. Like you I tried not to get stuck in much traffic and keep it moving. If I would have had the RSS back then, I wouldn't have worried as much. | ||
| Windrider |
Etennuly and Ashelton, Thanks for the post. I have suspected that this could be done without killing the bike. Another "workaround" would be to remove the Right side scoop altogether to allow more air in and heat out. Short term, get you home solution for a fan failure on the road. |
