Gen 1, Removing Vents, Increasing heat flow for winter?

[maxtog]

Thanks!   I did take them off, and I did have the extra two bolts and washers hidden away in the foam pieces in the back of the vents.  And I do like the looks without them!  I haven't tested them yet, but at this point if I get a little extra warmth out of the sides this time of year, it'll be a bonus.

This is fascinating.  I had no idea of any of this about the 1gen C14.  Including the screws like that makes it obvious they intended the user to be able to swap them on/off like that.  Kinda neat.

[VirginiaJim]

Very few owners had those bolts...  I am not one of them.

[maxtog]

Very few owners had those bolts...  I am not one of them.

Sounds like it could have been a later production change where they realized the user would need them and then added them (or in reverse).  Or perhaps they could somehow "escape" their storage location and get lost.

[lonekazoo]

I feel like a lottery winner to have the free bolts.

When the vent comes off, the longer lower bolt fits in the upper hole, so you if didn't get them, you only need a shorter bolt for the lower hole.

Here's where they were hiding (this is the longer bolt put back in the foam).

George

[PeteTN_zgtr]

I tried it last winter and again during the summer. With them off I found it colder in winter and hotter in summer. So they stay on now. And I think it looks much better with them on anyway!

Pete

[VirginiaJim]

Ah, someone with some good sense at last.

[VirginiaJim]

Sounds like it could have been a later production change where they realized the user would need them and then added them (or in reverse).  Or perhaps they could somehow "escape" their storage location and get lost.

It's either that or they added them in afterwards and then stopped that.  I bought my bike in early August 07 and it didn't have them.

[lather]

My 08 purchased in Oct. 07 had the extra bolts. Hoping to reduce the heat on my legs I experimented. Rode around for a week in July with one deflector on and one off. It only changed the part of my leg that got the heat - lower leg with them, lower thigh and knee without. But the difference was negligible so I left them both off for cosmetic reasons. I later purchased the foam inserts designed by a member here and the leg heat issue is now resolved..

[MAN OF BLUES]

It's either that or they added them in afterwards and then stopped that.  I bought my bike in early August 07 and it didn't have them.

I bought mine 7/7/07
This is kinda why I started the thread to list purchase dates, seril numbers, and locations.,
I believe I reported the extra bolts and removal shortly after I got mine, I've had the deflectors off for years, packed in a file cabinet....

[Tremainiac]

Just pulled them off my 09. No bolts. Lowes, Advance Auto..... No bolts. 
Try a marine supply next.
Or just put the darn things back on.

[B.D.F.]

The early run of '08's has the extra, shorter screws as well as much better looking riders overall. The late '08's and '09's do not have the extra bolts or, of course, the sharp people riding them, on average. Kawasaki must have used the whole box of screws and the guy in charge of those screws quit before they were replenished.

2010's and later do not have the screws, removable deflectors or high quality riders generally.

Fudger riders spend all of their time looking for a sixth gear and so are not concerned about screws in general, or specifically the one they got when they bought that..... thing.

It is a cold, cruel world and there is not much that can be done about it.

Brian (yep, bored tonight)

Once you remove the deflectors you're going to need some new screws to fill the holes of the old stock screws as the stockers are too long to fit properly. Before you run out and get some screws check inside of the deflectors. There's been reports of some folks finding the screws that they need there. Not on mine though. I picked up some stainless steel screws at the hardware store.

[Evert]

you are amazing, how on earth do you know all the things you know, kipass by-pass, low fuel eliminator, etc., etc.??

[VirginiaJim]

He's been around for awhile...

[lonekazoo]

Took an evening ride with the deflectors off, air temperature was in the mid 40's, and I find myself agreeing with Pete.  While there may be a little more engine heat spilling onto the knees, quite a bit more cold air hits them as well.  Overall, I think it felt colder, but I'm going to leave them off for a while.

Maybe that's why they quit including the bolts:  The effect they were intending is not really dramatic enough to warrant it as a "feature."

[Conrad]

It's a good thing that I'm SO much better than average...   

The early run of '08's has the extra, shorter screws as well as much better looking riders overall. The late '08's and '09's do not have the extra bolts or, of course, the sharp people riding them, on average. Kawasaki must have used the whole box of screws and the guy in charge of those screws quit before they were replenished.

2010's and later do not have the screws, removable deflectors or high quality riders generally.

Fudger riders spend all of their time looking for a sixth gear and so are not concerned about screws in general, or specifically the one they got when they bought that..... thing.

It is a cold, cruel world and there is not much that can be done about it.

Brian (yep, bored tonight)

[B.D.F.]

If you mean me, well I have had the bike for quite a while and I like to tinker with it and <perhaps>improve things here and there.

The bypass came about because I would not accept that occasionally the bike would just leave someone stranded.

The low fuel eliminator is because I do not care for the way Kawasaki warns (read: threatens) us and then withholds information (the range). I do not like machinery making decisions for me. Machinery (mechanical, electrical, electronic, whatever type) is a servant, not a master.

And a lot of work and study as to how these systems work followed by finding methods to modify them; it is not all that easy to alter fixed, sealed systems successfully.

Otherwise, it is just my basic nature to want to know how things work. Everything in fact. When I was a kid it seemed like an achievable goal but as I got older I caught on that the more I learned, the more there was to learn and so I simply won't live long enough to know how everything works. Of course we have to couple that with the fact that I am counting on smart people figuring out the complex stuff and passing it along to the rest of us and the most disappointing thing of all is that they do not know how it all works either. But I still truly enjoy learning about things, systems and how they got to be as they are, and there is new stuff to study and tinker with everyday. And I take great pride that my species (homo sapiens sapiens, see sig. line) always has and continues to do simply amazing things.

See, Know, Remember. It works every single time :-)

Brian

you are amazing, how on earth do you know all the things you know, kipass by-pass, low fuel eliminator, etc., etc.??

[Evert]

You're the man, Brian! Thank God for people like you willing and able to figure out things that amaze dunces like me.

Ps-that goes for Fred Harmon as well.

Evert

[B.D.F.]

Thanks for the kind words but again, I am just tinkering around with what others had to conjure up in the first place. Take the four- bar system on a C-14 rear wheel- that took some smart guy to come up with the concept. It actually moves the center of rotation of the rear wheel against the chassis to out in front of the front wheel, thereby making torque reaction ('shaft jacking') so small as to be virtually gone. When I saw that I had to sit down and think about it for a while before I even figured out what it did and why it was made as it was.

And most of us have stronger and weaker points too- one of my many faults is the inability to execute or even usually appreciate art. It is just lost on me and I literally do not 'see' it even though I am looking directly at it. So good thing there are others out there who do appreciate and can execute art; if it were left to me and my kind (mechanical thinkers) there just would not be any art in the world. And even I appreciate Da Vinci- who else could draw a horse's butt so well that you virtually have to stop and stare at it? That man was a true genius for many reasons but not the least of which is he could make even an art resistant dunce such as myself appreciate..... well, art. :-)

I think Fred's long suit is the application of a sequence and methodology to a task. He is very good IMO in laying out a route and a plan to accomplish a given job, say changing a wheel on a specific motorcycle for example, and putting it in virtually an outline form. Sort of like a good military manual- follow the steps, know when each one is complete and then move to the next. It seems simple but getting the idea across to a large cross section of people successfully in not simple; I have written my shave of instructions, guides and documentation and I find it difficult to convey the idea of a task into specific portions that are not too quick and simple
( Step 1) remove engine)
or too slow and plodding
( Step 8492) turn bolt number 95938 exactly 13.2 revolutions to the left. We will now define 'left' in this circumstance). German documentation tends to be like this and it is a wonderful sleeping aid but a poor field manual. 

Brian

You're the man, Brian! Thank God for people like you willing and able to figure out things that amaze dunces like me.

Ps-that goes for Fred Harmon as well.

Evert

[martin_14]

...
( Step 1) remove engine)
or too slow and plodding
( Step 8492) turn bolt number 95938 exactly 13.2 revolutions to the left. We will now define 'left' in this circumstance). German documentation tends to be like this and it is a wonderful sleeping aid but a poor field manual. 

Brian

+10E10

[whatcom]

I ride year round even when snowing and found the bike warmer with the vents on my 08. The trick for me was in the cold months to take the foam inserts out, two screws in the fairing each side by the feet, reroutes the radiator heat to the feet, i never had cold feet in the winter!