Well, a success and a failure.

I was finally able to get the new fan/radiator installed. The fan housing is hard against the intake, but it is in there.

However, when I was bringing the bike up to temperature (in the garage) I developed a coolant leak. It didn't occur until I pretty much was at running temperature, but once it started it got worse. It is coming from the thermostat cover (and maybe from the lower hose, but that may also be the dripping from the thermostat). Tried to tighten the bolts just a bit and it got a little worse (but the temperature/pressure was also getting higher). Loosened them a bit and it went back to a steady drip. And if I loosened a bit more it became a stream.

Not sure what the torque spec is for those cover bolts because the manual doesn't say. I'd used 9 NM similar to the drain plug, but I probably should have used 7 NM like the water pump housing. It doesn't sound like much of a difference, but it may be enough. I'll get another gasket and find out what the actual torque should be and give it another go.

BTW, I couldn't tell if the fan was running or not. The thermometer dipstick was at 80 degs C, and while I know that is not the crankcase temperature, I'm hoping it is a relative proxy. When I was riding before, that gauge read about 80 when it was warmed up, and the temperature light started flickering around 85 or so.

I should have realized it just by looking at your photo, but I removed the bracket and traced it both in the normal configuration and reversed. The result is about a half an inch offset. that doesn't look like it would help. However, that offset would mean the top bolt holes wouldn't line up anymore..

KpartsHolland website photo.


The mounting plate flopped.


What a typical plate/fan installation looks like before it's mounted on the radiator.

I should have realized it just by looking at your photo, but I removed the bracket and traced it both in the normal configuration and reversed. The result is about a half an inch offset. that doesn't look like it would help. However, that offset would mean the top bolt holes wouldn't line up anymore.

K Parts Holland got back to me and said they'll research it.

Oh, and I boiled the old thermostat and it opened, very slowly. So slowly that I couldn't tell at what point it started. But at 212 degs it was fully open.

And, I noticed a small rubber gasket (not the cover plate gasket) that was flat on one side. Not sure if that could have been interfering with the correct operation.

Good writeup. I'd read that before and I believe it was the first I'd read about the SPAL fan. The fan I have looks similar and came with the mounting bracket installed, but the fan has a different part number.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by flipping the bracket and mounting it on the other side. If that means mounting it to the front it would be pulling air the wrong way and (probably) it would interfere with the cowling.

Whatever solution is it will be constrained by the existing radiator mounting points and the hoses.

I've e-mailed K Parts Holland hoping that since this was their design and it has been working they can politely tell me what an idiot I am and how to fix it (the fan, not the idiot part).

Getting everything apart was straightforward. Replacing the thermostat and fan was straight forward. Reinstalling the radiator is another story.

The Spal fan motor body contacts the air intake so that I can't get the mounting screw anywhere near where it needs to be. The rubbers are intact and the little hooked feet of the radiator slot onto them but the radiator/fan assembly can't rotate into place.

I hadn't read that this was a problem with Spal replacement, and this new one comes with the correct mounting plate so that it bolts right up. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure some folks commented that the Spal fan took up less room so installation should be easier. Comparing it to my Bosch fan it looks like the motor casing is deeper, but it is also a much shorter diameter. I think the Bosch would have just cleared the intake where the Spal being wider bumps into it.

Most things like this, for me, tend to be operator error; hoping that is the case now.

Edit: Decided it was easy enough to test the theory by removing the SPAL and reinstalling the Bosch. Voila, the Bosch slots in like it was made to! So either there is some trick to installing the radiator with the SPAL or it just doesn't fit.

Anyone run into this or have an idea on where I'm going wrong?