toasty thighs
 

toasty, not tasty. Went to the coast the other day and did some sorely needed sun and ocean bathing. Took a young lady friend on my ST4 and got away from Tokyo for two days. Now the summers in Japan are tropical to say the least, running about 38 C and 70 to 80% humidity. Not so bad when moving, but getting into a traffic jam in the city is not welcome. The nasty thing about an ST (compared to my finally sold SS) is the exhaust comes out of the cylinder right under the thighs and it tends to get a little warm at times. Has anyone found a way to ameliorate this in any way. It would seem some kind of heat guard could be rigged up over the pipe to divert some of the unwanted thermal fun, but I wonder if anyone has tried to do so successfully.....I know, never gets that warm in the UK....But many of you go to Spain....Ole!

I've never noticed the exhaust being a problem, i just get gently boiled around the left leg area when the radiator fan comes on!!

Ah yes the hot leg syndrome.....
I've suffered that in a few places, the worst being in Portugal in 35C heat after a 90 mile thrash through the mountains just to get the engine really warmed up, then having to crawl through city traffic :o :o :o
That was bad enough but then the fan came on!!!!!!!
The only answer to it is movement - I doubt that a shield would do much good but if you succeed let me know how you do it!
Cheers
Andy

Have noticed the same in France, not nice when stopped, when moving flairing your legs can relieve the discomfort.

yep, flaring the legs helps, but the rider complained of toasty left thigh....can't keep her too unhappy for long. Will try to work on something and see if we can reduce the burned flesh to a nice even bake.

Stick some light foam in her trousers maybe?

I wouldn't want to do anything that might redirect the heat back into the bike, IIRC ST's are prone to overheating themselves as well as their riders

yeah, I thought of that as well. Must be some cheap asbestos suits out there! Kind of hard to wear in the humidity here though...LOL
Kind of a nice combination though. I flare my legs to let the heat out and she pulls up on my jacket to let some cooler air in. Must be some more interesting combinations along those lines..

Anything is cool as long as you don't get yourself arrested ;)

Roger that!!:lol:

looking at this problem again (it is still hot and humid here with plenty of traffic jams to keep one meditating on the subject at hand....er thigh), it seems there may be a way to mount some kind of a shield to the frame right next to the suspension and strut, without interfering with travel or movement. A shield could possible direct the heat back or to the right side (the left thigh is usually toast) for a little more heat distribution. I am just wondering what kind of material to make a test piece out of. CF would be trick, but I don't think I can work with it in making a trial piece, Any ideas out there?

Hi Mad Dog,

Excuse my ignorance (I am sure someone will tell me if i am wrong) but my 999 got very hot in the summer. I spoke to pro twins and they told me that most of the problem was due to the catalytic converters (they only operate at higher temperatures) and that the best way to solve it was loose the cats.
Mind you it was probably Brett trying to flog me a full leo vince or termi system being closer to the truth.
I dont know if you have catalytic converter on your bike, if so where its mounted.
Just a different angle to look at it from maybe?:)

Gold.
Make it out of Gold. Just like the MacLaren heat shield.

Be careful though, air needs to circulate around that area to keep the rear shock cool.

okay, gold shield with good air circulation and no cats....Hmmm, let me work on those parameters. Actually, I think the rear exhaust coming out right under the tank/seat area is the culprit. I would just like to redirect some of that heat without reducing heat transfer from the exhaust manifold or sending the heat somewhere it shouldn't go. I am just imagining for the moment a shield that would aim downward following the curve of the pipe, without getting too close or interfering with the rear shock. Hopefully, a good design would send a lot of that hot air down towards the wheel and dissipate it enough to reduce some of the lovely heat that makes for toasty thighs.

Paul, did you know that the first Israeli air force consisted of re-engined ME-109's. Bizzare! Nazi engineering saving jews...

I didn't know that. Re-engined with Merlins by any chance? They call them Buchon over here which means pidgeon becasue they look a bit like one.

Nope, they were Czech in origin, but don't know about the engines. Could be skoda or tatra versions of the Me original.

Messerschmitt Bf 109G-14 with Jumo 211F engine.....wonder if we can put one in a Monster frame??

I have also noticed that the fuel tank gets very hot due to the heat from the exhaust. Very worrying with all that flamable petrol sloshing about!!

Is this normal for the ST4s? I have only noticed the warm leg syndrome on my previous Dukes.

Daryl

I don't see why it woulod not be normal after looking at those two exhaust valves exiting right under the tank. Didn't really notice the heat until it started to warm up here and now with summer in full blast it is more than noticeable in traffic. Hven't heard of any exploding ST's though.