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1985 K100RS. SPAL fan upgrade problem and solution. Thu Dec 14, 2023 11:27 pm
RS Rider
Gold member
As Moto-Bins had a 10% off sale last month, I decided to spring for a SPAL fan. I'll cut right to the chase.
After I mounted it to the rad, I immediately noticed that the one side of the fan mounting bracket looked too close to the rad-I couldn't see any space in between. The fan is mounted to the bracket by 4 screws, the heads of which stand proud of the bracket towards the radiator. Upon closer inspection I noticed that I couldn't slide a piece of paper between the head of the top screw on one side of the bracket and the rad core-it was resting right up against it. And the head of the bottom screw on the same side was dangerously close. The heads of the 2 screws on the other side of the bracket were fine. What the........?
The 3 mounting points on the rad (2 screws on the bottom and rubber mount on top) looked fine and weren't damaged or bent in any way. I came to the conclusion that the fan bracket was in some way out of true or whatever. I fooled around with a couple of different ways to resolve the problem as I didn't want to deal with a bunch of emails with Moto-Bins and then exchanging it.
What I came up with was a large washer that had an I.D. sufficiently large for the top rubber mount to pass through it. The washer was placed between the eyelet in the upper rad frame and the fan bracket and the rubber mount was pushed through. As the washer is 3/16" thick it keeps the fan bracket well away from the rad now.
I've attached 4 photos with text added. I hope I've made things clear.
After I mounted it to the rad, I immediately noticed that the one side of the fan mounting bracket looked too close to the rad-I couldn't see any space in between. The fan is mounted to the bracket by 4 screws, the heads of which stand proud of the bracket towards the radiator. Upon closer inspection I noticed that I couldn't slide a piece of paper between the head of the top screw on one side of the bracket and the rad core-it was resting right up against it. And the head of the bottom screw on the same side was dangerously close. The heads of the 2 screws on the other side of the bracket were fine. What the........?
The 3 mounting points on the rad (2 screws on the bottom and rubber mount on top) looked fine and weren't damaged or bent in any way. I came to the conclusion that the fan bracket was in some way out of true or whatever. I fooled around with a couple of different ways to resolve the problem as I didn't want to deal with a bunch of emails with Moto-Bins and then exchanging it.
What I came up with was a large washer that had an I.D. sufficiently large for the top rubber mount to pass through it. The washer was placed between the eyelet in the upper rad frame and the fan bracket and the rubber mount was pushed through. As the washer is 3/16" thick it keeps the fan bracket well away from the rad now.
I've attached 4 photos with text added. I hope I've made things clear.
you can cut a top and bottom mount and have done with two very much smaller pieces. Works a treat.
Several years ago I converted to a SPAL cooling fan and recall mounting it to the radiator using the pins/clips that pass through the radiator (between the cooling tubes) - no metal mounting bracket used. I've had no problems in the 2-3 years since - but did I miss an important point on mounting/using these SPAL fans?
