Melted plastic on lower faring? Anyone else?

[MotoZen]

Yesterday I spent the afternoon detailing my bike & waxing every inch of it. Took the lower plastic faring off and noticed on the inside that it is starting to melt and bubble. It looks like there was a foil heat shield patch placed in it. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this on their NCs? If so what did you do to fix it?

 

[bduffey]

By "lower plastic fairing", are you referring to the section behind the front tire that surrounds the oil filter?

 

[MotoZen]

yup thats the piece.

 

[itlives]

That foil is to keep the plastic from melting -
My plastic has not melted at all. I would imagine if you do a lot in town driving, it would get hotter than someone like me that can get to work with minimal lights and the stop and go that comes with it.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

The cat is the culprit there as it is the hottest part of the motor. If the foil heat reflector is removed then this is likely to happen.

 

[ST13Fred]

When you say 'was' I assume the foil is not there now and yes, it needs to be there for the reason stated.
My CAT has died but the heat foil (shield) still needs to be in place. The very hot header pipe runs dangerously close to the fairing.
The larger diameter pipe to incorporate the internal CAT has the OD closer to the fairing than would normally be.

Internal combustion temps run between 750-1800 degrees F depending on motor configuration. I don't know if the CAT runs hotter than the CC but is very hot.

 

[MotoZen]

The foil is on there, but Honda didn't put enough on, I was wondering if it was an after purchase add to the bike by the previous owner. I am taking care of it this week and will be adding more of the heat deflector.

 

[Thangmorian]

The cat is the culprit there as it is the hottest part of the motor. If the foil heat reflector is removed then this is likely to happen.

You're not kidding, got a nasty burn on my wrist the first time I changed my oil. got fooled into thinking it couldn't be that much hotter. Holy hell that thing is hot!

 

[davidc83]

Nope, took mine off last night for valve checks and no melting. There isn't much there to begin with, maybe a 3"x4" rectangle. If shield installed correctly, doesn't really need much as only the spot directly in front of the cat could do any damage. I know it isn't hard to install (only 2 bolts holding it on), but it is possible to bolt it on and the to front tabs dont go into the proper holes, thus placing the shield closer to the cat...

 

[MotoZen]

Nope, took mine off last night for valve checks and no melting. There isn't much there to begin with, maybe a 3"x4" rectangle. If shield installed correctly, doesn't really need much as only the spot directly in front of the cat could do any damage. I know it isn't hard to install (only 2 bolts holding it on), but it is possible to bolt it on and the to front tabs dont go into the proper holes, thus placing the shield closer to the cat...

I am thinking the previous owner may have taken it off and then not gotten it back on correctly, that could explain the bubbling and melting. Its all on there right now, so time will tell.