PRS,
The cooling fans TURN OFF at any speed above 15 mph (Give or take 1mph)... All GL1800 Cooling fans push the air forward as designed by the factory. The fans do not contribute anything (Good or Bad) above 15mph, they have been turned off by the ECM.
The problem is insufficient natural air flow between 15mph and about 25 mph. After about 25 mph there is usually enough natural air flow from the vehicle moving forward to keep the GL1800 operating nominally temperature wise.
The theory of turning the fans on manually is the air flow created is sufficient to cool the radiators even though it is counter to the natural airflow coming in.
The best solution is to correct the wrong way air flow of the fans and let them come on when ever additional cooling is required.
Then there are those that believe they and everybody else in the world do not have this problem and we are obviously making it all up...
Paul;
I mostly agree with Ya.
Have you tried running the OE fans manually switched in the OE direction? I do not know exactly at what speed the fans' air flow is, but it seems to be pretty close to an equivalent 15 to 17 mph speed at which my OE fans turn off. My bike's previous tendency to heat-up DEFINITELY occured only while the fans were still running and the bike at slow parade type speeds; NOT at speeds above which the fans cut off.
Maybe I am wrong, but I "think" it would be generous to estimate the fans create an equivalent "reverse" air speed of 25 MPH. If the fans shut off at 15MPH forward bike speed; then at any speed above 10MPH the fans would be counter productive. Now, if the OE fans are far more powerful than my thinking allows; say they pull an equivalent air stream to that of a rearward travel speed of 35mph, then I can see a small margin of speeds where the fans would minimally contribute if operated beyond the OE speed tuning. But, to generate that much force at both fans, I would think the load put upon the alternator would demand more engine load and thus generate more heat than the fans cooling could balance.
I think your way of going about it, reversing the fans' blade pitch and direction is one better way to go. For me, using a more heat tolerant coolant seems to do the job adequately; but I do not live in a congested, hot area. Thank God I'm a country boy!
prs