At my last poker run I experienced some overheating issues due to mud packing in the radiator.  I knew exactly what the problem was as I have had it happen before on both my CFMoto and my Polaris Sportsman.  Today I removed my grill to confirm my suspicions.  It took about 5 minutes to get the grill off.  I do wash my machine regularly and hose down the radiator.  The problem is the half of the radiator is in a spot where you can't access it with a hose.  It doesn't help that the oil cooler is mounted in front of the radiator.  Anyway, this is what I discovered.  As you can see the oil cooler got hammered pretty good too.

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

Oh dude...now I know why thy put those screens over the fronts in races. And there must be a way to shield the sides from the wheel wells with something..

In all my years of off road racing I never blocked a radiator on a motorcycle and I've been in some nasty mud.  Dirt bike radiators have vertical louvers that deflect the mud away from the fins.  The are extremely effective.  The options I'm thinking of now are a shaker screen or shaker chains like a dirt sprint uses or purchasing a set of dirt bike louvers off of ebay and adapting them to fit.  Pennsylvania mud can get pretty nasty.  I bet you don't see too much mud out your way in New Mexico.

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

In all my years of off road racing I never blocked a radiator on a motorcycle and I've been in some nasty mud.  Dirt bike radiators have vertical louvers that deflect the mud away from the fins.  The are extremely effective.  The options I'm thinking of now are a shaker screen or shaker chains like a dirt sprint uses or purchasing a set of dirt bike louvers off of ebay and adapting them to fit.  Pennsylvania mud can get pretty nasty.  I bet you don't see too much mud out your way in New Mexico.

Almost none...ever..even in the spring in the mountains it's very light.

Pennsylvania mud can get pretty nasty.  I bet you don't see too much mud out your way in New Mexico.

Amen, brother !! Preach it !!

Pennsylvania mud can get pretty nasty.  I bet you don't see too much mud out your way in New Mexico.

I can smell that nasty Pa. mud now; you know the hole the one that no one was went thought in a couple of weeks (yea that smell)   

I like the ones with the lime green slime on top.  The water temperature is about 95 degrees and its loaded with frogs. When you go through it the mud packs your tire smooth.  For how much I love mud and the woods, I'd love to take a ride through the desert.  I'm sure each environment has its own set of challenges.

I ride trails (not so much mud) a lot.  If you guys wanted to try something different you should check out Silver Lake Dunes in Michigan.  Its not too massive (I think like 500 acres) but its all sand.  Its a totally different riding feeling/style.  I dont go there much but some friends and I make a trip there once a year and its good to ride different terrain.