Hi guys,
I have been following this discussion with interest, having experienced exactly the same thing the other day. In regards to earlier posts about bikes being at dealers for 5 months etc, I have to say my New Zealand dealer (Makz Gear in Tauranga) provided exceptional service when I had a warranty issue with my bike (Engine had to be shipped back to NZ from Vanuatu at my expense but he had the engine apart the day it arrived, rushed the new parts from Australia international express and reassembled the cases with a new main shaft and had it back on a plane less than 4 days later. I was back on the bike in three weeks, not a bad turnaround considering...
Riding in the same sort of conditions you've already described (hot, humid and on a very tight twisty track) I had the fan (with the factory thermo switch) running for around 45 minutes straight. My bike is a '12 FE570. I have the standard fuel cap and no heat protection for the tank. The bike completed the track without a hitch, but on the ride home on the bitumen at 60km/h, the bike died and wouldn't immediately re-start. After a minute or so it re-started, then died again shortly after. I waited longer, say 10 minutes and it re-started and ran for longer, but died just as I was getting back to the truck. I ended up pushing it back onto the truck worried that the fuel pump was knackered, but since then it has run without a hiccup, so I'm hoping its just a fuel heat issue and no permanent damage to the pump...
Looking on the CV Powersports website, the reflective film option is $20 and the blanket is $70 - is the blanket that much more effective at reflecting heat?