The pics look like it got <u>cooked</u>, and not just a little too hot. I can figure out most things but not this one. I've melted plastic like that with a torch before and can tell it was hot enough to give you first or second degree burns if your skin touched it. It seems like the frame heated up hot enough to iron clothes on it and I'm clueless as to why. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

this bugged me enough that I had to walk out to the shop and take a closer look at mine...I did notice one thing that may or may not be a posibility...I noticed the aluminum reflective material is peeling loose from the air box on mine though it isn't contacting the muffler, (yet), so I am wondering if it has come loose on yours and is in contact with the muffler which actually may conduct the heat from the muffler to this area where it is anchored to the frame?!

 

have to agree with you jumbo! The head pipe runs pretty close to the side panels and they don't get anywhere close to that hot!