Fan not turning on after drop

Okay so I've been digging in old threads to find answers and I've got a few unanswered questions still. This is what I know: first casual ride after a drop, noticed the fan wasn't coming on, parked the bike at 241°F. Coolant reservoir is right in the middle of upper/lower.
Fuses are good.
Fan does not move freely but moves like someone has two pieces of cardboard on either side, not great but moves with fingers easily.
I grounded the motor switch as suggested and I can hear and feel a "whirring" like it's trying to move, but doesn't. Here's my pet theory- my drop bent my left radiator in just enough to stop the fan from spinning when it wants. There's even a radiator mount that looks bent but I don't know what it's supposed to look like, I have included a pic. Any ideas on possible solutions? Is the fan meant to spin freely like on ball bearings? Thanks in advance

 

Your diagnosis sounds very plausible.

If however you are still unsure, you could always go through the extra hassle of detaching the fan from the bike and seeing it runs with 12v.

Personally I would remove fairings and then with a decent inspection lamp see if you could increase the clearance between the fan blades and the radiator surface to ensure the blades are no longer touching.

Hopefully close examination will identify whether the problem is down to bent radiator mountings or the fan mountings are bent.
When access is problematic I sometimes use the camera on my phone to record the view, and then review on playback.

Depending on what you find it might be simply a matter of straightening out any bent mountings to resolve.

 

I think, for what that is worth, that the fan's position must be very close to the rad to be effective. SO there would be little clearance there. Looking at those areas where the rad is attached to the bike, I see two tabs on a bracket there which are bent. So that would bring the radiator close in towards the guts of the bike, and I presume towards the fan. It does not look like much but I would bet it is close enough. I would start there. A good pair of vise grips and you should be able to straighten out those tow tabs.

I also note that those round pins or posts that the backets are attached to which are on the side frame of the radiator appear to be bent. That may be an optical illusion. But take a close look at that as well. If you have to straighten out those pins or posts, be very gentle. You do not want to cause damage to the inner workings of the rad and end up with a leak.,

 

thanks fellas I will try ((carefully)) unbending those tabs after my work week and report back

 

UPDATE: Fixed! The radiator and fan brackets/mount seemed to be bent in more than one direction so it took a lot of patient wiggling of the radiator itself, and slow bending of the different brackets with pliers to get the fan to spin freely. I also loosened radiator mount bolt and VERY gently pried the fan and radiator apart to get more movement, then grounded that wire to test (it spun freely).
Okay, so it isn't "fixed" as in stock configuration, it's a bit rigged; I had to leave a fan bracket unfastened to give it space to move freely (pic included). But the fan turns on and does it's job as it did before the drop, and the radiator itself is bolted securely and on it's pegs.
If anyone more mechanically inclined or vfr-miliar thinks that may give me trouble down the line I'm all ears of course. cheers

 

Nice Job.

 

Good news - thanks for the feedback!

Too many times advice is given to riders with their VFRs - but sadly we then get no further feedback - so we don't know if the problem was solved or indeed what if any of the advice helped fix the problem.