I rode my E5+ V85tt in high temperature today for the first time and I got cooked. Im fairly sure a lot of the heat came from the catalyst (its staying on until the warranty expires) .
Has anyone tried removing the bash guard to help get more air flow around the catalyst? Does it help?
My EV never had a guard. So it all depends on what kind of terrain you riding on.
they only work properly when really hot, which is why the fuel trimming runs the engine lean. there was a lot of heat from mine before I took it off. so much so that when I parked up in public places I was wary of unsupervised small children running anywhere near the bike and sticking their hands on it. takes a good while to cool down as well 
Did you feel less heat when riding after you took it off?
it rarely gets hot here so most of the time the heat wasn’t a comfort issue for me, just a problem for melted bike covers/waterproofs if they touched the exhaust or cat box, it takes so long to cool down. a few times on our rare sunny days before I removed it I did notice heat from it when riding.
it definitely is cooler now and also the pipes and end can cool down much faster once engine is off.
long trips i did through Scotland or Ireland in rain or at night with cat still fitted were ok, my last trip to England in summer would have been a nightmare though and glad I removed it, bike was getting too hot around the m25 mobile traffic jam even with no cat. had errors on dash, burning oil smell.
Steve there are a lot of US riders on the v85tt thread of advrider US v85 riders who ride in very hot weather (probably in Spain and Italy as well but my languages are bad ).
I have seen many e4 & e5 riders complain about the heat but not from e5+ riders. No one has mentioned removing the bash plate as a solution - it may help but the biggest problem is the big collector box under the gearbox.
EDITED The general consensus for the early models e4 & e5 was to get a simple Y pipe to replace collector box and catalytic convertor. But the early bikes only have a lambda sensor near the exhaust port. Looking at the parts book e5+ online parts the e5+ (like many cars) also has a lambda sensor after the catalytic convertor - I guess the ECU uses that information as well some how and so you will need that second lambda sensor to keep the ecu happy.
This means that you will need a specific Y pipe to fit an e5+ & so far only Mistral do one. The good news - they say it is worth 5hp. The bad news they are gonna be pricey and above the UK customs price cut off so the by-the-book personal import will cost customs duties and UK VAT on the total . From the look of the mistral pipe you could get a clever stainless steel welder to put a lambda adaptor in the end of a normal 2-1 pipe?
I will eventually fit a Y pipe but I’ll keep the cat until the warranty expires.
For now, my solution is to take out a different bike when it gets really hot.
please see my edited post above the e5+ will need a specific 2 into 1 pipe
Nicely detailed post. I don’t even own an e5+ (or a V85 for that matter) but enjoy reading some threads.
Maybe by the time the warranty has run out on Steve’s bike there will be other choices of Y pipe that cost less or is sold here and so no need for customs etc? Fingers crossed!
I think the 2nd lamda in an e5+ is there purely to make sure the Cat remains working and hasnt been destroyed by flooding etc (…or removed) so not sure it will be possible to remove in a e5+ bike. Happy to be proved wrong but I think thats what its all about.
Itll certainly be possible. Anything is possible. I know this is an issue in many cars and they need a map which removes the second lambda sensor or provides a fake signal