MotorbikeMike, No offense, But I'm calling shenanigan's on it having any damaging effect on one of these engines being used on a motorbike. consider these are STATIONARY engines, meant to be sitting still to power a generator or a water pump or something similar, usually in an area with minimal ambient airflow, and yes, the shroud serves a purpose. However, that being said, these are not stationary. Their mounted into open air frames travelling at 25-35+ mph, producing plenty of ambient airflow over the heat fins.
Take into consideration that if you read the warranty on any motor meant to be a stationary engine and you'd realize that merely the act of using it in a non-stationary fashion alone voids the warranty. Removal of the shroud in no way modify's this motor, and as such if anyone DID have an issue, and wanted to attempt to try and get their factory warranty out of it, all they need do is bold the damn thing back on before shipping it in. And if they thought that was an issue, as soon as they tell them it was mounted on a bike and not in some compressor somewhere their up the creek anyways.
While I'll grant that if your sitting in the desert sun, at a red light for a full solid 5-6 mins with this thing running without the shroud on, sure you'll have heat issues, but so did old Harley's and any rider worth his salt would know, if your gonna be sitting there a while, turn the damn thing off. These bikes have pedals after all, and if we need to move when the light turns green, just simply pedal to the shoulder, pull start (or install an electric start) and be on your way.
Even better, if your running a 4 stroke, and your worried about desert heat, install and oil cooler. you can pick one up for less then 20 bucks just about anywhere. All this fuss of something so simple as realizing that a motor meant to be stationary doesn't need some ugly piece of tin when its no longer stationary. geesh.