Around 49F on the way home tonight. The engine temp never got above 172F. This seems a bit low. We can see it get below zero here, am I going to have to stuff a sock in the radiator intake this winter?
Engine temp in Cold Weather
- Thread starter BadKarmaPa
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mcbearface
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I think that sounds about right to me. Running on the freeway on my way home I'm usually about at ~170F. I get worried running around stop & go traffic bouncing off of 220F when the fan kicks in.
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Koinz
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+1 - this topic also brings up a possible interesting discussion -mcbearface said:
I want to make sure that there's plenty of air flow to the radiator. Has anyone seen a "buildup" of leaves or other crap get into the air intake of the Radiator chamber. I noticed some leaves coming down on my trip to Vermont a couple of weeks ago and it just came to mind, but of course I haven't checked for leaves behind the radiator yet. I'm not experiencing any kind of issues, but it would be a good preventative measure. ::008::
MikeBear
New Member
I see temp on HWay from 165 to 169. I think this is where thermostat kicks in. Leaves might be a problem with AlrRider crash bar because no way to take cover off without taking crash bar off ( that's what I have on mine). I might reserve to pressure washer for cleaning radiator. Leaves are still green on Long Island, so this potential problem is not imminent for me. Very interesting to hear , what others have to say on this.
Koinz
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I have the altrider bars as well, Maybe a long, thin vacuum hose in the air intake to draw out the crap. I don't like using pressure washers on radiators. (especially on hoses).
MikeBear
New Member
I wasn't gona use high pressure nozzle. Mid pressure nozzle should work fine. You might do more damage with vacuum hose. I know I will 
I always start the bike to let it run while I get ready, making sure the motor isn't cold when I start out and I don't use the bike when it's cold outside unless I'm going to ride for about 15 miles or more. Even doing this there were times this spring I never saw the temp get above the 150's. I don't remember what the ambient temp was but I ride into the 20's.
I leave the display on the bike showing the water temp all the time and check it when I check the speedo...most of the time this summer it reads 163-167 during 60mph and above. We had 31 days above 90 this summer. On those really hot days I would see water temps bounce around more, reaching the 170's for >60mph at times.
I don't ride in much traffic but I've noticed if the bike isn't in clean air the displayed temp will be higher than clean air.
I leave the display on the bike showing the water temp all the time and check it when I check the speedo...most of the time this summer it reads 163-167 during 60mph and above. We had 31 days above 90 this summer. On those really hot days I would see water temps bounce around more, reaching the 170's for >60mph at times.
I don't ride in much traffic but I've noticed if the bike isn't in clean air the displayed temp will be higher than clean air.
Might be a good place for a mouse nest if you let it set too long. Definitely something to be added to periodic maintenance checksKoinz said:
B
Bundu
Guest
talking Celsius here - my bike generally runs at around 50 above ambient, when at cruising speeds - fan only comes on in stop-start traffic
So far I have managed to catch two small birds in the air intake while riding no real damage just a mess to clean out.
Yuck-!!jmoore said:
I have the AltRider bars on my bike and I have taken the left side cover off several times. I found it harder to get back on. If I remember right I had to bend it a wee bit but not to the point I thought it would do any damage. It might have scratched it a little - I have never looked - I don't worry about little scratches. Can't remember why I had it off. Once was just to take a look. YMMV I suppose.
Best, - DT
::022::
triman11427
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Generally my bike has been running around 167-169 on the highway with air temps in the 60's. Today was in the high 70's and I was in traffic at 5pm. Stop and go for about 10 minutes when I feel heat coming from the left side. I wear earplugs so I wasn't aware the fan was on. Then I saw the coolant temp was 223. The fan lowered the temp to 210 and would keep kicking in at 220. I've only had the bike for 6 weeks and have been in traffic before but this is the first time the fan kicked in. If the engine is this hot in the fall what can I expect in summer and temps in the 90's+? Is this normal?
Since you have a thermostat and cooling fan, you will find the same behavior at the same temperatures in the same traffic circumstances. The only thing different on the hot Texas days is the "167-169 on the highway", will change to 179-189.triman11427 said:
Completely normal. No matter the weather, anytime you don't have good airflow through the radiator, the fan will have to cycle on/off to keep the temps in the 210-220 range.triman11427 said:
Most all water-cooled bikes these days behave similarly. Bikes seem to depend much more on cooling fans than most cars. I think it has to do with the thermal characteristics of bikes whose worst-case cooling requirements are not governed by high-speeds or grades which would require a bigger radiator, but slow speeds. The most economical solution when the governing constraint is slow-speeds is to put a small radiator on the bike and then rely on a cooling fan for slow speeds.
- Mark
When removing the side covers, with Altrider bars I have found it helpful to use that blue non stick tape to cover the areas of the side panels that come in contact with the bars to prevent unecessary scratches. FWIW.
Not to hijack this but since we are talking temps what temp do you let it get up to before you ride off on a cold engine.
MikeBear
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I take off when dash showing number. That's how I did it on R1.
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Bundu
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I take off immediately, but keep the RPM's below 4 000 until temp shows above 60C
Don in Lodi
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I wait as long as it takes to put on jacket, helmet, and gloves. I don't watch the temp.
Bump for the season.
It's dropped into the 20's and 30's and lately my engine temp won't go over 150.
I'll allow the engine to get to 130 before I start to ride but I'll never see above 150 while going down the road. I stopped going down the interstate since it drops into the high 130's.
If I wait at an intersection, it'll get into the 160's and up but once I start riding, it'll dip back down into the 140's.
Bike seems a bit sluggish since I'm still running 20W-50. Figure I need to change to 10W-40 maybe even 30.
Everything worked fine during the summer but this is the first cold winter since I had my radiator rebuilt.
It's dropped into the 20's and 30's and lately my engine temp won't go over 150.
I'll allow the engine to get to 130 before I start to ride but I'll never see above 150 while going down the road. I stopped going down the interstate since it drops into the high 130's.
If I wait at an intersection, it'll get into the 160's and up but once I start riding, it'll dip back down into the 140's.
Bike seems a bit sluggish since I'm still running 20W-50. Figure I need to change to 10W-40 maybe even 30.
Everything worked fine during the summer but this is the first cold winter since I had my radiator rebuilt.