Due to bike being a recent purchase, I was wondering what operating temperatures should be. I am unsure whether bike temp is climbing to high. When commuting today home 8 1/2 mile from work. I struggled to get temperature below 91-94 steady riding 30-50 mph the fan starts to climb rather quickly when sat at light and results in fan kicking in quite a few times on way home. I'm a bit concerned about overheating. Temperature still rises whilst fan running highest I've noticed to yet is 108. Outside air temperature average 17-21 degrees. I am aware being a sports bike I assume would run higher temperatures anyway but what is classified as optimal range as there is many varied opinions on Internet it's confusing. Checked rad looks due for replacement as its brittle on fin sections. What would your first port of call be to try and diagnose if there is a problem. Thermostat and possibly head gasket I presume. Can't find any leaks and fluid levels seem correct.
Sounds like it runs a tiny bit hotter than mine, but largely normal. On a warm day my bike cannot cool itself below 40mph... stop at the lights and it will very quickly get to 103, at which point the fans kick in... and as you said, will often peak at 108 before the fans start bringing the temp under control. Obviously a coolant flush and change (if not done for a few years) could help matters a little. Another thing I've done is to very carefully aim the garden hose through the radiator backwards (i.e. firing the water rear to front) to flush out any lodged muck and bugs....... just use a gentle spray so as not to damage those delicate fins. BTW the thermostat, if failed, will fail open... meaning it won't cause your bike to overheat, but rather will cause it to not get up to temp quick, and will cause it to run too cold at motorway speeds.
Thanks for quick reply. I have drained coolant out. When I got home. Let cool down first. You have put my mind at ease. I do remember when riding home on motorway was around 79-83 but again outside air was warm. I will try the hose and see what that does. 1 last question honest. Missus will start moaning else "looking at bike stuff again" or something like that. What brand of coolant do you tend to find best product as I have read that certain brands work better
Yep, mine hovers around 80 degrees at motorway speeds... I believe this is correct, and means the thermostat is sound. I recently drained and flushed my cooling system, and used Motul Motocool Expert... it seems relatively recommended, and is pre-mixed which saves faffing around with concentrates and distilled water. Others swear by Evans Waterless Coolant... but that's massively expensive and needs a special flush to be used first, thus adding more to the expense. As far as I can tell, the only real reason to use Evans is if you suspect your cooling system is weak, and unable to cope with the pressures generated by normal water-based coolants.
cheers for info buddy. I can feel that stress I think most of us get when we suspect something is wrong and anxiety kicks in disappearing. Mostly because I hate using the car to get about. Only took notice of temp to be honest when I could feel the never regions cooking and felt like I was hovering over Satans stove. Cheers again.
it's all normal, mine runs up to 108 when stuck in traffic and very quickly goes down. I used to be a little paranoid about the heat so installed a switch to manually control the fans, cant be bothered now and its been running fine. It will run to about 125 until the dash will report a fault I use castrol GP with a dash of water wetter. Note if you are running a rad guard the operating temps will run slightly hotter. BTW mines a RR8
Mine runs at 79/80 in normal conditions and the max I have seen is 106 Fan soon gets it back down to normal, so I agree you may have a problem there
Almost identical temperature reading with my Blade. On the motorway my temp reading is around 77-80C In London traffic I can hear the fan switching on around 103c with the engine temp still increasing to 106-107c before dropping down again. I don’t think there is an issue. But no harm in carrying out a coolant flush as long as the you bleed the system correctly.
To be honest I've just removed thermostat engine been flushed completely could do with a accurate measurement for testing thermostat opening temperature to be sure
My maintenance guide states that the thermostat starts to opens between 80-84c and full open at 95c, Hope this helps.
I've only just got mine and it got to 103 the other day after only about 30 mins and i panicked a little, i was concerned the fan didn't kick in also as on my R6 it kicked in at 100. I am running a rad protector though and it didn't get past 103 whilst riding at 40mph ish.
