I bought a CBR1000RR4 just over a month ago, haven't ridden it a great deal, but a few times. I've never had any issues on the rides before, however today, I was on the motorway travelling 80ish and the bike started to overheat, the temperature was just rising and rising (around 132) until the engine light came on. Then it started to drop down to around 116 then just crept up again. I pulled off the motorway and the bike just cut out, there was a lot of smoke coming from the engine and it wouldn't start. I managed to start it and ride it the remainder of the journey home (about a mile or so) on 30mph roads and it was just getting hotter and hotter again, I pulled up and left the key in the ignition for 5 minutes to keep the fan running and it crept down, but was still stupidly hot (about 120). It sounded awful for the last part of the journey and given that it's about 3 degrees and there was plenty of airflow on the motorway, I have no idea why it would have overheated. Can anyone shed any light on this?
Cheers guys, I haven't checked either of those yet as it was too dark when I got in and didn't have time to sort a light out, but will check in the morning. Bloody typical, every bike I get seems to go wrong!
Yep if the head gasket has gone, it will pressurise your water coolant and blow it out. If you have a blockage in your radiator though then no cooling will occur.
Only 22,000 or so, I have the old MOTs to back this up as well. Any idea where I can find a service manual online? Looks like I'm going to need it!
Doesn't sound good you should have pulled over and turned it off when it started to rise over 100 when on the open roads in this temperature as obviously something very wrong. Could have done further damage continuing to run it unfortunately lets hope not though. I have the service manual in digital format will dig it out for you later.
Maybe a stickin thermostat caused this but like it's been said more damage may of been caused by riding it still at them temps I get nervous when mine gets to 100 degrees... I think it's about 105 degrees the fan kicks in so anything over that u need to start investigating.. Hopefully luck is on ur side this time mate fingers crossed
Silly question, is the fan working ? what about the rubber in the rad cap, if the water system isnt sealed it will over heat. Also previous owner might have changed something and not blead the radiator or air locked. just hoping its nothing to serious buddy.
Thanks for all the replies. Yeah in hindsight I should have just pulled over but I was cold, tired and wanted to get home, and just thought that it would be something minor. Yeah the fan works no problem, always cuts in when it should. I've just had a very quick look as I was heading out. I opened the oil cap and it was clean, a but oiler but that was it. On the left hand side there is coolant everywhere, it's pissed all over the fairings and even managed to cover he swingarm. It all looked pretty clear green though, no sign of sludge or anything.
If it is the head gasket, won't starting it up again to see where the coolant spews out cause more issues? Also, if this is the problem, would you recommend having a go of fixing it yourself? I'm fairly handy on the bike and don't really have a few hundred quid to spend to get a mechanic to do it.
Is there any water in it? This time of year, salt, gravel and other winter shite is Prob your problem, the rads don't weather well yet along take impact from stones, bet you have a hole in the rad, after riding with no coolant you may well have killed that motor.
Gauges and warning lights are there for a reason OP, yet U chose to ignore them. Not what U wana hear but ignoring them has probably cost you a replacement Motor by the sounds of it. Costly error that I'm afraid!
And there was me thinking they were purely decorative!? Silly me I'll just have to hope that as it as sonky running like that for ten minutes or so that it hasn't completely killed it. Fingers crossed eh!
You really need to bite the bullet and take it to a garage to be checked out. I'm sure they won't charge you too much to give you a diagnosis of the problem. Although this forum is great for advice, most are not mechanics ( apart from our Arthur of course ) and without looking at it most opinions are pure speculation. You might get really lucky, and it's not as bad as you think!
So I just went to have my first proper look. Took the fairings off and nothing was immediately obvious as the problem, radiator didn't have a gaping hole or anything. Opened up the radiator and poured some water in and heard water coming out fairly rapidly. I looked under the bike and was greeted with this: A nice clear green trickle, no sludge, no muck, just coolant. So i poured some more water through and find the pipe it was coming from: The exhaust system is an aftermarket one, and obviously wasn't installed with the correct guards or whatnot. I gave it a very quick start up (10 seconds or so) just to see how it sounded, and it sounded absolutely fine. I'm going to try and find that hose from somewhere, make sure everywhere else is sealed up, check oil etc and then start it again and see if I got away with it this time. If I have, I'll feel bloody lucky and know never to be so stupid again!
