Getting Hot!

[johntaylor]

My 92 at gets hot! I drove it back from devon to london and as soon as I got back in to the london traffic the heat gauge was nearly in the red at which point the fan appeared to come on. I would be really grateful if some one could tell me 1) do these bikes get hot often? 2) when should the fan kick in? 3) what sort of max speed should these bikes do comfortably on the motorway?

Cheers!!


Thanks for all the comments below. I will look into it and if I find there is a problem I will put it on this site.

Thanks again,

John.

[anton88]

possibly thermostat or coolant system problem - trapped air

[BlindPugh]

Unusual for the fan to come on - I can almost list the times individually it is that rare. Mostly in town when stuck in traffic in Summer and probably waiting at traffic lights or holdup for at least 10 minutes.

Possibly trapped air in system if you are not losing fluid - maybe worth draining and putting fresh coolant mix in - only need to whip out the drain plug from water-pump and refill with 50/50 mix. normally a 10 minute job run the engine with the radiator cap off for 10 minutes - top up then make sure the expansion tank has the correct amount of coolant.

Motorway speeds - cruise all day in the 70+ range Some people may cruise at 85-90 obviously not me! Although the fuel consumption gets noticably worse at higher speeds.

[DaveS]

Yep just to add there is a problem there if you're seeing these symptoms.
We get more questions on here with people worrying about the AT not warming up quickly enough than over heating. It normally doesn't move off cold.

[GSPD750]

My 92 at gets hot! I drove it back from devon to london and as soon as I got back in to the london traffic the heat gauge was nearly in the red at which point the fan appeared to come on. I would be really grateful if some one could tell me 1) do these bikes get hot often? 2) when should the fan kick in? 3) what sort of max speed should these bikes do comfortably on the motorway?

Cheers!!

Fan coming on? That is good. At least you know your cooling fan switch works. Stop and go city traffic with fairly high ambient temps it is not uncommon for your temp to rise and the fan kick in. If you have high temps approaching redline cruising on the motorway then I would be concerned.

A. 1) Its all relative to the airflow you put over the cylinders and thru the rads for cooling... right? As I already mentioned, stop and go traffic with no airflow @ hi ambient temps will cause the bike to get hot. Excessive idling of course will get the same results.

A. 2) 98-102 Celsius. Fan on and switch closes.

A. 3) My AT is comfortable at 130 kph or 80 mph

[Shep]

My 1991 RDO4 runs hot in London traffic the temp dial quickly climbs and the fan cuts in on the open road it runs about quarter of the way up the scale, sounds about normal to me

[Whealie]

My RD04 gets hot in the city in traffic too. The fan doesn't come on until the gauge gets quite near the top, but it brings the temperature down fairly quickly.
Check all your fluids as suggested. If it gets hot on long runs then you have a problem. If it's only in traffic in warm weather I'd say it was fairly normal.

[chronyx]

Mine hates traffic, doesn't over heat but the temp gauge rockets in the summer, takes a while for it to get to the final stage where the fan comes on though.

[SteveWilko]

Only when 2up with all the gear on in hot sun do I over heat....
I always clears when I speed up tho.... never caused a problem yet...
As for mway cruising... solo/80+ pillion/75~80

[Richie B]

Mine hates traffic, doesn't over heat but the temp gauge rockets in the summer, takes a while for it to get to the final stage where the fan comes on though.

Ditto