aminalmutha
New member
I've ridden EFI Hawgz in 100+ degree heat in stop and go city traffic and have never had one go into over-heat mode.
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Tell me about overheating on air cooled bikes
- Thread starter Bay Arean
- Start date
I've ridden EFI Hawgz in 100+ degree heat in stop and go city traffic and have never had one go into over-heat mode.
mean dad
petulant bisket
Gary856
Are we having fun yet?
Um, you can look at the gauge and deal with the high temp before it gets hot enough to harm your engine?
Was this a serious question?
When I read the OP I was thinking of my air-cooled Multistrada 1000DS, which has an oil temp read out in the dash. I could monitor the temperature, but I still don't know what the solution is if I had to face excessive engine/oil temp due to prolonged stops in my regular commute. If a bike overheats under that condition, stopping it regularly is obviously not a solution for a commuter.
I'd rather stop for 5 or 10 minutes to let it cool down than trash the engine, even if it means I'll be late for work.
Gary856
Are we having fun yet?
Of course you would do that in an emergency, but would you want to do that multiple times during one commute, and keep doing that throughout the week? I thought the original question was “how to avoid overheating from prolonged stopping”, but not “what to do when you overheat.”
If it happened in non-extraordinary circumstances, I'd change my commute routine or add some form of cooling to the bike (oil cooler, fan, etc)
Bay Arean
Well-known member
No you guys are both right and I appreciate it. If I feel like I really have no choice, I make a U and just end up hecka late to work. But I am trying to see what is ballpark and starting with true oil temp would help.
I really have very limited options to make it work on this particular commute. I live above SP Dam Rd in El Sobrante. I either take that Road to Orinda and 24 to work (Walnut Creek, specifically Rossmoor). Or i do Castro Ranch Road to Bear Creek, to Happy Valley Rd into Lafayette (a 10 mph road in the curvy spots) or return to Dam Rd via Bear Creek. Or Castro Ranch Road to Alhambra Vly Rd, to Reliez t to Pleasant Hill Road. Or Lane Share down I-80 to Caldecott with the best of you. Or Hwy 4 to Mtz. Only the first option makes any real sense. I just don't seem to be able to push the clock far back enough to have no backup. It may ease up a bit because fall is always the worst (I been doin this 15 years). The "best" thing, if you will, is that its only a problem in the morning so I may end up travelling farther and burning more gas which sucks.. It used to be that when school was out for the summer, the commute was better because of the Wagner Ranch school traffic. But now, it's the economy stupid and the dang road is backed up all the time. The worst part about most of the other options are danger. This week, I tried Castro and discovered a fog pocket I never knew about as you head toward the Pinole intersection (they had the big sinkhole). That was weird. And the pavement has a lot of dips and such. It's about 8 miles longer too. Doing that in the winter and dark will suck if that's what I end up doing.
Or just give up and roll the cage, which I did for first five years of job as I watched the motos go by on the illegal right. The people still doin it haven't gotten their tickets yet.
Thanks again. Feedback and info helps.
I really have very limited options to make it work on this particular commute. I live above SP Dam Rd in El Sobrante. I either take that Road to Orinda and 24 to work (Walnut Creek, specifically Rossmoor). Or i do Castro Ranch Road to Bear Creek, to Happy Valley Rd into Lafayette (a 10 mph road in the curvy spots) or return to Dam Rd via Bear Creek. Or Castro Ranch Road to Alhambra Vly Rd, to Reliez t to Pleasant Hill Road. Or Lane Share down I-80 to Caldecott with the best of you. Or Hwy 4 to Mtz. Only the first option makes any real sense. I just don't seem to be able to push the clock far back enough to have no backup. It may ease up a bit because fall is always the worst (I been doin this 15 years). The "best" thing, if you will, is that its only a problem in the morning so I may end up travelling farther and burning more gas which sucks.. It used to be that when school was out for the summer, the commute was better because of the Wagner Ranch school traffic. But now, it's the economy stupid and the dang road is backed up all the time. The worst part about most of the other options are danger. This week, I tried Castro and discovered a fog pocket I never knew about as you head toward the Pinole intersection (they had the big sinkhole). That was weird. And the pavement has a lot of dips and such. It's about 8 miles longer too. Doing that in the winter and dark will suck if that's what I end up doing.
Or just give up and roll the cage, which I did for first five years of job as I watched the motos go by on the illegal right. The people still doin it haven't gotten their tickets yet.
Thanks again. Feedback and info helps.
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Blankpage
alien
Sounds like a good excuse to go shopping for a new motorcycle. The choices are awesome
Bay Arean
Well-known member
If I was younger, I would. I am within retirement range and hoped this would be last bike for commuting purposes. For the same reason, I dont wanna buy some kind of electro-car. Its weird, but after 60, a person starts thinking: this is my last car, my last bike etc etc.
But yeah, liquid-cooled would help. Even one of thos eeelectric bikes or something. Sure love no payments tho.
aminalmutha
New member
¡Air-Cooled Por Vida!
aminalmutha
New member
Dude, your bike is fine. You're probably hardly ever in really high heat. This is hold over stuff from the '70's or earlier.
Bay Arean
Well-known member
moto-rama
Well-known member
My '07 can idle for a long time without seeming to overheat. I was stuck in stopped traffic in San Jose a few weeks back and it didn't act-up, even after 5-10 minutes.
You can shut it off if you anticipate a really long wait. Get the bike in to neutral, and be ready to fire up in case things actually move, though.
Not sure if this will work for you, but one time I got physically overheated in slow traffic leaving the Sonoma Raceway, and chose to ride down the shoulder past a lot of traffic to get on to Hwy 37. A CHP took issue and motioned for me to pull over for a chat/ticket. I told him I have MS and that I could have a medical emergency if I overheated. He was a little baffled but told me to continue on the shoulder and "Be careful". I thanked him and went on my way, down the shoulder.
Not that you would want to have to lie, but if your bike might have a medical emergency, it's a little "white" lie.
Take it from a 66 year old 5' 7" fat fuck, no one is going to ask for an MRI or Spinal Tap if you tell them you have medical issues.
I would explore finding a less slowed down commute route as you said, or see about flexing your start time. My former employer and I agreed to a 7:00 AM start time, and I usually got to work without any heroics.
You can shut it off if you anticipate a really long wait. Get the bike in to neutral, and be ready to fire up in case things actually move, though.
Not sure if this will work for you, but one time I got physically overheated in slow traffic leaving the Sonoma Raceway, and chose to ride down the shoulder past a lot of traffic to get on to Hwy 37. A CHP took issue and motioned for me to pull over for a chat/ticket. I told him I have MS and that I could have a medical emergency if I overheated. He was a little baffled but told me to continue on the shoulder and "Be careful". I thanked him and went on my way, down the shoulder.
Not that you would want to have to lie, but if your bike might have a medical emergency, it's a little "white" lie.
Take it from a 66 year old 5' 7" fat fuck, no one is going to ask for an MRI or Spinal Tap if you tell them you have medical issues.
I would explore finding a less slowed down commute route as you said, or see about flexing your start time. My former employer and I agreed to a 7:00 AM start time, and I usually got to work without any heroics.
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Bay Arean
Well-known member
I resemble much of your remark! Thanks. Yeah, exploring those options. The one think I have liked over the years about my start time, was sufficient traffic before me to drive over the pavement when the roads are frozen. It's scary to be the first guy out, but I have the car option. Pretty rare of course, but... But ya know, dark, icy early...
moto-rama
Well-known member
Oh, yeah, the dark, slick , foggy, slippery mornings.....
I often took Hwy 35 , Skyline to San Mateo from the City, plenty of days when you couldn't see literally Anything in the fog.
But I was on my way home at 300PM everyday, and curled up with Judge Judy by 4.
The car thing is like heroin, radio on, coffee, sneaking a cig....but motorcycles are exciting, crazy drivers putting on makeup, eating egg mcmuffins, throwing cigs out the window in to your face....
I often took Hwy 35 , Skyline to San Mateo from the City, plenty of days when you couldn't see literally Anything in the fog.
But I was on my way home at 300PM everyday, and curled up with Judge Judy by 4.
The car thing is like heroin, radio on, coffee, sneaking a cig....but motorcycles are exciting, crazy drivers putting on makeup, eating egg mcmuffins, throwing cigs out the window in to your face....
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Alan_Hepburn
Well-known member
I had a manager for a while, years ago, who absolutely did NOT like the idea of me starting work at 7am - it got to the point where he would routinely schedule meetings for 4:30pm just so I had to stay late, just like him...
Never mind the fact that I got more work done between 7 and 8 than he did all morning!
moto-rama
Well-known member
Alan_Hepburn
Well-known member
That was in a semiconductor design group back in the '90s - no unions. My solution was to transfer into another department.
My takeaway from the experience: never be the token white boy in an Asian group - they live to work while we tend to work to live.
ST Guy
Well-known member
Doesn't have to be synthetic. I don't run synth in my motorcycles, just OEM standard stuff or other high quality oil. Just change it and your oil filter regularly. Don't use cleanable oil filters. Check your oil level regularly.
I've ridden hundreds of thousands of miles on air cooled bikes in temps as high as 115F. I've only blown up one and it was old and flogged to shit.
You should be fine.
No, it doesn't have to be. But using conventional oil is penny wise and pound foolish. Why not use synthetic? It will handle heat far, far better than conventional, protect the engine from wear far better, and it will last much, much longer which offsets the added expense and reduces the occrances of oil changes. Win, win, and win.
davidji
Taylor's Version
That last much longer part isn't necessarily true. Some synthetics do, some don't. If you want the best value in terms of resistance to shear at a low cost, the sweet spot is usually an HDEO. If you're concerned about wet clutch performance, look for either JASO MA, or Allison C4. Few HDEOs list the former (maybe only some Rotella oils), more list the latter.
If you're curious about oil longevity in bikes similar to yours, browse used oil analyses people have posted on bobistheoilguy:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/u...-motorcycle-powersports-and-related-equipment