Air cooled question

[MrFreeze5]

Alright, this will probably be the most newbish question you'll ever hear out of me, but this is honestly a new thing for me. Air cooled. Ive always ridden water cooled bikes. Always. And living smack dab in the middle of the city, I get stuck in traffic a lot, sometimes where I have no option to get over and cant lane split(not that I would!), I may be sitting there for several minutes or just creeping along for a ways. Ive had times where my water cooled bikes are getting hot sitting there, so what the proper procedure for an air cooled bike? What is the longest it can sit running safely without really moving?

[bikerphil]

Sometimes I get caught in stop and go traffic when it's 95+ F and when the engine gets super hot (400+ F head temperature), you'll know for sure. The idle speed will start to decrease and you'll have to keep the throttle up a bit to keep it from stalling. This has only happened to me maybe twice in the last 5 years. These motors can take hot temps without causing any damage. An oil cooler will help a bit, but I don't even run one down here in S. Florida.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Agree w/ Phil.
Yamaha 'Overkilled" these engine designs, and got 'em right.

All the guys I know in OK have never had an issue... and it gets pretty darn hot here in the summer.

Will say, anytime I'm working on mine in a shop, and it needs to idle for an extended period, just sitting... even though it's an open air shop... I'll put a fan in front of it.

Wouldn't worry too much about it. There tuff.

[kirmit77]

it gets hot here in houston, and these engines put off alot of heat. MAYBE just maybe you could mount a fan on the front of the bike that blows toward the engine!?!?!?!?! ANYONE???

on a serious note, i dont like to sit for a long time cause traffic in houston just SUCKS. ill shut it off if im at a stand still or I know im at a light that takes forever.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Freeze,

First, please either edit your profile info to include the year/model of your bike, or put it in your signature, so that we can tell what you have, tips and such are often model/year specific!

Secondly, if it's an earlier year, then you should have a kick starter shaft, which would come in handy to take the stress off of your battery for repeated startings in stop and go traffic. This way you could just shut it down until traffic moves enough to justify firing it back up and moving forward. These engines are tough, but sitting for extended times does put more stress on the oil and bearings and such. An oil cooler is about the only other mod you can put on to help increase the cooling affect. The electrics aren't really strong enough to be able to run a decent sized/capacity electric fan that would move enough air to provide adequate cooling.

I've gotten stuck in that type of traffic in 95+ temps also, and it got a bit tough to keep it running without using throttle input, smoke started coming off the head where I had a little oil leak, but it survived just fine. But I started shutting it off, and just walking it along the few feet traffic would move, until it was enough speed to actually fire it up.
T.C.

[MrFreeze5]

Hey Freeze,

First, please either edit your profile info to include the year/model of your bike, or put it in your signature, so that we can tell what you have, tips and such are often model/year specific!

Secondly, if it's an earlier year, then you should have a kick starter shaft, which would come in handy to take the stress off of your battery for repeated startings in stop and go traffic. This way you could just shut it down until traffic moves enough to justify firing it back up and moving forward. These engines are tough, but sitting for extended times does put more stress on the oil and bearings and such. An oil cooler is about the only other mod you can put on to help increase the cooling affect. The electrics aren't really strong enough to be able to run a decent sized/capacity electric fan that would move enough air to provide adequate cooling.

I've gotten stuck in that type of traffic in 95+ temps also, and it got a bit tough to keep it running without using throttle input, smoke started coming off the head where I had a little oil leak, but it survived just fine. But I started shutting it off, and just walking it along the few feet traffic would move, until it was enough speed to actually fire it up.
T.C.

Im honestly not sure exactly what model my engine is, I think it is an 81S, but Im not certain. Its electric start. I am actually building my bike from scratch almost. Starting with a titled frame and a parts bike with an engine and electrical and going from there using lots of parts from other bikes. I was planning on an oil cooler for sure, but its good to know these engines can handle some heat. This bike is intended to be a middle distance weekend trip bike and will spend most of its time on the highway in the mountains and not in the city if I can help it.

[trbig]

Unless your motor gets so hot it starts pinging.. fuel pre-igniting in the cylinders.. you should be fine.

Think of your lawnmower... running hours in the summer with maybe the speed of a walk to cool it off, and the fins probably full of grass/dust. These motors have enough cooling surface with the fins to keep them from doing any damage to the motor. As TC stated, if this was a regular occurance, I'd do more frequent oil changes. I've been stuck many times in 100+ heat. Between the heat off the asphalt, other vehicles, and the heat from the bike, I worry more about me than it.. lol.


Tod

[Pat Kelly]

Oil cooler with a 12v fan (or 2) from a computer case, with a switch to turn on and off as needed.

[Montreux_Blue]

I don't know if this is 100% true but I've heard that in Texas you are allowed to ride the shoulder on a bike if you are stuck in traffic going less than 20mph to prevent them from overheating. I'd have to check the books to see if this is really true.

[trbig]

I wish you'd do that, because that's one of the places I've been stuck in traffic in that heat.


Tod

[XSokieSPECIAL]

I've been STUCK in rush hour traffic on a bike on I30 in Arlington before. Took me 2 hours to get from Ft Worth to Dallas sometimes.

The bike I was riding then was water cooled, CX 500 Custom, and I had to turn it off and let it cool.

[Montreux_Blue]

This is all I could find right now.

Texas Transportation Code - Section 545.058. Driving On Improved Shoulder

§ 545.058. DRIVING ON IMPROVED SHOULDER. (a) An operator
may drive on an improved shoulder to the right of the main traveled
portion of a roadway if that operation is necessary and may be done
safely, but only:
(1) to stop, stand, or park;
(2) to accelerate before entering the main traveled
lane of traffic;
(3) to decelerate before making a right turn;
(4) to pass another vehicle that is slowing or stopped
on the main traveled portion of the highway, disabled, or preparing
to make a left turn;
(5) to allow another vehicle traveling faster to pass;
(6) as permitted or required by an official
traffic-control device; or
(7) to avoid a collision.
(b) An operator may drive on an improved shoulder to the
left of the main traveled portion of a divided or limited-access or
controlled-access highway if that operation may be done safely, but
only:
(1) to slow or stop when the vehicle is disabled and
traffic or other circumstances prohibit the safe movement of the
vehicle to the shoulder to the right of the main traveled portion of
the roadway;
(2) as permitted or required by an official
traffic-control device; or
(3) to avoid a collision.
(c) A limitation in this section on driving on an improved
shoulder does not apply to:
(1) an authorized emergency vehicle responding to a
call;
(2) a police patrol; or
(3) a bicycle.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

[Crazcnuk]

I was in a Santa's Anonomous parade, last year. About an hour of sub 5mph speeds on an 85 degree day.

As was mentioned, as it got hot the idle decereased and it got to where I had to rev it a bit to keep running. Eventually, the bike just stopped running. No pinging happened on mine

I just waited while the parade went by, restarted and joined at the back, with about 5 other bikes that had the same issue. (most less than 5 years old.)

[kirmit77]

I don't know if this is 100% true but I've heard that in Texas you are allowed to ride the shoulder on a bike if you are stuck in traffic going less than 20mph to prevent them from overheating. I'd have to check the books to see if this is really true.

Really wish there was a law about that. I usually do it to get off and stay on the feeter road

[greatnw]

It even gets hot up here in the NW once in a while. I found that the water cooled Honda V65 Sabre I rode for a year got hot sitting in traffic. It was the first water cooled bike I had ridden extensively and that surprised me more than anything about it. I thought that the watercooling allowed some engine design features you couldn't acheive with air cooling and would eliminate overheating at idle. It never boiled over, but that temp gauge walked up beyond normal way too fast for my comfort.
I agree with the others that you simply shut it down and walk it until you are rolling again. I use a big fan when working on it at idle, too. Dumping the oil and added fresh is great insurance if you think things got a little too hot!
Part of the appeal for me on these bikes is their relative simplicity. Big air cooled inline four with a shaft drive and electronic ignition.
Have a great time riding in the Rockies!