I picked up my bike last night and on the way home it heated up to the point where the temp gauge was nearly pegged... I pulled off and checked the fuse, and it was bad so i replaced it. It was fine for the rest of the way home(the temp gauge stayed exactly in the middle, all highway).

Today when i was riding around, i noticed the fan wasnt coming on and the bike was heating up again. Me and my friend found that the temp sensor in the radiator is bad, so instead of buying one for $60, i rigged the fan to always be on hoping this would solve the problem. I went out again and it stayed cool for a little while, bu its back to heating up to just before the red mark again... I figured it was low coolant so I added some and ended up filling the reservoir completely up and none went into the radiator. I took the bike for another ride to see if that helped and the bike still heated up. However, when I am cruising on the highway at like 60+ mph, the bike cools just fine.

I was thinking maybe the T-stat was stuck shut, but if that was the case it wouldnt cool when I am at higher speeds, it would just overheat a ton.

I am completely stumped, and the only left that I am going to do is flush the coolant this weekend when I do a tune-up.

Also, the bike doesnt seem like its incredibly hot when the temp gauge is all the way up, like its not like melting my legs or anything, but I can feel heat coming from the engine...

Any help is appreciated

Thanks
-Scott

 

Check the thermostat...and add fresh coolant. Mine did the same exact thing sitting in traffic at bike week, and we got home and a friend and I went through, realized my resevoir was almost empty, and my thermostat was not working. We adjusted those two things, and now I haven't gone over 3/4 of the way up on the temp gauge. The fan comes on a lot more, and the engine stays cooler.

 

wow, same thing here! when i take it out cruisin it starts to heat up pretty quick, the coolant is fine, topped off, i'm thinking of changing it this weekend see if it helps? but yeah, on the highway about 80, um...i mean 55 it is nice and cool!