So I was riding today and as I was sitting in traffic I looked down and noticed my temp was starting to rise pretty quickly. The temp got all the way to 238 degrees before the light changed so I could go. As I ride it cools back down but as soon as I start slowing down or come to a stop it rises. When I got home I checked to see if the fans worked and they came on at about 215 degrees. I checked the radiator cap and the coolant is full to the top. The overflow tank has a lot of coolant in it as well. It does not leak. Any ideas?

I just did sprockets and a chain today as well and added oil to the bike (it was a little low). Not that this matter but it's the only changes I've made.

 

I had mine up to 220 today,very normal.

 

These bikes tend to warm up very quickly. Mine had gotten to about 227 just sitting in traffic the other day but as soon as you get above 35 the temp will drop fast. If you're really worried about it you could install a second fan or buy a manual fan switch which would allow you to turn the fan on at any time to keep the temp down. Something like this http://www.xsboostperformance.com/ca...products_id=84 . I'm looking at possibly buying one to use while I'm in traffic here in town. It still allows the fans to operate as they would from the factory but you can turn them on at anytime.

 

those xboost things are a rip off. you can do the same thing for $15 at autozone or advanced. it'll buy you another 10-20 min. of sitting in traffic before your bike gets hot.. it allows you to manage your bike's temp a little better. i made my own switch, its real easy to do, and my bike now has never gotten over 220 since i've done the switch.

remember that when you're sitting in traffic, your bikes getting no air, and idle is a very inefficient engine speed, so your bike will overheat at some point.

edit- what you could do, is wrap your headers. that would really keep a lot of heat away from your engine. your bike will run cooler, and its cheaper than the xboost fan controller if you're not comfortable making your own switch. you can get wrap kits at autozone that come with wrap, zipties, and a silicone hardener, or you can get them online (opp racing has a kit).

 

Yeah I kinda figured they might be a rip off. How did you make ur set up?

 

its real easy. all you need to do is go buy a 20A switch from advanced. make sure you get one that won't rust.

this is the simplist way to do it. grab some wire (i used nice speaker wire that i had laying around the house), get some bullet connections (advanced auto parts) depending on where you want to mount the switch (i put mine in a part of the front headlight that wasn't being used).

jacket the wire on a 20A fuse of your choice under the seat of the bike (i used the headlight fuse or some other people have used the license plate light wire as most people that have a fender eliminator have no use for that wire anymore). run the wire along the main harness which is underneath the seat and the frame and keep going to where you want to put the switch. this wire will plug into one side of the switch (doesn't matter which side).

now, at the fan, un plug the fan plug. there are two prongs, one hot, one ground (im pretty sure that the black is the hot, and green is the ground, but check the manual just to be sure). what you're going to do, is take another wire, jacket the hot prong on the plug. re-connect the plug (it will fit, it will be realllllyyy tight, but it will fit back in). this wire will now go to the other side of the switch.

turn on the switch, you should hear your fan work. the great thing about this method is, that even if you forget your switch, your fan will still work and come on at 215 or whatever like its supposed to.

from there on, it gets as complicated as you want to go with it depending on where you mount the switch. i saudered the wires to the switch, took a uni-bit, drilled out some of the front headlight assembly, put the switch in there, to plumber's epoxy around the switch and the headlight, sanded it all down then taped up the switch and painted the cured and sanded epoxy black to match the headlight assembly. then i put bullet connections around where the front fairing comes off so that i can take everything apart without my wiring getting in the way.

sorry its long post, if my wife's camera was charged, i'd take pics of everything as i'm not the best at describing things.

the main thing is though, advanced sells all kinds of switches and brackets, or if you take a trip to home depot you can get a bracket made and you can make exactly what you see on that site for under $30 all day long. just think about where you want to put yours. i made mine for around $10 because all i had to buy was a simple switch. and when you go to advanced, ask one of the guys there what they'd recommend, and do the same thing at home depot, they'll help you.

 

Right on... ill prolly make a switch to control the fans and wrap the headers as well. What do you think is a degree that it shouldn't go past when sittinin traffic. 238 is the highest my bike has ever been. Then again I was in traffic for awhile.

 

i dont know man, the more important thing is what temp the bike is running at when you're not in traffic. however, if your bike goes over 240, you probably are going to have some air in your cooling system due to boiling. the switch and the header wrap will probably keep you under 220 though, but usually a lot cooler than that. like i said earlier, the switch buys you extra time, but it wont make your bike run any cooler. the wrap will make your bike run cooler tho.

 

It never really gets over 190 when riding.Thanks for the info guys.