Idiling is quite easy on the motor. Rpms are low meaning there is very little bearing surface swept by the journals of the crank per minute. The engine isen't forcing as much oil through so theres less load on the oil pump and drive gear. The pistons are scraping the cylinder walls less often and there is almost NO cylinder pressure above normal cranking pressure which is the biggest cause of wear in the cylinders.

Long ago your friend would have been right, kinda. Idling would be hard on the spark plugs because carbs had horrible fueling issues. If it wasen't fueling correctly it could either be rich and foul plugs and lean and cause detonation.

 

On a real hot day in here Chicago my bike will get to 233 or 234 at a light which I believe to be normal. It should never get above 240 I would imagine if everything is working the way it should be.

 

BoredandStroked thanks for putting that into perspective! Sounds like you know your stuff

RDub-sounds about right....damn I miss Chi-town and the north side wrigley area...so many god d#$% gorgeous cultured women...I left a few back there when I came out west

Cant beat the AZ weather though and riding by mountains overlooking the whole valley on an open 5 or 6 lane highway never gets old

 

I am not quite sure why you aren't understanding how that can happen. An engine block is operating at a hypothetical temperature while you are moving. It is operating at that temperature with the help of the cooling capabilities of the radiator, and the wind flowing over both the readiator, and the block itself. You slam on the brakes come to a stop, and shut the engine down. In the immediate time frame following that the engine has no way to continue to dissapate the heat at the same level and consequently the temperatures will rise until the heat is dissipated naturally.

This is the reason lots of cars have fans that run after you shut the car down and take the key out - to ward off heat sink by continuing to blow air over the engine to keep it cooler. In fact I believe there are a fair number cars now that have circulating pumps to continue to circulate Anti-Freeze.

EDIT - here is an article on this exact issue. The 3rd paragraph puts into perspective and notes that the Jaguar engineers designed a fan to deal with this EXACT issue. http://www.jaguarfuelinjectorservice...ing%20v12s.htm

Either way though - it doesn't matter. It isn't like it is going to overheat and crack the block or warp the heads. Just do what you feel like doing - let it idle, or shut if off, there probably isn't a right answer because the long-term effects from doing either are negligible.

 

I got to agree on seafordguy here. Have you ever turn off your bike then turned it back on a minute later only to see it is now at a higher temp than it was when you shut it off? If not try it.

 

I couldn't have written this any better..I agree with this 100%

Damn it would be sweet if our F4i's had the luxury option of having a circulating pump and fan running after a hot shut down

 

science experiment:
if you shut the bike down but leave the key on the fan will continue to run (if it was on)... and the temp gauge will still be on... then you could watch you temp gauge go up a few when you shut it down... then drop a lot shortly after

But as others have said, do what you want. The bike is going to run forever as long as you change the oil.

 

Simple answer: Idling the bike is bad for one part. The battery

Remember the stator doesn't provide enough voltage at idle to sufficiently charge the battery.

 

But isn't the voltage required to start the bike a greater drain on the battery than idling?

 

Yes, cranking constantly will kill a battery quick. Idling will kill it slow, especially if the battery is already weak.

How many times have you heard guys idling their bike for a half hour while they went in to do something, only to hear it die out and find a dead battery? Fan + Lights + Engine is drawing on the battery.