I know there are cooling issues on my 6th gen and I wanted to double check to see if this is normal/bad or nothing at all.
Last week, I got stuck in traffic for a while. Fans eventually stayed on for about 45 minutes and the temp crept up slowly to about 225 before I was able to get moving. So the fans didnt' cool it enough in real bad traffic and 80+ degree Minnesota days.
What temperature is getting to hot where I should shut the bike down?
Next, yesterday it was 85-90 here and as I was riding on the freeway it stayed around 200 degrees. Is this too warm for cruizing on the freeway? If so, what do I do to fix this?
Lastly, what can I do to improve my cooling? We have two seasons here in MN, Winter and Construction and since I commute 60 miles per day on the Viffr I know I'll be stuck in bad traffic again pretty soon in this warm weather. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
[image: View Post]danmurphymn, on 25 May 2010 - 10:20 AM, said:
I know there are cooling issues on my 6th gen and I wanted to double check to see if this is normal/bad or nothing at all.
Last week, I got stuck in traffic for a while. Fans eventually stayed on for about 45 minutes and the temp crept up slowly to about 225 before I was able to get moving. So the fans didnt' cool it enough in real bad traffic and 80+ degree Minnesota days.
What temperature is getting to hot where I should shut the bike down?
Next, yesterday it was 85-90 here and as I was riding on the freeway it stayed around 200 degrees. Is this too warm for cruizing on the freeway? If so, what do I do to fix this?
Lastly, what can I do to improve my cooling? We have two seasons here in MN, Winter and Construction and since I commute 60 miles per day on the Viffr I know I'll be stuck in bad traffic again pretty soon in this warm weather. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
I am in TX where we are seeing 95+ 100% humidity and I have seen as high as 229 sitting in traffic. Never have hit the 230 mark. Fan keeps it under that. This is pretty normal. As for riding down the freeway, mine too stays around 200 in the heat after getting to the 225 mark sitting still. I don't see you are having any abnormal problems. Keep riding.
Just one of the inherently bad things about the side mounted radiators with only one fan. The Fan doesn't even kick on until 221F or so. Under 230 you are ok, above that (mine only did it once in stop and go traffic), i start lane splitting or finding a place to stop for a bit and shut it down. 200F when cruising isn't bad. I believe the thermostat is supposed to be fully open at around 200-210F and these bikes are pretty vulnerable to "dirty air" when you are following another car. Once they get out of the way and you are in the clear, temps usually drop to 190 or so.
Conversely, the FZ6 which is naked and has a 1 normal radiator about the size of 1 VFR radiator has never seen over 215F with the fan coming on at 212F and it quickly cools down.
Around 250 it will ping on acceleration and have noticeable power loss, should probably stop and let it cool before that. If you are using a power commander and a generic map, you might try unplugging it and see what your temps look like. When I moved to Northern Iowa last year with a PC3 and Cozye map, it ran a little hotter than in Central Missouri, not much elevation difference so I don't know what the difference is, removed the power commander and it is back to 176-180 all winter once warm and 180-210 in the new warm weather. I had the T stat replaced thinking the bike was running hot when I bought it in 07, no different afterwards just runs hotter than most other bikes.
Two weekends ago I finally drained and flushed (with distrilled water 4 times) the cooling system and refilled it with 60% distilled water, 20% Water Wetter, and 20% Honda type II (blue automotive) antifreeze. I went for a mountain ride (40-55MPH) @ 58 degrees and couldn't get the temp above 168. That's about 10 degrees less than before the flush and change. I ended up having to stop at the house and using a little aluminum tape to cover about a third of the right side radiator's backside. When I went back out, it hung around 180 degrees or so.
I can see the replies already, yes, I've checked the thermostat, it's good.
However, living in MN, be sure come winter, you 'winterize' it before storage.
I plan on this point forward, draining at the pump plug and refilling once a year, skipping the flush part. After all, it's less than a gallon of product.
I should note that I have my PCV a little rich in most areas, properly a little more than need be. That is also making the bike run cooler than normal.
According to my '04 manual, when the coolant temperature reaches 251F the numbers in the temp display start flashing and the black bar under the numbers becomes a red bar. The coolant temperature indicator will light up also. Even if the air temp is displayed it will switch over automatically to coolant temperature. The temp reading will go up to 270F but Honda recommends that you shut the engine off at 251F. Doesn't say anything about the bike automatically shutting off.
In the TX heat mine will run from 200-225 on a regular basis. In fact there are only a couple months out of the year where it runs as cool as 180.
[image: View Post]dutchinterceptor, on 25 May 2010 - 01:57 PM, said:
According to my '04 manual, when the coolant temperature reaches 251F the numbers in the temp display start flashing and the black bar under the numbers becomes a red bar. The coolant temperature indicator will light up also. Even if the air temp is displayed it will switch over automatically to coolant temperature. The temp reading will go up to 270F but Honda recommends that you shut the engine off at 251F. Doesn't say anything about the bike automatically shutting off.
In the TX heat mine will run from 200-225 on a regular basis. In fact there are only a couple months out of the year where it runs as cool as 180.
Whoops, it's been about 8 years since my bike actually got that hot (blown fan fuse + traffic jam) so I might have gotten my wires crossed about that.
Sorry for any misinformation.
We've got about a zillion high temp shutdowns here at work on everything from soup to nuts, so it's sometimes hard to keep it all separated.
I'm in Toronto and I think our climate is similar to yours (well, you may be a little colder in the winter). The operating temps you noted are exactly what I experience and I think they are in the normal range.
I also see the same temperatures. While at deals gap, living above 7K for extended periods, with outside temps in the 80's, I hit 240 several times and 250 with flashing once. Any extended hard riding I do seems to drive the temps north of 225 pretty quick.
I'm in the Phoenix area here, Thursday was 114 degrees in the shade. Riding home from work, I got into city traffic, and at one point I briefly saw 238 on my temp gauge. On the highway at 75mph, in our summer heat, the temp stays around 215-225. Never had a problem at these temps. Garry
[image: View Post]danmurphymn, on 25 May 2010 - 10:20 AM, said:
I know there are cooling issues on my 6th gen and I wanted to double check to see if this is normal/bad or nothing at all.
Last week, I got stuck in traffic for a while. Fans eventually stayed on for about 45 minutes and the temp crept up slowly to about 225 before I was able to get moving. So the fans didnt' cool it enough in real bad traffic and 80+ degree Minnesota days.
What temperature is getting to hot where I should shut the bike down?
Next, yesterday it was 85-90 here and as I was riding on the freeway it stayed around 200 degrees. Is this too warm for cruizing on the freeway? If so, what do I do to fix this?
Lastly, what can I do to improve my cooling? We have two seasons here in MN, Winter and Construction and since I commute 60 miles per day on the Viffr I know I'll be stuck in bad traffic again pretty soon in this warm weather. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
You look completely normal, those numbers are very typical for post 85 degree weather .
The vfr fan kick on around 220, being you bike held below 230 , everything is functioning .
I've been wanting to try the new Redline MC oil. I've heard harley riders say this oil drops the oil temps alot. I fiquure dropping oil temps, might equal cooler water temps.
in a lab, Redline, does not retain heat compared to most oil. Its also been said this is not an oil for storage , its needs alot of Heat to perform well.
3 weeks ago I changed my anti-freeze in my 2003. Bought honda anti-freeze from a honda auto dealer (same stuff, silicate free, but a little less $). Also added Redline Water Wetter (recommended amount per the bottle). So I'm running 50/50 w/a few ounces of Water Wetter.
On average the temps are only down a few degrees (2 or 3), but the temps come down a whole lot faster once underway. Before, after a long stop, I would watch the gauge go down 1 degree at a time, with 20 or so second delay in between, now it's maybe a 5 second or less delay (obviously this depends on speed, following a car or not, etc).
My commute includes some back roads and a few sets of lights, overall my temps are down alot, the fan hardly ever comes on (even in this hot NH heat we are having). Meaning the bike still heats up at a stop light, but cools way down before the next one, etc, etc.
Doug
One other tip. After changing the antifreeze I had a leak at the drain bolt on the water pump. I was lazy and didn't replace the copper crush washer. So I hunted all over for a new one (2 Honda dealers, hardware stores, auto parts stores, Fastenall) No one had them in stock. Luckily I found a recommendation on line. If you heat the copper washer up with a propane torch it will anneall (re-soften) the metal ( http://www.sportbike...ead.php?t=16599 ). No more leak.
[image: View Post]coderighter, on 25 May 2010 - 01:39 PM, said:
Two weekends ago I finally drained and flushed (with distrilled water 4 times) the cooling system and refilled it with 60% distilled water, 20% Water Wetter, and 20% Honda type II (blue automotive) antifreeze. I went for a mountain ride (40-55MPH) @ 58 degrees and couldn't get the temp above 168. That's about 10 degrees less than before the flush and change. I ended up having to stop at the house and using a little aluminum tape to cover about a third of the right side radiator's backside. When I went back out, it hung around 180 degrees or so.
I can see the replies already, yes, I've checked the thermostat, it's good.
However, living in MN, be sure come winter, you 'winterize' it before storage.
I plan on this point forward, draining at the pump plug and refilling once a year, skipping the flush part. After all, it's less than a gallon of product.
I should note that I have my PCV a little rich in most areas, properly a little more than need be. That is also making the bike run cooler than normal.
I had much the same result with my '02. flush and replace coolant.
4k mi later, I still don't have the same temps that I had before.
Replaced several t-stats, and I"m doing good to get it to hover in the mid-170s.
Temps will climb if I get stuck in traffic or at a long light.
[image: View Post]coderighter, on 25 May 2010 - 01:39 PM, said:
Two weekends ago I finally drained and flushed (with distrilled water 4 times) the cooling system and refilled it with 60% distilled water, 20% Water Wetter, and 20% Honda type II (blue automotive) antifreeze. I went for a mountain ride (40-55MPH) @ 58 degrees and couldn't get the temp above 168. That's about 10 degrees less than before the flush and change. I ended up having to stop at the house and using a little aluminum tape to cover about a third of the right side radiator's backside. When I went back out, it hung around 180 degrees or so.
I can see the replies already, yes, I've checked the thermostat, it's good.
However, living in MN, be sure come winter, you 'winterize' it before storage.
I plan on this point forward, draining at the pump plug and refilling once a year, skipping the flush part. After all, it's less than a gallon of product.
I should note that I have my PCV a little rich in most areas, properly a little more than need be. That is also making the bike run cooler than normal.
have you noticed a drop in your commuting and traffic stopping temps too?
[image: View Post]Whitepine, on 19 July 2010 - 10:56 PM, said:
have you noticed a drop in your commuting and traffic stopping temps too?
Can't speak for coderighter, but I noticed much lower commuting temps, but not traffic-stopped temps.
To me, it almost behaves as if too much water is getting past the t-stat. Don't know for sure, but thats what seems logical to me.
[image: View Post]PLCGuy, on 09 July 2010 - 01:41 PM, said:
I also see the same temperatures. While at deals gap, living above 7K for extended periods, with outside temps in the 80's, I hit 240 several times and 250 with flashing once. Any extended hard riding I do seems to drive the temps north of 225 pretty quick.
We did the 28 loop into Robbinsville this afternoon in vtec for a lot of it and I hit 231F.
I live in MD. Bought my 07 new in March (leftover in the box). It has always run hot. We did have a hot summer, lots of 90+ days, but if I was just highway riding I was definitely in the 230s. Any slowing down due to traffic, sitting at idle, and I was in the 240s. I stopped twice to let the bike cool because I was 250 with the flashing display. I can't help but feel this isn't right, especially on a new bike. It was in the 60s yesterday and I was at 230 on the highway. Thoughts?
[image: View Post]NT11, on 18 October 2010 - 11:38 AM, said:
I live in MD. Bought my 07 new in March (leftover in the box). It has always run hot. We did have a hot summer, lots of 90+ days, but if I was just highway riding I was definitely in the 230s. Any slowing down due to traffic, sitting at idle, and I was in the 240s. I stopped twice to let the bike cool because I was 250 with the flashing display. I can't help but feel this isn't right, especially on a new bike. It was in the 60s yesterday and I was at 230 on the highway. Thoughts?
That's way too hot for highway speeds. I have a 5th gen and it's never run that hot at highway speeds. Idling for long periods is a different story, though. Does the fan come on? I think something must be wrong (low coolant, air in coolant system, bad pump, bad thermostat, or ?).