How hot can these bikes get?

[eddiev]

I rebuilt the upper of my 82 gs1100gl this past winter. When I first got it running again I seemed to feel the heads getting much hotter than normal. A mechanic I know checked over what I had done, adjusted the valves and synced the carbs. All in all the bike is running well but the heads get extremley hot. Even when cruising I can feel blasts of heat coming up. My plugs look fine. When hot I noticed slight bubbles/foam in the oil site glass on top of the oil. It disappeared when cooling down. I feel that the oil has thinned out (viscosity breakdown) in about 500 miles due to the heat. The engine still runs well when hot ( no pinging etc that I would expect if it were overheating). These engines are such work horses though that they probably can still pound out through anything.
Any ideas or thoughts? I'm worried about some long trips I'm planning.
Thanks.....
Eddie V

 

[Jagir]

I put on alot of miles on the almost last day of a 4 day trip. When I stopped for gas in the evening, my leg brushed the metal emblem off the side of the engine. The glue that held the plate on had gotten hot and melted.

Took a long break and changed my planned destination.
j

 

[txironhead]

What plugs and gap are you running? Believe it or not, spark plugs play a big role in heat transfer on air-cooled engines. Run the factory recommended plug, preferably NGK, and try a 32 gap.

Also, have you verified the timing? That can affect things. Also, I'd highly recommend running an oil cooler if you're not already. If your oil is breaking down due to heat, all your hard work and money isn't going to last long at all.

The last thing I would recommend is taking out your oil pump and checking the tolerances and make sure it's not worn. Maybe the oil isn't circulating fast enough to cool.

No chance it's running lean, is there?

 

[Grandpa]

I rebuilt the upper of my 82 gs1100gl this past winter. When I first got it running again I seemed to feel the heads getting much hotter than normal. A mechanic I know checked over what I had done, adjusted the valves and synced the carbs. All in all the bike is running well but the heads get extremley hot. Even when cruising I can feel blasts of heat coming up. My plugs look fine. When hot I noticed slight bubbles/foam in the oil site glass on top of the oil. It disappeared when cooling down. I feel that the oil has thinned out (viscosity breakdown) in about 500 miles due to the heat. The engine still runs well when hot ( no pinging etc that I would expect if it were overheating). These engines are such work horses though that they probably can still pound out through anything.
Any ideas or thoughts? I'm worried about some long trips I'm planning.
Thanks.....
Eddie V

Once again, some folks seem to prefer to worry about their GS bikes rather than enjoy them. There was another thread yesterday about a fellow with a GS1100GK worrying about taking a 2,000-mile trip in the heat of the day while doing 85 mph. Some of us mentioned to him that we worry about him making the trip OK, rather than worry about the GK making the trip.

Yes, these engines are workhorses and they can pound out through anything, just as you say. If your intellect tells you that, then why let a silly emotion called "fear" take over your potential decision-making? If your bike is well maintained, has fresh oil and filter, then don't worry -- be happy. If the engine still runs well when hot and does not ping, then what the heck are you worried about? Just go.

You should take those long trips you're planning, but worry about yourself more than about the bike in the heat.

 

[Grandpa]

Also, I'd highly recommend running an oil cooler if you're not already. If your oil is breaking down due to heat, all your hard work and money isn't going to last long at all.

I don't. We had a thread about oil coolers yesterday. In my opinion, based on many years on GS850's and a GK, they are not needed and are more trouble than they're worth.

 

[bwringer]

I don't. We had a thread about oil coolers yesterday. In my opinion, based on many years on GS850's and a GK, they are not needed and are more trouble than they're worth.

Agreed.


But as noted above, is there any chance your bike is running lean? Does the idle speed change more than a couple hundred RPM between hot and cold? Any backfiring?

What do the plugs look like? Nice and tan, or white and glazed? This is the biggest indicator of how it's running. Wait till it cools off, pull out the plugs and take a look.

Is the airbox sealed correctly? Any other leaks in the intake system?

I'd pull out the plugs to see if it's running lean. If it is, the most probable culprit is that the airbox end caps and the air filter need to be sealed.

 

[Nessism]

While part of me agrees with Grandpa and Bwinger, I think that an oil cooler is a good idea on air cooled bikes. The problem is not normal riding but rather stop and go riding in high ambient conditions where oil temps can increase above the comfort point. All the second generation GG bikes have oil coolers from stock so Suzuki obviously recognized a positive benefit as well. Unfortunately, many of the early GS bikes use roller bearing cranks and thus the oil pump is very low pressure which is not the best arrangement for using an aftermarket add-on oil cooler kit. For this reason I think using synthetic oil is a good idea for hot weather riding since it holds up better than dino in abusive conditions.

Just my opinion of course…but a considered one.

 

[Grandpa]

I agree with you, Nessism, about using synthetic oil, particularly in hot weather. I use Shell Rotella Synthetic 5W-40, in the blue bottles, year round.

At this time of year I change it and the filter every 2K miles.

If my high-mileage GK continues to run so reliably, even after all those summers of hot running, and no oil cooler, then such addition is not needed.

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

I currently run reg Rotella oil in my 850. When I get my new (GS1000) motor transplant done (top end rebuild) - I will use strictly synthetic oil.

 

[twistedwankel]

seemed to feel. All in all the bike is running well. I can feel blasts of heat coming up. My plugs look fine. When hot I noticed slight bubbles/foam in the oil site glass on top of the oil. It disappeared when cooling down. I feel that the oil has thinned out (viscosity breakdown) in about 500 miles due to the heat. Eddie V

You appear to be having an emotional relationship with this bike.

If you planned on having an emotional/permanent relationship with it you should first give it a name.

If you didn't plan on having an emotional/permanent relationship with it you should flog the crap out of it until it says: "Bang my gears!! Ride my clutch!! Oh Baby!!"

OR you should have bought a new bike with a warrantee and called the toll free number when it took a ****.

So you actually put it on the center stand and looked for bubbles in the sight glass? Wow!!

The last time I saw "Bubbles" she was giving me a lap dance after I rode my old bike all afternoon, parked it on the hot asphalt with a woody underneath the kickstand to keep it up. Keeping it up is a real problem with old things.

Relax. You all ready know how to rebuild the thing. That's way more than I know. I only know how to smile:-D

 

[AOD]

We had a thread about oil coolers yesterday. In my opinion, based on many years on GS850's and a GK, they are not needed and are more trouble than they're worth.

I'll just chime in, since I'm having troubles with a leaking valve cover and suspect leaking oil cooler. My bike runs well up to 270F without the oil cooler in place. When installed, I see oil temps just a smidge over 210F.

I'd say that's fairly substantial....but not really an issue if you're using good synthetic oil.

~Adam

 

[Clone]

I would love to know where to by rotella in
canada

 

[SPARKSS]

"Flesh searing hot" is typical (I kinda like the heat on early spring or autumn rides). 79 GS1000 with 89000km without major work......Rotella T 15W40.....will still go 100 (no, not kmh) quite easily thanks (can't resist sometimes).

 

[82gs1100]

Once again, some folks seem to prefer to worry about their GS bikes rather than enjoy them. There was another thread yesterday about a fellow with a GS1100GK worrying about taking a 2,000-mile trip in the heat of the day while doing 85 mph. Some of us mentioned to him that we worry about him making the trip OK, rather than worry about the GK making the trip.

Yes, these engines are workhorses and they can pound out through anything, just as you say. If your intellect tells you that, then why let a silly emotion called "fear" take over your potential decision-making? If your bike is well maintained, has fresh oil and filter, then don't worry -- be happy. If the engine still runs well when hot and does not ping, then what the heck are you worried about? Just go.

You should take those long trips you're planning, but worry about yourself more than about the bike in the heat.

ya just ride it and dont worry about it till the motor burns up
ya check for lean condition plugs should be medum to dark brown not clean as new or black

 

[Grandpa]

I have a difficult time figuring out what you're trying to say, 82gs1100. I suppose punctuation and capitalization are only important to old fogeys like me.

:-D

 

[txironhead]

I guess I just don't understand some people's mentality. My dad used to say "Don't fix it 'til it turns into something wrong." Obviously, preventative maintenance was not in his vocabulary, as evidenced by the many, many vehicles he's gone through rapidly in his life. Squeaky belt? Ain't broke, is it? Car overheating? Put some more water in it and loosen the radiator cap, it'll be fine.

BOOM! What was that? The engine blew up? Big surprise.

The situation is, this guy is wanting to know if the large amounts of heat coming off of his bike is normal, and if not, how to fix it.

First off, you need to find out if the bike is overheating. The only thing I can think of is to somehow install an oil temperature gauge. Maybe you can use one of those heat sensor guns (don't know right now what they're called) to find out the external temp, which isn't as accurate a gauge but it'll get you a baseline. If your oil is getting so hot that it's losing viscosity before the recommended 2k oil change, chances are you're either getting it too hot or gasoline is somehow seeping into your crankcase. No chance of the petcock leaking, is there?

Another thing: oil coolers work. If you have one of the older bikes with the low-pressure oil pump then it may not work for you without putting a higher-pressure pump in, but saying oil coolers don't work is like saying gas isn't flammable. It's a tried-and-true technology. If your oil cooler leaks, chances are it's a poorly made unit, the seals are bad or it was improperly installed.

I've installed oil coolers on bikes before, pretty common in South Texas where I used to live, and on every bike I installed them on the result was a significantly cooler running bike. The only one I ever had leak was the result of pure error, I forgot to install the seal on one of the lines. I installed the seal, cleaned the mess and no problems.

Air cooled and even oil cooled bikes run hotter than water cooled bikes, no argument there. Is his bike overheating? I honestly don't know, I'm not there to diagnose it, but I can try to help him diagnose whether or not it is and if it is try to help remedy the problem. Telling him to quit whining over whether or not his bike will make a long-distance trip is not great advice. Before every long trip I've ever made on a bike I did everything I could to make sure that the bike was in the top condition it could be in. I'd much rather spend an extra hour wrenching in my driveway that three hours cussing and wrenching by flashlight in the middle of nowhere.

Granted, these bikes are bull-tough if they're running right, or there wouldn't be as many as there are still on the road. But no bike, no matter how well made, can withstand unlimited abuse. Aluminum warps easily. Heat warps aluminum. It's a valid question based on a valid concern. It may turn out to be nothing. But I'd rather help prevent blowing up a motor he's obviously spent a lot of time and money on than tell him to quit worrying and ride the crap out of it.

I'll get off of my soapbox now. Find out for sure if it is overheating. If it is, we've given you some ideas on how to remedy the problem. If it's not, at least you'll have the peace of mind that the engine should last you for years to come.

 

[82gs1100]

right on txironhead.
punctuation and capitalization. is this a high school paper?
he asked how hot his bike should be getting and that his was getting hot enough to boil the engine oil.
i think he noticed that when he checked his oil because the engine was hot, that the oil was bubbling
dont tell him hes a idiot because his bike is overheating.

 

[Cathy344]

I think the piece of technology txironhead is trying to recall the name of is an infrared, or IR, thermometer. I was thinking I'd get one of them to help me balance my carbs based on the idea that lean cylinders would run hotter than well-tuned ones and so I'd gauge which cylinders to richen based on which exhaust pipes were hotter than the others. Then I was made savvy to the motor oil in the vinyl tubing as a 2-cylinder differential manometer gag for much cheaper than any IR thermometer.

I'd love to have an engine temp gauge on my instrument cluster. What would be the best route to achieve that? A thermocouple affixed to the front center of the engine down between the pipes for cyls 2 and 3? A thermocouple on a rigid rod passing through the oil filler cap to avoid permanently modifying the crankcase?

 

[82gs1100]

i was thinking of putting a oil temp sensor in instead of a oil temp in the oil pressure port on the right side of the bike. or a t fitting to monitor both
oil pressure is more important then temp but there is a idiot light for pressure.

 

[Nessism]

I'd love to have an engine temp gauge on my instrument cluster. What would be the best route to achieve that? A thermocouple affixed to the front center of the engine down between the pipes for cyls 2 and 3? A thermocouple on a rigid rod passing through the oil filler cap to avoid permanently modifying the crankcase?

There is an oil galley fitting on the RH side of the engine (chrome bolt) that could be removed and a sensor installed. Some people install gauges into the line but there is no reason a temp gauge/sensor couldn't be installed instead.