Any Danger of Overheating?

[Tim Tom]

Hello everyone,

I've been riding my GS850G for a little over a month now, and it is mechanically sound. However I have never really ridden it on hotter (85 and up) days until yesterday. I am just wondering if there is any danger of the bike overheating, say running a steady 80 mph on an unshaded highway? I use that as an example because that was the scenario yesterday, and the engine was making a lot of heat.
What are some of the warning signs I could look out for, and how should I react if a problem with overheating does arrive?

Thanks Guys

 

[tkent02]

People ride these bikes in the tropics, in city traffic, in the hottest of deserts, full throttle all the way up the highest mountain passes. They have always done OK. Oils are better now, they withstand heat better than the oils in use when these bikes were new. Use synthetic if you are worried, it's just that much more heat resistant. A little common sense goes a long way, if you are riding in very hot weather don't let the bike idle very long, make sure it is tuned correctly, the carbs are not too lean, things like that. Anytime you have airflow, like in your 80mph example, you can't hurt it, unless something is not working correctly. Is yours working right, ignition, carburetion, exhaust flowing freely?
Engines modified with higher compression, cams and bigger displacements may need oil coolers, for the rest of us they are nothing but a leak waiting to happen. Those who have oil coolers will tell you I am full of it, but I've never had a GS engine fail from heat or any other reason save high mileage.
That one was well over 100,000 miles, and it never really failed, just leaked about a quart an hour.

 

[ddaniels]

No way you're going to overheat it while riding down the highway unless it's running way too lean. But it can happen just sitting and idling.

 

[salty_monk]

Keep it moving... I've ridden my 1000's in heat well over 100 at 80 for couple of hours at a time.

Dan

 

[Tim Tom]

Thanks for the tips. I kinda figured as long as I was moving I would be ok. But good to know i dont have much to worry about :-\\\

 

[focus frenzy]

jetting is key, I have gotten mine hot plenty times and it was mainly running at highway speeds and suddenly having to slow way down to a stop fast for traffic.

small changes in carb jetting can make large changes in engine temperatures.
some models in some areas are to lean stock and will over heat. you have to adjust jetting of the carbs for the enviroment you ride in.

 

[Turtleface]

I rode my 1100E last summer, in traffic, in 115 degree heat. Varied stop and go action. Didn't get too scary unless I got caught at a train crossing, but you stop long enough there to easily justify shutting the motor down. Other than frazzled nerves on my part, no ill effects were noticed. I don't have an oil cooler, either. One's going on next paycheck, however. I like a bit of insurance. Plus, they look slick.

 

[Guest]

The gentleman that built my motor recommended an oil cooler due to increased heat due to increased horsepower... look under the performance heading for historical documents and you will see why he recommended the cooler...
Curt

 

[twr1776]

One other thing to check is that the air passages between the cylinders are clear and also the air passages by the cylinder head/top end are clear.

You can be suprised by the junk that can come out of them, bug carcasses, blacktop, little rocks, etc.

 

[trippivot]

put in a colder plug

put in a colder plug

in extreme heat there is a little more oil consumption. not to worry just put more in.

the head/cylinders can handle 400 F degrees without permenant distortion and at that temp you can feel the engine heat from over a meter away. put a fan on it if you are really worried. call it a parade fan from a sport bike radatior . relay and a switch presto! cool cylinders.

you can get a lower heat range spark plug. easy and best way to cool the engine running temp.

B9ES or B10 ES that helps a lot in the summer desert heat. (On cold mornings you'll need more warm up time with cold plugs)

B7ES for winter - hot plug

 

[pontiacstogo]

Air/oil cooled bikes can take a lot of heat. Here's a funny story from another forum ;

I have a 1980 Honda CB750F Supersport, which I purchased over the summer for $550.. the bike was in great mechanical shape, just needed a new alternator, which I replaced easily, and alot of paint. The bike ran wonderfully all summer and fall, until I put it into the garage for storage. On christmas day, I went out to the garage, and managed after a little bit to get the bike cranked, and setting the choke to let it idle at about 2500RPM's, I left it to warm up... I only meant to let it run for about 10 minutes or so, but when I went back in the house to wash my hands and clean up, I got roped into helping with some christmas decorating... next thing I knew, I'd forgotten all about the bike running in the garage. When I finally remembered it, it was a full six hours later, and I ran out to the garage to find (of course) the bike out of gas, and the instrument lights barely lit up, as the head and tail light had run down the battery after the bike ran out of gas. Well, I didn't think much of it, turned everything off, and hooked up the battery charger. The next day, I went back out to the garage, and put some gas in it, and tried to start it for about 40 minutes, with no luck except getting it to backfire a couple times. I had noticed an odd smell in the garage when I came in, but passed it off as a mixture of gas and oil from the snowblower... but, after not being able to start the bike after 40 minutes, I gave the engine a quick glance, and noticed a very small oil leak from the left side of the head... and got to wondering if perhaps the bike overheated while it was running in the garage for a few hours at 2500RPM's... I pulled out the oil dipstick, and found the end of it melted, which gives me even more reason to believe that the bike overheated.

This is what was left of the pulse generators and spark advancer;

Believe it or not, the owner replaced the melted items, changed the oil and the engine lived.

 

[1_v8_merc]

WOW.....that's pretty nasty.

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I had an overheating issue today, i think....or either that my starter is going bad.

I let the bike sit outside in 90 degree weather today, while I messed with my truck,etc,etc....(didnt let it sit in direct sun light much though)

I had ridden the bike earlier and ran great!
But like I said, I let her sit outside all day with me.......

So i wanted to ride later on, so started her up....and it barely pulled enough strength to start.....
I thought "hmmm thats weird, it's been charging half the frigging day! New battery and pulling 12.6-13 volts"
I guess i let it Idle too long, and by time I got to the end of the driveway, it sputtered and stalled.(I let it stall, because i wanted to see if it would re-start, I have this problem sometimes!)

Sure enough....barely cranked at all!
It had a full charge.....

Walked it back to the house, and of course the engine was piping hot.....TOO hot I would think.

I had that sucker with a fan on it for 30 minutes, then used the charger to jump-fire it, THEN it started barely......

Took it up the rode, to cool it down.
Came back, shut it down.
Wouldnt start back up!

Engine was really hot again.....threw a fan on it for almost an hour....NOW it magically starts normally after it got dark out and cooled down!