temp gauge for bike without one

[lukehan]

I just found these http://www.aircraftspruce.com/nsearch.php?s=cht while looking for some kind of a temp gauge for my 79' gs850 (bike overheated and I don't want it to happen again). I haven't ordered one yet, but looks real simple, just put the probe ring around a spark plug and find a place to mount the gauge. Has anyone else tried this?

[Hoomgar]

No I haven't but it looks cool. I believe I just may look into this one or a similar product. Thx for the info man.

[first timer]

keep us posted on how it works, i am unsure how you mount the sending unit and to what.

-ryan

[lhanscom]

EGT's are quite popular in the snowmobile world, and from what I hear, work quite well. I beleive you need to modify your exhaust to put the probe in, not a big deal. They are meant to go near the engine, so they usually use 1 per cyl, but for your purposes just mount one on one of the inboard cyls, as these will be hotter then the outboard cyls. I think you could get an oil temp guage too, not quite sure how they hook up, but they're probably cheaper.

[oldschoolGS]

I am pretty familiar with EGT/ITT aircraft engine temp gauges. Most EGT guages are used to lean piston engines at altitude for optimum fuel economy. Thats what the adjustible pointer is for-it is set at optimum temp (determined by the EGT company) and then you pull the mixture back (lean) until the temp needle hits this point. I do not see a correlation to cycle engines without a lot of research to determine what EGT temps are appropiate. I think an easier fix would be to find an actual oil temp guage to mount . If that is not possible then an oil pressure guage would be my second choice. Overheating will show up indirectly as a reduction in oil pressure because as the motor over temps, oil will begin to loose viscosity and pressure will decrease. A guage will show this as a trend well before the idiot light illuminates on the instrument cluster. Also I highly recommend using premium synthetic oil after breakin to protect against the high heat/shear that these air cooled motors endure. Good Luck, Ed.
1983 GS750ED
2001 TL1000S