that temp is way high. if your fan works (are you sure?) then it can't be getting any coolant. i would try looking at all of the fuses first? and then i would go straight to the pump. coolant can't be flowing if the fan is working and the coolant levels are fine. if the coolant was flowing then the fan would be blowing air through the radiator and it would cool. not sure waht else it sould be. i am assuming that the oil level is fine also???

 

How old is your bike? When is the last time the cooling system was flushed out? Is there any visual damage to your radiator? Do you have the appropriate amount of coolant in the system? What about the overflow bottle?

Other than the above questions I would check the items that madcow suggested.

Just try and relax - avoid riding the bike until you find the solution. Together you and the members of this forum can help you through this problem.

Hang in there.

Aloha.

 

Hi, I scoured the whole forum as far back as it goes in my browser (August) and I've seen the temps that people get their R1s up to...

Mine is definitely wanting to overheat. 240 and UP when stopped in traffic. The temp flashes and the oil light flashes with it. It seemed like it wants to run hot, high 220's in the last few days, but today was the first day that it wanted to incinerate itself.

Any help is VERY appreciated. Checked the oil and the fan works and their is normal levels of coolant. Other ideas? PLEASE!

By the sound of it you hva a block Radiator. When was the last time you service you're radiator?

 

Sounds like a faulty thermostat or air pockets in the cooling system.

Have you changed coolant or done anything else to the cooling system lately?

Scott

 

Thanks for the replys so far guys. First let me say that obviously I'm not going to ride the bike until it's fixed... I don't want to ruin an engine 'cause I want to go for a ride.

The oil level is fine. The bottle shows a bit OVER full. I'm not sure if it's pumping the coolant through...? The temp guage works and the oil/temp light came on. Also the temp went from 220 to 240 in about 15 seconds while I scrambled to get off the road. (I was waiting at a light.)

I hate to add any complexity to the issue 'cause I'm afraid it will make some of you assume the bike was totalled and "we'll never figure out what the problem is", but I did have a pretty good get-off and haven't put a lot of miles on it since. I had the whole thing apart and visually the rad is perfect. There was no damage to the front of the bike... My bike was damaged the same way as a bike that's looped out.

I'm going to try the thermostat and flush the radiator next. That should check for blockage at the same time. The bike is a '98 but I just got it earlier this year from a 55 year old guy that only had 1400 miles on it. It is at about 2500 miles now. (What luck huh?... I put 20K miles on my 900rr without a serious dumper.)

 

before you start ripping your tank off and the carbs to change that thermostat I would first check your fans...they should kick in at about 212 degrees. If they dont' then check your temperature sender...Its the thig that is hooked up to the top left corner on your radiator if you stand looking at the front of the bike...

now, take that temp sender off the bike and heat it up with a lighter or something....check if the fans kick in. If they do, then you have to have an air bubble or something in there..or it might be your thermostat then...

 

Do I just get an air-bubble out by simply removing the cap? The bike was flipped over so that may be it! THANKS Max... I ALWAYS like to try simple solutions FIRST.

On that note I also REALLY appreciate the replys... hopefully simple does it, but if not I'll be diving into everyone elses advice after work today.

Also in case anyone missed this earlier... the bottle is high with coolant... almost like over-full. Does that give anyone else any NEW ideas other then the ones posted above?

I'm gonna' post a pic of my bike onto this thread later (hopefully John has my re-upholstered seat in today) and you guys can see one very kick-ass "barstool" in my garage...

 

ok then.. sicne you bike was tipped over check your temp sender first...make sure your fans kick in and all that....

if they do and you are still hot, that means you have a bubble my friend...

I THINK, to get rid of it, you have to open your radiator cap and start the bike and let it run, you will see what I am talking about... at least that worked for me...

see the problem I had was that I was overheating but besides that my gauge would always show LO...then fans wouldn't kick in and I would cook....

conclusion.. my fans wouldn't kick in because temp sender was bad and also my temp light thing on the radiator was bad too.... I ordered both parts for 50 bucks from local dealer and put them in....10 minutes of work..

but in your case, your thermostat might not be opening and thats what causes it to overheat..

check the basics first.. check your fans...if they work, make sure you don't have bubbles in there if that doesn't work, then its your thermostat

 

Overheating

What year is your R1? Where in St. Louis do you live? I have some friends that live in Florissant, just wondering.

As you sit on the bike, on the upper righthand side FRONT of the radiator is the thermo switch. Unplug it. With the bike turned on but not running use a jumper wire and connect the two wires together. (the two wires in the connector going to the wiring harness) The fan should come on after a few seconds. If not get a new thermo switch. My guess is your switch is working fine.

My thought would be to change the coolant. This would be the first thing I would try. It will let you see if there is any crud in the old coolant. If there is stop there and pull the radiator and have it rodded out. It is not expensive, and they will also pressure check it for you. If you see no crud then just change the fluid. Might be worth your while to use some Water wetter. Make damn sure you are using a %50 %50 mix of water and coolant, or better yet more water and less coolant. Water cools much better than coolant, the coolant is needed to lube the pump and fight corrosion.

I would make sure the fins on the radiator are not bent, the fan is not melted.

Keep in mind if the bike is up to temp, and you get stuck in traffic the bike is going to get very warm. Though I have never had mine reach 240, I have seen 225 a few times. Good luck Brother.

 

The overfill condition on your reservoir would lead me to believe that it got a bubble somewhere in the system and that it's airlocked and not allowing the coolant to pump. The air would displace the coolant into the bottle.

Could be the thermostat too. If it went over and the coolant ran into the bottle then the thermostat broke in the closed position it could do the same thing.

Not for sure, but I think you'll need to bleed the coolant out and refill it if it's airlocked.

 

Jay. I'm in St. Charles, but I grew up in Florissant. Unfortunately Florissant isn't quite as nice as it used to be. Ask your bud, everybody moves from there to St. Charles.

I'm gonna' try out all the tips in this post. I think Jay or Max may have it. The bike only has about 2400 miles even though it was flipped and visually the Rad and hoses look fine. We'll see.

Thanks everybody for all the help. When you're baby is down it's easy to panic. I do have two different reccommendations on getting an air bubble out. If anybody knows for sure please post it.

Thanks.

 

Re: Overheating

...As you sit on the bike, on the upper righthand side FRONT of the radiator is the thermo switch. Unplug it. With the bike turned on but not running use a jumper wire and connect the two wires together. (the two wires in the connector going to the wiring harness) The fan should come on after a few seconds. If not get a new thermo switch....

I believe Jay has touched upon the solution to your problem.

The thermo-switch is extremely sensitive to shock. I know of more than one instance where bikes have simply fallen off their side-stands and the thermo-switch goes bad. In the service manual they caution about dropping the thermo-switch.

Check this first!!

Sam

 

This will be a good post for somebody else with the same problem Sam... as for me I think my problem is fixed. I drained and flushed the system and guess it must have been the airbubble thing... bike is good now.

 

just out of curiousity, what would happen if you just bypassed the thermoswitch entirely and just let your fan run all the time? would that necessarily be a bad thing?

 

a bad thing

The idea is to keep the motor running within a certain heat range. This adds combustion, helps to keep tolerances where they should be, and improves engine life.

Keeping the fan running all the time will have the motor running too cool. I know it sounds odd, but too cold is a bad thing. The ignition timing, spark plug heat range, and combustion will not work at there optimum when the motor is colder than needed.

Keeping the fan running all the time might well make your rectifer / regulator last a bit longer though.

Just my take on your question. I would love to hear others thought on this.

 

just out of curiousity, what would happen if you just bypassed the thermoswitch entirely and just let your fan run all the time? would that necessarily be a bad thing?

I believe the thermostat would keep the engine temp at the minimum requirement.

In my opinion, the fan running constantly would reduce its life considerably and put an unnecessary constant load on the R/R.

I'm sure the fan motor is specified/designed for a limited operational duty-cycle. Constant operation would most likely heat it up and reduce bearing life.

As I have touched upon in another thread, any unnecessary load on the R/R is not a good thing. The R1 R/R is not mounted to the chassis/frame such as on other motorcycles, so it cannot dissipate any heat into the frame. I believe this make the R1 R/R particularly susceptible to overheating and subsequent failure.

So, in my opinion, the fan running constantly would be a bad thing.

Sam

 

OK Sam now I have some questions for you

I guess I am misunderstanding the whole R/R thing. And i really want to understand it.

I thought that the stator always produced maxium output (with regard to rpm) and that the R/R had to dissapate the heat from any current that was not used. So I was thinking that running the fan all the time would use more current leaving less for the R/R to bleed off.

Why would running the fan all the time shorten the life of the R/R? Thanks Sam. i just want to fully understand how these things work.

 

Re: OK Sam now I have some questions for you

I guess I am misunderstanding the whole R/R thing. And i really want to understand it.

I thought that the stator always produced maxium output (with regard to rpm) and that the R/R had to dissapate the heat from any current that was not used. So I was thinking that running the fan all the time would use more current leaving less for the R/R to bleed off.

Why would running the fan all the time shorten the life of the R/R? Thanks Sam. i just want to fully understand how these things work.

It can be confusing....

The stator output voltage varies in direct proportion to engine rpm. The excess voltage and the charge system current together create a power drop (volts*current = power) that the regulator must dissipate as heat.

If the current draw of the system (charge system current) remains constant, but engine rpm increases, the R/R must then dissipate an increasing amount of heat. Likewise, if engine rpm remains constant, but system charge current increases, once again, the R/R must dissipate more heat.

So, the R/R must dissipate more heat with both/either an increase in engine rpm and/or system current requirements.

Previously, (a few months back) I was under the impression that the R/R must dissipate heat in proportion to engine speed solely, regardless of system load. I have re-thought this and have amended my analysis (I.O.W., I think I was wrong). This may be where you got that impression. Sorry Jay.

Sam