Rusty McNeil
Well-Known Member
I've used a Fluke 87V with temp probe on mine, with the cap off and idling. The thermostat starts flowing at around 188-190 f, the fan kicks on at 210 f, both of which are ok with me........
Also, using the same method to see what the real numbers for my factory temp guage are, shows that 4:00-4:30 o'clock position to be around 185, and the "right on the edge" of the red when the fan kicks on is about 210-215.
The 4:00-4:30 o'clock position is where mine runs typcially no matter how hard or easy I run it, as long as it's moving over 30 or so mph. I few of my friends run at dead on 3:00-3:30 o'clock....
My logic is that what these bikes operate at running down the highway is ideal temperature, for me that would be about 185-190, or about the 4:00-4:30 o'clock position on the guage.
Anything hotter than that is less than ideal and due to "issues" and is a compromise in temperature....But am not saying that it's damaging to be hotter....
I also think the system is just fine the way it is since the fan kicks on at 210-215 or so for me,....But I have a manual fan switch too, simply for use when idling, since by the time the fan does kick on there is a lot of catching up to do......if it's turned on before hand the bike stays at it's normal "on the road" temp w/o having to go high and then fight to come back down.....Peace of mind but not a must have.....
Thermostat regulation at 212 did not come about until the 70's when emmisions was a big push, before that thermostats operating at 160-190 were very normal..........Just takes the right radiator to pull that off without going into heat soak on the entire system to where it will never catch up...
I see no problem with running an engine at 180-190 and am more comfortable with that than at 212-230......
My 02 3/4 HD2500 I sold got a programmer and a Colder 180 degree thermostat the day I brought it home, and was still running like a top with oil consumpotion at about 1qt per 5000 miles with 130,000 miles on it...
I absolutely would not want an engine running over 210-215 f regularly, I've seen to many engines with cracked heads and blown head gaskets, that was car stuff, not bikes.....Small block chevys were famous for it....but again that was back in the 70's when cars weren't really designed for those higher temps, I would imagine it's probably not damaging these days since hotter t-stats seem to be the norm....
I think the charging thing is a non-issue really.....if your charging system is up to par then occasional fan use at idle should not hurt you.......
If your worried about charging at idle then the first then I would do is install a headlight kill switch, that'll put you on the plus side of the charging equation even at idle, even if your charging system is marginal......My bike idles at 14.1-14.2 or so with the headlight off....at 14.0 with the headlight off and the fan on...and 14.1-14.2 at highway revs with the headlight on....it's an AGM battery so for it these are good numbers...
Also, using the same method to see what the real numbers for my factory temp guage are, shows that 4:00-4:30 o'clock position to be around 185, and the "right on the edge" of the red when the fan kicks on is about 210-215.
The 4:00-4:30 o'clock position is where mine runs typcially no matter how hard or easy I run it, as long as it's moving over 30 or so mph. I few of my friends run at dead on 3:00-3:30 o'clock....
My logic is that what these bikes operate at running down the highway is ideal temperature, for me that would be about 185-190, or about the 4:00-4:30 o'clock position on the guage.
Anything hotter than that is less than ideal and due to "issues" and is a compromise in temperature....But am not saying that it's damaging to be hotter....
I also think the system is just fine the way it is since the fan kicks on at 210-215 or so for me,....But I have a manual fan switch too, simply for use when idling, since by the time the fan does kick on there is a lot of catching up to do......if it's turned on before hand the bike stays at it's normal "on the road" temp w/o having to go high and then fight to come back down.....Peace of mind but not a must have.....
Thermostat regulation at 212 did not come about until the 70's when emmisions was a big push, before that thermostats operating at 160-190 were very normal..........Just takes the right radiator to pull that off without going into heat soak on the entire system to where it will never catch up...
I see no problem with running an engine at 180-190 and am more comfortable with that than at 212-230......
My 02 3/4 HD2500 I sold got a programmer and a Colder 180 degree thermostat the day I brought it home, and was still running like a top with oil consumpotion at about 1qt per 5000 miles with 130,000 miles on it...
I absolutely would not want an engine running over 210-215 f regularly, I've seen to many engines with cracked heads and blown head gaskets, that was car stuff, not bikes.....Small block chevys were famous for it....but again that was back in the 70's when cars weren't really designed for those higher temps, I would imagine it's probably not damaging these days since hotter t-stats seem to be the norm....
I think the charging thing is a non-issue really.....if your charging system is up to par then occasional fan use at idle should not hurt you.......
If your worried about charging at idle then the first then I would do is install a headlight kill switch, that'll put you on the plus side of the charging equation even at idle, even if your charging system is marginal......My bike idles at 14.1-14.2 or so with the headlight off....at 14.0 with the headlight off and the fan on...and 14.1-14.2 at highway revs with the headlight on....it's an AGM battery so for it these are good numbers...
