Bike Fell Over While On Ground - Temp Issue Now?

I was off loading my bike today up in Vermont (Seeing my g/f in Burlington). I got it down the ramp backwards and as the front tire hit the pavement the bike leaned right and I slowly let it touch down. No damage (bar ends and rear foot pegs were leaned on). It leaked out a little fuel. Nothing big. I let the fuel dry then started the bike. It sounded fine. Nothing leaking, etc. So about 2 hours later I took my g/f out on it to cruise through Burlington. Now, it's about 86* today. I looked down as we were heading home on slow, stop sign every block type streets, to notice the temp gauge at 247-250*! The hottest it's been before was around 233. I brought it back into her garage and let the cooling fans take the temp down. Now, I could only confirm that the left side cooling fan was sucking in air. The right side was hot (like there wasn't a fan there). I'm still pretty new to the mechanics on these bikes. How many fans are there and what are their locations? I checked the coolant level, it's good. The color is a darker, orange/brown color. I checked the fan fuse, it's also good.

Thanks so much!

PS: Saw 2 6th Gen's on Route 87 North while stuck in traffic for 2 hours yesterday. They were riding up the shoulder of the road. Anyone here?

 

The fan issue sounds about right as there is no fan on the right side, just one fan on the left side.

I've seen my bike get that high on a 95* day, these things are notorious for running hot. Was it staying steady at 247-250?

As far as remedies, try changing the coolant, you may have some too old stuff in there, and put some 'water wetter' in there too. That should help things.

 

Thanks for the info! I didn't notice it exceeding 251*. I just took it out again, moments ago. It didn't exceed 233*. May have just been the air temps and the slow speeds I was going.

 

Also remember you were riding two up.

Hot day extra weight. Maybe you went a little slower because you did not want to injure your girl friend. (As you should)
So it ran a little hotter.


There is no evidence the bike getting a little hotter has ANYTHING to do with the bike layng over while unloading it.

I would not worry.

Make sure your coolant is filled.
Go ride by yourself and see how it goes. ANd don't TRY to make it overheat to prove that something is wrong. The heat may be getting to your mind.

Forget about it .

 

Just a possibility Rick, but perhaps the tip over produced an air bubble in the system that's keeping the coolant from circulating efficiently?
It might be worth a drain and refill when you get a chance IF the problem persists.

 

I agree with Tusk, sounds like an air pocket. That coupled with the added load on the bike seems like a likely scenario. If you arent't sure of the age of your coolant, I would say you should change it. It's not a difficult task. I swapped my coolant for Engine ICE & have yet to see a temp above 215. I recommend it highly.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanics-garage/23276-coolant-replacement-5th-gen.html

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

Your "problem" is NOT an air bubble.

Air bubbles eventually come to the surface in the cooling system.
Also all you have to do is open the bleed valve and at will bleed of any "bubble".

Think about this....

When you go to a race track and you see a bike go down , they just pick it up and get back in the race. They don't go change the coolant because it might have a bubble.

 

Where the coolant temp sensor is mounted matters. Sometimes it comes right from the thermostat housing.

When you say you have not seen a temp above 215F that does not mean what you think. The thermostat opens soon after you start up the bike. to allow coolant to circulate. It starts to open at 176ºF-185ºF. Boiling point of the coolant in a pressurized system starts at 258ºF. The temp sending unit switches on at 260ºF. That turns on the radiator fan. Otherwise the coolant has to start to boil at the bottom of the radiator so the the sending unit signals the fan to come on.

So the coolant at the bottom of the radiator is much hotter than at the top of the radiator.

So 215ºF is not a big deal.

Temp guage to thermostat.

 

I understand the points you're trying to make. I also am fully aware of how a coolant system works. Before I did the Engine Ice, I normally & routinely saw 225-235 on my temp gauge. Since the Engine Ice, I haven't seen higher than 215.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

Sounds like that engine ICE really works.