Overheating and Clueless

Hey, I have an 84 vf500f, on nice days it always wants to overheat, if I am tooling around town or hit construction on the expressway and have to stop for a few minutes it gets very hot. This has me concerned and is also a hassle to always be stopping to let her cool down. I am guessing water pump or thermostat, but have no idea how to check these things. If anyone could give me some direction on where to start it would be very helpful. Thanks!

 

heat

What do you call overheating? Gauge temp or do you have coolant coming out of radiator cap?

 

gauge temp, it will go all the way to the top end if I dont shut down and let it cool. Also, need to add even if its warmed up if I turn the choke all the way down it will stall out when I stop at a light or sign. Maybe running lean? I am not too familiar with engines and mechanical work but I dont have the money to take it to a shop and tell them to fix it for me, so it is time to learn.

 

wow...so you have to use the choke just to ride it??..is it smoking?...check you thremo first see if its openning?...but first is you fan coming on?....are you running coolant or water??

 

with the choke/ idle, are your jets clean? when was the last time your carbs cleaned?
or an idle screw is backed out too far.

How long does it take for you to over heat? your thermostat may be closed.

 

sounds like you are running lean. do you idle very high when you pull the choke? or does pulling the choke just make it run normal. im thinking you need to rebuild the carbs... are you stock? is there a reason that you should have a jet ket? i.e. exhaust, pod filters, airbox...?

 

Click on the "Operation" link for a step by step overview of the cooling system: <http://wiki.sabmagfaq.org/CoolingSystem>

 

base line

If I were in your shoes I would replace t stat and clean fuel system.If you have questions about fuel system pm me and I will give you my phone number.:thumbsup:Where are you located?

 

I have to have the choke about halfway in order to idle at about 2 grand, I am running coolant, should I be running water? I dont know how to check to see if the jets are clean, and I do not know about the carbs being clean. This bike is still relatively new to me. And yes everything is stock on it. How do I check the Tstat? One of my biggest problems is that I dont really know how to check these types of things, engine work is all pretty new to me but I do want to learn more about it as well as not having money to have someone else do the work for me.

 

ok man just wait a sec..... first thing coolant is fine you dont have to run water if you dont want to your choice....second there is a idle adjustor screw in front of the carbs, its a tight fit for your hand turn it counter clockwise if the rpms dont drop like they should then your ready for a carb cleaning, i have no idea what it could be without being there with you, but you might have a jet theats gunked up or a float the sticking or needs adustment...etc thrid...... the thremostat hang's off the right side of the bike it looks like round and has one hoses that come's out of the raidator it only has two bolts that hold the top on take them out and you will see a funky lookin guy in there (mybe unless some one has removed it then you got a different problem) check see if its broken see if it will move freely if it moves without any binding or so on. then that might not be your problem, where do you live? if you dont have bad winters then i would just remove it and see if that clears up the overheating issue. good luck i hope this was helpfull :thumbsup: