G5- how hot do you run?

ive had my G5 for about 2 weeks now, and one thing i notice is...

this thing one big freaking HEAT SINK !!!

since my gage on the G1 only reports a range and not actual temp, its hard to compare, but the the G5- she does run hot as rumored. :redface:

a short cool-down ride up to the lake this evening shows that running moderate speeds of 35-55 MPH at 4-7k RPM on steady running returned a range of temp of approx 170-190 degrees. it was about 80 deg F ambient.

it also holds WAY more heat in the frame than my G1. the G5 frame heats to the point that you would not want to hold your hand on it, whereas the G1 frame does not get nearly that hot.

the 2 mods i made to the G1 were using water wetter and a manual fan switch.

a mix of H2O and water wetter dropped the temp on the hwy noticeably. before the WW, it ran about 3/8 on the gage. after the WW mix, it usually stays below 1/4 on steady run.

i modified the fan on the G1 to have a manual overide. switch off = stock auto fan control. switch on = give me fan now. if im coming into stop and go or traffic, i just get the fan running sooner that auto mode would kick it on.

how hot does your G5 run?

i shudder to think what the G5 temp may be in stop and go when the real summer heat and humidity kicks in here in the south. ive read posts saying up to 250 deg.

i guess i could stuff a samich under the fairing and cook lunch on the way. :tongue:

 

Cool days 70mph- 168-172 degrees
Warm days 70mph- 168-172 degrees
Hot days 70 mph- 170-175 degrees
Very hot days 70 mph- 175-180 degrees
I've seen 220 in stopped or very slow traffic, then the fan comes on and the temp drops to around 195-200. If I'm still slow or stopped the temp will climb and the cycle starts again. Hasn't caused a problem so I really don't worry about it. I've changed the coolant in it twice in 30,000 miles as part of the maintainance. I've not noticed the frame getting hot so I can't comment on that.

These temps equate to about what my Dodge Cummins diesel engine runs most of the time.

 

the G5 is bone stock, including the pipe.

my initial maint did not include new coolant. i appeared clean and green, and i added approx 6 oz of mix at the rez tank. i did not open the system to burp.

i will be flushing and refilling the G5 with a mix of H20 and water wetter very soon. the WW made a definate diff on the G1 steady run temp. :thumbsup:

its been raining here in GA every day for the past 2 weeks, and i have yet to get her out for any real amount of steady HWY speeds to see just where she runs.

yes- the main frame on the G5 gets very toasty. the G1 gets warm, but not to the point of being hot. a quite noticeable diff between these 2 bikes.

any tips i need to know about burping the 2 rads on the G5? thanks

 

Where's the guy with the temperature gauge signature when you need him. lol
I'm sure he'll read this soon and put in his 2 cents... Any ways even though mines a 6thgen its still based on the same engine frame etc....
Stop and go traffic my bike gets up to 225 the drops down to 210. It will do this all day long, until I get moving over 40 mph again. Nothing abnormal, It's just how Honda designed the bike to run... If this bothers you, just get a low temp fan switch.

 

turns out that nervous nellie was worrying needlessly

i finally got the time wed to get the bike out on a nice run including a quick jaunt up into the foothills of the north GA mtns.

i left my house and the bike was just about warm when i jumped on the slab heading north. at about 70 MPH turning approx 4-5k RPM she showed a range of 165-170 deg F at approx 75 deg ambient. it sat on 166 deg the vast majority of the time. i feel much better seeing a reasonable steady temp!

after a stop at the office, i headed toward the mtns. mostly 40-60 MPH 2 lanes that ran a range of about 175-195 deg depending on load, RPM and speed. i never saw the temp over 200 during any sort of steady airspeed.

a couple of stops in the small towns would raise the temp into the 195-220 depending on how many redlite cycles i hit. the fan would kick in at ? temp, and i never really feared that it would exceed 200-225.

my observation would now be that the G5 operates across a wide temp range that can seem a little high on the upper end.

my G1 has an analog gage that does not have any temps marked, so even if it ran just as hot in real deg, as long as it did not go "high" i was never concerned.

for camparison- my maxima cage warms to just under half range (it also has no indicated temp degrees) and basically never varies. im sure the temp DOES in fact range, but the lack of a real indication of actual temp lets the natives sleep easy at night. :frown:

another pleasant suprise- i got about 48 MPG average on a mix of slab and some easy twisty runs. i did not expect that much from what ive read here. im sure that a more liberal application of right hand on the joy mixer will drop the MPG as i get more comfortable with the new bike. :tongue:

 

What about adding a power commander and having a custom tune to enrichen mixture (modern bikes are set up lean for emissions)?
Would this be a good idea?

 

i dont think there is too much of a need for a pc on the 5th gen's(especially the 98-99's). as they have pretty good fueling...if you have exhaust and intake mods done to your bike it would be a good idea to get the pc and do a custom tune, to further your power gains and smooth things out a little more as well.
the 6th gen's with vtec are the ones that really need the pc badly. as there is quite a dip during the vtec transition...
on 2000 and up vfr's you will need o2 eliminators as well as the power commander...

 

I just did my coolant flush.I did the flush with the Honda blue stuff .

I noticed that I was running 180 on the highway at 70 mph.The was about 4 degrees hoter than before the flush. I figured it was due to the weather it was 86 .I was stuck in traffic and the engine did get to 225.The fan kicked in and it did start to drop the temperature.

But I did cool the engine off and checked the level.It was full to the top .So I started the engine to male sure there was no bubbles .

Am I to paranoid that the engine is running too hot ?

 

No, mines been doing the same. Lane splitting in stopped trafic doing about 20mph last week when the temps were in the mid-90's I was seeing 225 and a little higher. It drops down as soon as I get moving in clear air. Pretty typical, and not very nice riding.

 

When I rode home yesterday the temp was 99 and my gauge showed 180-182 at 75 mph. When I rode in to work yesterday morning it was around 80 and the temp gauge read 168-172 at 75 mph. I don't have any slow speed traffic to speak of so it doesn't get that hot on my commute.

I changed the antifreeze about 2000 miles ago and just went back with about a 50-50 mix of non-silicate antifreeze and distilled water. I changed it before at 16,000 miles.

 

temps

Guys,
I decided to run some bills on my new/used 99 VFR instead of my F150 super Crew.....Prolly saved myself$15 -$20 in gas....and I'm up here in Eastern,N.C.
and the temp guage got up to 220 at a stop light....I think its time to strip off the tupperware and get to the bottom of this heat thing.....I'm not believing the p.o. of my VFR did much in the way of service.
I'm gonna do my cooling system but I'm using a silica free coolant and adding water wetter....its not really a coolant but a friction modifyer and all my bikes and cars and trucks get it....The bikes only take a few ounces to do a good job for you...back in 98 I took my TL1000 to Daytona and got caught up in all that traffic down there...that poor bike was cookin...soon as I got back home I changed oil and filter and added several ounces of Water Wetter, my n.o.temp was somewhere around 150-160 from then on.....big ups for Water Wetter....

Rodm850g

 

I used to be nervious when first looking at my previous Gen 6 Air Temp but now I just leave my Gen 5 on the ambiant air temp guage, if it Flashes I'll worry and it hasn't flashed yet even on 100F days in heavy city traffic.

Wearing Leather pants or at least Draggin Jeans the hot frame doesn't bother me too much mind my Original MK1 RR did fry itself in stop start traffic on a very hot 108F day and the VFR peaked at 240F.

 

A friend of mine on this board "chomper" said he had a noticeable improvement with Engine Ice on his 6th gen.

When I first got my 5th gen and not knowing when the fan would kick in, it keep getting hotter and hotter in traffic. I watched it climb to 115C (239F), then pulled over and revved it a bit to try and get the coolant flowing. When it hit 124C (255F) a red bar appeared under the temp readout. At this point I shut it down (thinking it was like a nuclear reactor about ready for meltdown!).

I looked at the fan (still not running) and thought WTF. I gave it a little bump with my finger. The thing was slightly jammed in the shroud! Now it spun freely I fired it up and it cooled down quickly. LESSON LEARNED. The fan comes on at 104C (219F) all the time.

Long story short, if you don't see the reddish line come on under your readout and you're somewhat under 255F, it's probably fine.

They run hot...that's all.

 

So I guess this Water Wetter is safe for VFRs .

 

While I'm not sure about "water wetter" and it's long term compatabilty with these bikes, I have to recc Honda type2 (blue) coolant over any other brand out there. I would be very wary of any discount or (enviro-friendly) coolant. I have been told by more than one OEM engineer that the Honda factory fill is the best out there for long life and protection.( not just honda guys)
Boy does that sound like a commercial????
I have seen lots of old/cheap coolant and snake oils cause all kinds havoc on Honda cars and bikes.
My VFR certainly runs hot in traffic (unless it's raining) and I'm flushing and changing the thermo. to see how hot she runs afterwards.
My temp #'s are about the same -- highest I've eve seen was 234.
It takes a while to come down to the 190's unless I'm going 60+, so I'm thinking about reversing the fan for better flow at lower speeds. If that works I'm going to use a S/hawk fan as a permanent fix.

 

My Gen 5 got REAL HOT last weekend at the Scraping the Coast event in Biloxi, MS.
The ambient temp was well over a 100 deg. The air temp on my bike read 115 to 120because of the hot new black asphalt. I lot of bikes where over heating while in heavy traffic.
My bike never got cooler that 220 deg. I had to shut it off and wait on the shoulder when it reached 251 deg. I'd kill the engine and let the fan cool the radiator for a couple of min and crankit for a few sec to circulate the coolant then kill it again. The heat was murder. While on Interstate 10 east bound through New Orleans on June 29th. I was in heavy traffic traveling about 50 - 60 mph when the engine temp stated 242 deg. I pulled over to do a fluid check and everything was full. I may have too much antifreeze in my coolant system. I've never riden in that kind of heat before. The air temp has been 97 to 102 deg over the last two weeks. With high humidity in the 90% range.

 

i would ditch the coolant and go str8 distilled water plus water wetter or engine ice. but, id be a little worried about it boiling over... im not sure how much boiling protection water wetter and engine ice add though.

 

pardon me but according to your avatar you have a G2 if it's an 86.

 

BTW Engine Ice has a boiling point of 256 degrees F and is also good to -26 degrees below zero. I believe that's quite a bit better than conventional anti -freeze. Google it. It's goood stuff!!