Ok. So I live in las vegas , NV where its over 100°F every day. I recently put engine ice in the cooling system, followed proper procedure to burp the air out and everything. When riding in stop and go traffic the bike will stay between 212° and 221° when the fan kicks on and cools her down. I was riding on the freeway today at around 90-95 mph and anytime I would start going uphill, the bike would heat up to 229°-231° with the high being 234° and 238° after I pulled over and it was shut off for a second. I have a gutted catalytic converter and mufflers, also one tooth down on the front sprocket. Any ideas? I'm thinking thermostat? Maybe running lean?
I should be cooling more when at speed. Check that the whole system is clean. If your overflow hose to the overflow tank is blocked, as was mine, the fluid will overflow to outside, but will suck air after it cools, or create a bit of a vacuum, so when hot, it won't build pressure. Open radiator cap and run bike until hot, you should see lots of coolant movement when you rev it. You should also be able to see when the thermostst opens if you take cap off before it gets hot. When it opens, fluid level moves fast all of a sudden. This should be around 180F. The cooling system on these bikes are a bit of a pain in hot climates.
I'm thinking bad thermostat. When I burped it the level never changed and coolant was boiling out at 218 and the bike wouldn't get any hotter. So I shut it off, filled the reservoir up, let it cool off and filled the radiator to the top. It never got that hot on me before today, so I'm thinking the thermostat is stocking or is stuck partially open.
Engine Ice! LOL, that's clever marketing (snake oil), seems to really work great too. Damn thermostats either stick open or closed. If stuck open the temp will never come up to operating level, if closed it overheats and boils out. If working okay the temp will come up to normal operating level and hold there, e.g. 215, which is below boiling in a sealed pressure system. Maybe you didn't get all the air out when adding the magic Ice Party Liquor.
Is there maybe a different procedure than I followed bc of the 2 radiators? I let the bile warm up to about 218° trying to get the fan to come on, but it wouldnt. Shut it off, let it cool and filled the radiator up
Radiator caps don't last forever. Seals crack, springs weaken, and it won't hold pressure. Replacement in case of overheating is worth a try. eaceful: It's simple: Boil's Law :thumbsup:
Based on your avatar I would've expected "Ice Wind Party Liquor" lol. What a great show! Sorry to get off topic...
Update: so I re-burped it and got one sizeable set of air bubbles out at around 195°, let it cool, filled the radiator and went on a 40 mile ride. It was around 90° outside and the bike didn't get past 185° on the highway, and warmed up to about 210° on the streets. Pretty sure its fixed, thank you all for the input its much appreciated. I'm going to buy a new rad. cap now just to be safe, it has the OEM one on it and 45000 miles. Again thank you everyone for taking the time to read and respond.
Actuarilly speaking, that cap has already outlived its useful life 'spectency by a factor of about 2 !
Ok so it is freezing cold here at the moment so I scrolled through 3879 VFR 750 items on ebay and not one thermostat, just thought I should replace it with all this thermostat talk going on
