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How hot is "overheating"?

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fencer56

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I have an 07 FZ1 that I bought new in 2011 (long story for another day). To date, at highway speeds the bike ran about 175-178 degrees. Earlier this sprig I had a minor 'incident' that ended with the bike on its left side and a bent shifter. The engine, frame and other parts were undamaged. Later this summer, at highway speeds, the temp has been running around 10 degrees higher and will climb quickly to 215-220 at stop lights. Now it has been really hot here in VA; double digit days over 90, but I couldn't find anything in the owners manual on how hot was too hot. Thoughts?
 
Sounds like normal temps to me. I was riding in almost 100 deg weather a couple of weeks ago, and the coolest I could get it to run was 189 at 70-75 mph. It was up around 196 most of the ride.

In cool weather 50 deg or less, mine runs about 160-168 and in 90 and above it's common to see 180's and even 190's while moving. At a stop, mine will rise to 210-220, but the fan should kick on about 210 and keep it around 208-212. Just from what I remember. Others may have different experiences.
 
i got really used to riding in the colder temps here in ohio through the fall and winter when my bike would run around 165. when summer and this heat wave came around i was shocked that is was running in the 175-185 range. however im pretty sure thats normal for summer temps. mine too will quickly climb to 216 at a stop before the fans catch up and cool it back off to the upper 190's before i stop moving again.
 
Yup sounds good. Fan normally kicks on around 220°F. I know a few people (myself included) have done a mod that will allow you to toggle the fans on at the flip of a switch, which is nice when your pulling up to a light, and your around 180°F. If you flip it on, you don't have to watch the temp climb, it keeps it cooler.
 
The best way to know is test your antifreeze. With a proper test, you'll know the min/max temps.

But, I'd only worry if you see over 240 F on the dash. Or, over 212 and the fans are not kicking on. If that happens, get some wind going quickly or shut it down and fix the fans. ;)
 
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I live and ride in Phoenix and temps are over 110 quite often. 210-225 is a normal afternoon of riding for me, especially if I have to stop and the fan kicks on a lot more.

240 I believe is the overheating point. I have had a couple of times where after some spirited highway riding and having to come to a stop in traffic I've been up around 235 and the temp indicator hasn't started to flash, which means it's time to pull over and cool off.

I believe the manual suggests replacing you're coolant every 24 months. It's super easy to do, just be careful and have a backup drain bolt handy because more than one person has snapped off the bolt head when putting it back on.
 
Sounds completely normal compared to my FZ1. If it is relatively cool out, my bike will run in the high 160's. If hot out, high 190's. If stopped at a light in hot weather, temps creep up until the fans come on somewhere around 210-220. I admit it is alarming to be stopped at a long light and watch the temps creep up and feel the heat rising up around you.
 
Normal. But if it makes you feel better add some Water Wetter or the like and/or "burp" the radiator to make sure you don't have excess air in the system.
 
When you see steam coming from the radiator, then it's too hot :-)

These bikes really do run hot, I've seen 112 degrees Celsius on really hot days.
Thank goodness for coolant.

Sent from my GT-I9300
 
The owners manual states the max temperature before you have to worry, it's 242 F. Small engines like this run hot, it is nothing to worry about. Doing things like adding some sort of water wetter or toggle switch for the fans might make you feel good but they really aren't needed. The fans on a Gen II cut in at about 205-210 F so if the coolant level is fine and the system is working you have nothing to worry about. Ride and enjoy.
 
same here

BDazzler said:
Sounds like normal temps to me. I was riding in almost 100 deg weather a couple of weeks ago, and the coolest I could get it to run was 189 at 70-75 mph. It was up around 196 most of errthe ride.

In cool weather 50 deg or less, mine runs about 160-168 and in 90 and above it's common to see 180's and even 190's while moving. At a stop, mine will rise to 210-220, but the fan should kick on about 210 and keep it around 208-212. Just from what I remember. Others may have different experiences.
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My temps are almost the same.
 
Evitzee said:
Doing things like adding some sort of water wetter or toggle switch for the fans might make you feel good but they really aren't needed.
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I agree. But since I enjoy doing small “projects” – especially when they are free – I figured I’d share how I wired my AUX fan switch. I don’t think I would have done this if I lived up North, but it’s hot down here in central TX… :)

I decided to put the switch on the right/throttle side of the bike for 2 reasons.
1.) I believe the only time I’ll “flip the switch” is at a red-light, and much of that time I have the bike in-gear (for safety/escape) so my left hand is tied-up on the clutch.
2.) If I leave a red-light with the fans/switch on, I think it will reduce any temptation to turn-off the switch while riding (again for safety) so I’ll just wait till the next stop to turn it off.

Anyway – I’ve always liked the idea of being able to “un-do” a mod, and in this case I was able to tap into (probe) the back of the fan relay without cutting or stripping the factory ground/relay wire. (I have a few auto wire-harnesses, and I found a connector with thin-blade terminals that snuggly pushed/probed into the back of the relay connector. I simply secured it with a zip-tie.) The only mod I can’t “undo” is the ½” hole I drilled in the small, soft-plastic shield/guard under the right side of the fairing – but that should be pretty-much invisible unless you looked-up at it from engine level.

I had a cheap, plastic switch I pulled out of a car - I bent the terminals forward a little to help the wires lay low.
fzfan1_zps6d17b86e.jpg


fzfan2_zps13832c49.jpg


Wire path:
fzfan3_zpseb3262ae.jpg


With loom:
fzfan4_zpsd4ba498e.jpg


Buttoned-up:
fzfan5_zps6e09dd43.jpg


Ground to negative battery terminal:
fzfan6_zps6698f9ff.jpg


fzfan7_zps81c5d3be.jpg


The extra wire in this pic is just there to show the type terminal that’s probing the relay connector. I didn't even move/remove the relay off it's mount - just "plugged-in" the terminal and secured it with a zip-tie:
fzfan8_zps57e17421.jpg
 
Overheating could causes engine breakdown. So, the temperature monitoring system of the engine should be inspected at a regular interval. The cooling system plays key role to reduce the temperature of the engine. Any kind of abnormality in the cooling system causes engine overheating. So, the abnormal component should be identified and repaired in time to prevent the engine overheating. All about this I knew from air conditioning servicing where works my dad and he everyday explain to me many interesting things like that.
 
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fencer56 said:
I have an 07 FZ1 that I bought new in 2011 (long story for another day). To date, at highway speeds the bike ran about 175-178 degrees. Earlier this sprig I had a minor 'incident' that ended with the bike on its left side and a bent shifter. The engine, frame and other parts were undamaged. Later this summer, at highway speeds, the temp has been running around 10 degrees higher and will climb quickly to 215-220 at stop lights. Now it has been really hot here in VA; double digit days over 90, but I couldn't find anything in the owners manual on how hot was too hot. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Yes an old thread for sure, but why not play along? haha. 220 is about the hottest you want it to get. The fan should kick on at those temps to help keep the coolant working. If you don't like that temp you can consider making the ratio of coolant to water to be more in favor of water as it disperses heat better. Just make sure you use distilled water.

On my Gen 1 I know my bike is too hot when the red "overheating" warning light comes on. hahaaha. No fancy digital reading for us Gen 1 Guys.

I will note that my fans kick on when it is hot outside, but never run much in the winter.

I have never had the warning light come on, I got well over 100k on the bike now.
 
Klurejr said:
Yes an old thread for sure, but why not play along? haha. 220 is about the hottest you want it to get. The fan should kick on at those temps to help keep the coolant working. If you don't like that temp you can consider making the ratio of coolant to water to be more in favor of water as it disperses heat better. Just make sure you use distilled water.

On my Gen 1 I know my bike is too hot when the red "overheating" warning light comes on. hahaaha. No fancy digital reading for us Gen 1 Guys.

I will note that my fans kick on when it is hot outside, but never run much in the winter.

I have never had the warning light come on, I got well over 100k on the bike now.
Click to expand...

Wow! You're up over 100k?? That's awesome bud!
 
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