probably gonna get but tis life. anywho i was using the little search button for temps but most of them pertained to the digital read outs. my situation is my temp switch is dead, fan will only come on with a ground. no big, added a switch now i have control of the powa. however on the highway it seems that the bike is running hotter then i guess it should. hovering near the 3/4 mark. its ****** cold outside right now too. fluids are good. im thinking running lean due to the pipes and filter. im gonna play with the mixture screw, that helped with my srad at cruising. opposing thoughts?

 

First thought... isn't easier to replace the temp switch then having to monitor the temp gauge and manually turn it on?
In the summer (80s) typically the gauge reads from just under 1/2 to just over. If I get caught in traffic it will go to just under 3/4 at which point the fan will kick in

 

eh it doesnt bother me. i have so that i didnt splace anything and can always go back to nothing every happened and replace the switch. can someone hook me up with the factory jet numbers so when i check them ill know what im lookin at.

 

First the factory jetting is mains: 175 ft \178 r with #45 pilot jets.

With that, yes you are running hot. Even with a aftermarket filter (which is generally a bad idea and a tuning nightmare) and a set of slip ons, the bike shouldn't be lean enough to run that hot.

You might have a bad radiator cap or some other issue with the cooling system.

I have the early style gauge but it rarely gets to the half way mark. Then the fan turns on just past the half way mark.

 

well i went for a little ride today to do an errand and noticed that there was a boiling sound emminating from under the tank.....the res was boiling.....gonna burp the system after work to try and rememdy the situation. i was freaking out, the needle was kissing the RED MARK.

 

I'd recommend a flush, new distilled water + antifreeze and new radiator cap, plus making sure your water pump is working. (we have had one person find the impeller snapped off, but only one so not likely, but possible)

 

Well put in some distilled water. Holy **** what a difference, that thing had no fluid in it. How hard is it to put dam fluid in it. But a flush will come

 

Did it have fluid before?
if the cap isnt sealing it will keep pushing the fluid out. Or a blown HG may do the same thing.

 

i dont know if it had fluid before, i failed to check so thats my bad. but i will monitor it.

 

With coolant in it you may find that the temp switch now works.

 

I was thinking the same thing

 

If only all motorcycle problems could be fixed by pouring water on them...

 

Man don't trust yourself to be the cooling switch. These kind of problems worsen with bad remedies like that. Just get the fan switch working and maybe give it some coolant to use. A new radiator cap will make a huge differenct too as it keeps correct pressure and prevents the dreaded boiling.
I have a switch on mine as a backup or to kick it on early but it will still come on if (when) I am too busy riding. Whats next, you gonna blink your own turn signals?

 

ya no joke right. now i got to figure out this tps thing. how can those even go wrong when they cant move from factory? with the switch i generally just leave it on if i know im gonna hit traffic, and i habitually look at my cluster like every minute or so. but fiddling with a switch while riding sucks so ill probably reattach the switch tomorrow and see if it works.

 

so i was doing the normal cooling system burping and noticed that when hot (just above 1/2) i could blip the throttle and hot coolant would come out of the overflow tube, wtf? is this because the rad cap valve is open allowing coolant into the tank and forcing some out or is this something else? is this is something crazy im gonna go ape ****, i know where this dude lives.

 

So I guess you didn't hook up the thermostat switch or get a new radiator cap? Just let it get hot & blipped the throttle?

 

no i did, the fan comes on now. not a cap tho, no more boiling tho. or is what i described boiling? when i said boiling earlier i meant literally boiling. this isnt boiling over unless i blip the throttle. do you think a cap would vent pressure into the tank, not just hot coolant? what caps will fit or is it universal for vehicles?

 

So just as overview. If you do stuff like subvert your cooling system's failsafes, the bike runs hot. If this persists then it will warp a head & blow a head gasket leaking oil into coolant and vice versa, causing the bike to overheat more, and eventually destroy itelf. See how it goes? The millions in R&D at honda didnt think you were a good candidate for coolant temp watcher with good reason.
Don't know if other caps fit but it seems like you may be OK. How does the coolant look? Clean or cloudy? It would be reasonable prudence to just get a new cap if you are worried. (which it seems you are)

 

it looks like dam chocolate milk, but the oil looks fine. head gasket? It smell like exhaust in the coolant. not so much worried as irritated. just got the bike. Do these warp easily?

 

I havent heard of it being a chronic problem but at least drain & flush the coolant & fill it with new stuff. I had a buddy who had that, but it wasn't persistant after a cooling system flush. (use radiator flush). In general yeah milkshake coolant is head gasket but like I say do the flush first. Oh and quit disabling failsafes.

 

Ok I get it! Lol. So he did a flush and his milkshake coolant went away? How's that? I'm talking with the previous owner that had a shop replacement the water empeller recentl. My guess is it never got refilled, op never checked, I never checked. Were all at fault. hopefully its just a head gasket, the bike runs great minus the tps thing.

 

I think a shop not replacing or at least refilling the coolant after a water pump replacement is a stretch - but I suppose anything is possible. If it were me, I would drain and flush and refill. Not sure where you are but if it is warm don't even bother with antifreeze at this point. Do use distilled water however.
Ride it for a while maybe a couple hundred miles? Dosen't have to be all at once maybe over a week or two. Then check out the coolant. still look like water? or is it back to brown and frothy?
Before you look for an answer ( or get pissy with the PO) you have to determine if you have an on going problem.
By the way how is your oil? If you have changed it recently did it look odd? Many times with head issues fluids go both ways so a brown frothy oil would be another clue.
And what's with the TPS? If your talking about the common factory missetting, I wouldn't worry about this till your cooling system is sorted. TPS adjustment is icing on the cake. Fix your oven first.

 

No the oil looks fine. I noticed little particles in the water so I think someone tried some bullshit gasket sealer. In the end as long as the head isn't warped ill be happy. And someone didn't fill it before it came into my hands, whether it be the last owner or mechanic he took it to.

 

A bad radiator cap will let too much coolant into the overflow tank, and it is cheap to replace. So at least try it.

And if it has some kind of sealant in it, you really need to do a coolant system flush and put in all new coolant like I first suggested. Get all that crud out of there.

 

With the way the coolant smells and how it overflows when I rev it I'm gonna guess bad head gasket. But I will try a new cap but don't think it will do Mich good

 

Quite likely, but for a few $ it's worth a try.

 

I don't think it had sealant in it. The OP did state that the previous owned had the impeller replaced (or at least the water pump seals) and I would bet what he is seeing is some wear off the case where the impeller was slightly touching. Just another reason to do a good flush of the system.....

 

Ok so last weekend I did a leak down. 80% on a cold engine. Bike ran fine yesterday. This morning I try to start, click. Try again, click. Third time starts fine, runs fine. However I notice a puddle forming under where the slip on clamps meet the mid pipes. Wtf? I notice no running problems that would suggest a cracked head or gasket. I park the bike inside my house so its not just a ton of condensation. I don't think it would be hydro locked without having a huge leak that would cause obvious running problems. Ideas?

 

Was the puddle water or gas?

 

99 percent sure its water but was in a rush and hopped in my car to go to work. I'm worried about starting it again to double check