Other than it says something to the effect that it's not good for the bike .. the owners manual says nothing about the effects on the bike of overheating.

During this summer I've had a few days in heavy stop and go traffic  .... let out the clutch .. no, not all the way .. stop .. wait ... let out the clutch .. no, not all the way .. stop .. wait  (and so on)  during 85 to 90 temps.

I could feel the heat coming off the big cyclinder.  I've decided not to go that route any longer if at all possible (at least until it turns cooler) but, was wondering if I may have already damaged my bike.

Anyone know what might be affected by overheating the bike, and maybe that it might be the cause for the change in my exaust note (sharper than before) and more frequent backfires (louder than before)

Richard in Boston, MA

Hey Amirault, how did you make out with your handlebar alignment? You didn't follow up with the group to let us know if our advice was helpful/correct.

There is no temperature warning indicator on the Savage. It's an air cooled big single, so is prone to running hot in high temperatures. It's just the nature of the beast.

Not sure whether you'd want to spend the cash on it but here's an Oil Temperature Gauge.

Personally, I assume that the engine is designed to withstand normal ambient temperatures in stop-and-go driving.  For normal ambient temps, I include my normal highs here in the Dallas area of 100+ F.  This assumes using a grade of oil to support it.  I'm using 15w50 pure synthetic with no known problems.  I've considered the oil temp gauge myself but couldn't justify the cost in my own mind since I believe the engine is stout enough to take it.  If I were planning on doing stop-and-go in Death Valley, I'd probably buy one.

Clymer manual, page 35, chart shows 40W or xx-40W or xx-50W motor oil to be suitable for over 104 degrees ambient temperature.

I use Catrol GTX 20-50, chart show it good for 14 - 104+ degrees.  I'm only good for 50-100.  As usual, the Savage is far more capable than I am.

I removed the 2 chrome trim pieces from the head 'cause I liked the way it looked but it might allow a little more airflow over the top of the head too. Still, I don't worry much about overheating the engine because there's lots of Screamin' Eagle Harleys out there running fine & those rear cylinders don't get a lot of cool air.

Sorry, pipe color has little to do w/ excessive head temps while stuck in summer traffic. A parts guy raving against synthetic oil vs. dyno juice is lacking evidence.
But when stuck in stop and go traffic w/ 10 more miles to go, synthetic oil will be on my piston skirt and valve guides, while you are baking black stuff on your ratbikes moving parts w/your dyno juice in similar conditions.
There is a reason after GM began installing turbos back in the 80s, they began specing/shipping w/ Mobil1 after the exceptional high heat in the turbos was killing the dyno juice and likewise cooking in the BEARINGS. We are talking about a vehicle that only diverted a small percentage of flow to the turbo on an otherwise water-cooled engine.
Now I will grant that the chemistry in both synthetics and dyno is better than ever.  Dyno oil will do the job if one never abuses the bike and changes it more frequently.
If stuck in Dallas heat w/ your motor, ...well your bikes just may not warrant good oil.

WD wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:07: