SuzukiSavage.com - Overheating

savage_skulls_ YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 43 Hot Springs, Arkansas Gender:	Overheating 05/13/15 at 20:10:01 I had a quick question guys. How long/far can I ride before I need to worry about overheating? And how can I tell when it's getting there? Thank you to everyone again for all of the help anytime I've got a question about anything. You all are awesome on this forum
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Overheating Reply #1 - 05/13/15 at 20:37:09 Don't lug it, where you live, you'll never be at risk. Riding in a parade or being stuck in traffic, bad news for air cooled engine. Don't let it sit idling for no reason , and if you wanna blue the pipe, rack it off sitting still,, ask me how I know.
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1st2know Senior Member Offline Currently between Savages Posts: 295 Seattle, WA Gender:	Re: Overheating Reply #2 - 05/13/15 at 21:23:54 My last overheat event was going up hill, in stop and go traffic. I knew it was overheating when the clutch began to auto-engage. I let it cool off for five minutes and was back on the road.
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savage_skulls_

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Re: Overheating
Reply #3 - 05/13/15 at 23:26:44

Thanks for the input. Most of my riding time is in stop and go traffic... and I have tended to let her idle for a good bit of time here and there Undecided

. Think I'm gonna give her a fresh oil change here in a couple of days. She's still running great but I definitely want to keep her that way. I'm pretty sure I've overfilled the oil anyhow. I thought I was running low a couple of weeks after her first oil change since she's been new to me(I didn't tilt her straight up like a dummy) and I added an extra 3 quarters of a quart or so. Any other preventative measures I should take just on case. I know I need to pop the crankcase open to check on the cam chain and tensioner. I'm just nervous about what I might find considering she's my only ride at the moment and I don't have 2 or 300.00 I can just throw in there. I'm a single father raising two kids alone so throwing 20.00 bucks around can be a challenge at times. This is why I haven't invested in the versy yet. I was hoping they wouldn't be quite as high as they are but I understand. He's got to make a bit and it looks and sounds like a wonderful product that is more than worth it. Hopefully I can come up with the cash before it's too late. I've never taken more pride in any rig than I have my savage. I'm in love with this little thumper! Scared I'm too broke to take care of her right though Sad

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Re: Overheating
Reply #4 - 05/14/15 at 03:56:58

I have a Trailtech Vapor Speedometer on my bike for a couple of years, and I liked having a temperature gauge. I found the riding conditions that made the bike hot were sustained cruise on the interstate in 90 degree weather, a slow steady climb in 1st gear up a steep gravel road on a Dragon Run......and the ride through Pigeon Forge with MMRanch in stop and go traffic. The bike didn't overheat - but those were the conditions that allowed it to get hotter than it normally does. On the Pigeon Forge Main Street "parade"...I would turn the engine off when it was obvious we would not be moving until the light turned green.

If I had riding conditions like yours - I would buy a temperature gauge and use it. The Trail Tech gauges are the nicest ones - the only thing I hate about them is the internal battery is not replaceable and it only lasts 5 years.....then you have to throw it away and get another one. This may not be so bad for a temperature gauge - but I had a similar Hour Meter on my lawn mower so I could keep track of the oil changes...and when it dies you lose the record of how many hours are on the engine. I would like these a lot better if they had a replaceable battery - or if they used the bikes electrical system for power and did not just stop working in 5 years.

http://www.trailtech.net/digital-gauges/tto/temperature/722-et2

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savage_skulls_

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Re: Overheating
Reply #5 - 05/14/15 at 04:14:40

I'll check into that, thanks dave! This is off topic but what battery do you use to be able to shut her off and on like that? I've got another thread on here on battery issues. Still haven't been able to completely pin down my issues but have eliminated some things. Time being my biggest obstacle. Not enough daylight hours when you work 9 to 12 hour shifts+. I had an auto shop do a load test and put a full fresh charge on her and the battery is good. After about 5 stop and go's, give or take, she's gotta be put on a trickle charger or I've gotta use the mini jump box. And this is on a 2 monthish old, direct factory replacement battery, from the stealership, that has been load tested and was good.

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Re: Overheating
Reply #6 - 05/14/15 at 04:59:23

I have an EarthX Li-Ion battery on my Cafe' conversion. I have all my lights (except headlight) converted to LED's, and I have removed my automatic compression release and have a manual one. When I hit my starter button the bike starts immediately.....it does not have the delay that the normal bike requires. I have never had any issues with keeping my battery charged.

Our bike only has about 100 watts of electrical power when charging correctly. The headlight bulb takes 35 watts on low beam and 55 watts on high beam, the two front running lights are 8 watts each, the tail light is 8 watts....and ignoring the turn signals or 27 watt brake light.....the lights are using up 59 watts of energy. This only provides 41 watts to charge your battery. Converting the running and brake lights to LED's (2 watts each) will give you an additional 18 watts of charging power and change your charging power from 41 watts to 59 watts.

However.....you need to be a bit careful about changing over to LED bulbs if you decide to do that. A lot of the LED's are not as bright as the stock bulbs, and the turn signals and brake lights are not visible in daylight/sunshine with the LED's. A good set of bright LED's are not cheap......$ 22.95 each!

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/tail-brake-turn/1157-led-bulb-dual-i...

Slightly cheaper and reported to be as bright as the stock bulb...but only 60% of the brightness of the light listed above.
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/tail-brake-turn/1157-led-bulb-dual-i...

I have this tail/brake light in my Honda ST1100, and this bulb flashes when you apply the brake. These bulbs work exceptionally in brake lights that have housings with the lense that has the diamond pattern cast into the plastic - they do not work well in housings that have a nearly clear lense with a fluted reflector. The running light is far dimmer than the other LED's listed.....about 1/4th as bright, and you will not see the running light in the daylight.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/tail-brake-turn/1157-led-bulb-dual-i...

I would leave the stock rear turn signal bulbs alone.....they aren't used all that much and the wattage saved most likely isn't worth $ 40 in bulbs.

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Overheating Reply #7 - 05/14/15 at 08:48:39 Mine started USING oil when it was about time to change..
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Kris01 Serious Thumper Offline Eat, sleep, RIDE! Posts: 3767 Tennessee Gender:	Re: Overheating Reply #8 - 05/14/15 at 19:45:04 If overheating is an issue for you, try using Rotella T6. It's synthetic oil and can take higher temps than conventional oil.
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