gets hot in around town traffic

**Lazy7** · 24th March 2006, 07:46

hey guys - when start/stopping in auckland city traffic going from one set of lights to the the next and not really doing much more than 50k in between my bike gets quite hot.

the temp gauge normally sits just over halfway. the fan seems to come on at about halfway and goes nuts.

once the bike gets this hot i need at least a motorway blast to cool it down or else the fan just keeps on going.

should it get this hot in traffic? should it creep up to those temps when riding slow at 40-50k?

its got oil and lots of water in the resevoir. was wondering if there is anyway of checking the actual level of the radiator without having to take the whole bike apart? because i am not sure if the reservoir is doing its job?

**Fishy** · 24th March 2006, 07:50

Sounds pretty normal mate.

My bike has a digital temp gauge and in traffic it gets up to 107deg C, the fan comes on at 103. In the manual they recommend you turn the bike off if it reaches 122deg C (but thats for my bike) I think your will probably be around the same though.

**Firefight** · 24th March 2006, 07:54

Originally Posted by Lazy7

hey guys - when start/stopping in auckland city traffic going from one set of lights to the the next and not really doing much more than 50k in between my bike gets quite hot.

yep, happens to most of us, good reason not to ride round town more than you have to. Fans sounds like it's doing it's job.

F/F

**Pwalo** · 24th March 2006, 08:04

I remember reading somewhere that they took temperature guages off some of the earlier oil/air cooled Suzukis because they were scaring their owners with their temperature readings around town.

Bike engines tend to run pretty hot most of the time. Just feel your bike's frame after you've been out riding. I don't think that you've got a serious problem, but I'm sue that there's a ZX7 owners club on the interweb somewhere that will be able to give you some pointers.

Nice bike, so take care of it.

**Edbear** · 24th March 2006, 08:04

An advantage of having a liquid cooled bike is having the fan. On the 'F', if I spend too much time in traffic or dawdling, it just starts to 'ping' and miss when getting too hot. Hasn't got a temp guage either, so no way to know how hot it is. Don't spend much time at such low speeds though, so not generally a prob. Yours doesn't seem to be much to worry about. The 7R is an underrated bike, they're a good allrounder and damn quick!

**GR81** · 24th March 2006, 13:35

yea, my new bike gets reasonably hot around town too... can really feel it on my legs.

**kiwifruit** · 24th March 2006, 14:16

yep sounds normal m8
i kinda shit myself when i saw over 100deg on the gauge one day!
they love it tho, so i wouldnt worry if i were you

**Gremlin** · 24th March 2006, 14:44

Mine never gets as far as halfway on the gauge usually. The fan kicks in on the first mark I think (which is a third) and it doesn't usually rise any more.

Like most sportbikes, its not designed to do 40-50 in stop start traffic. My fan doesn't come on all that much - but I don't sit in traffic

Its actually rather nice on cold mornings, when the frame warms up, you get a bit of it on your legs, like automatic leg warmers

**Mental Trousers** · 24th March 2006, 15:03

You're lucky. Mine doesn't have fans for the radiator. Mind you, the radiator is farken huge.

**justsomeguy** · 24th March 2006, 15:18

Does it quickly go back to normal when you get some free road? If it does then it's fine. If it starts going into the red zone PLEASE STOP IMMEDIATELY (of course I mean as safely as possible).

Bikes do get rather hot in those situations. I was beggining to get mild panic attacks on the last BRONZ Toy run..... but as long as it stays a bit away from the red zone and cools down quickly when you find some space - you're fine.

JSG

**Flyingpony** · 24th March 2006, 16:29

Heard from some racers that engines with fuel injection can run on Methanol while those with carbs can't because Methanol consistancy is like vegetable oil.

Any way, whilst giving more bang, the engine actually runs cooler than is would on 100 Octane gas.

So why don't you guys run your bike on Methanol?
Solves the over heating problem.

**megageoff76** · 24th March 2006, 18:44

My bike gets really hot on the commute to work..the fan comes on at least twice most days. Its worse when it rains cause it produces loads of steam off the radiator...it looks like the bloody bike is on fire!

**Ixion** · 24th March 2006, 18:52

That's what fans are for. Cars do it too - well the ones with thermostatically controlled fans, anyway. Given me a nasty fright a couple of times when lanesplitting, all of a sudden there's this vhoom noise just behind y'. Shit, someones about to run me down, oh no, it's OK just some dude's fan cutting in.

BMW fan cuts in occasionally in very slow heavy traffic.

GT750 doesn't have a fan (early ones did, then they took them off cos they never got hot enough to turn on).

Easy answer, air cooling.

EDIT: Incidentally, running hot is GOOD. Engines should run at around 100+ degree C. Running too cold produces all sorts of problems and wears your engine and zorst out real fast. Pressurised systems can easily get to 150 degree without boiling.

**justsomeguy** · 24th March 2006, 18:53

Originally Posted by megageoff76

My bike gets really hot on the commute to work..the fan comes on at least twice most days. Its worse when it rains cause it produces loads of steam off the radiator...it looks like the bloody bike is on fire!

My first bike used to leak oil from the rocker cover and alternator gasket cover onto the header pipes. After a ride when I stopped at the lights a decent puff of white smoke would rise from under the handle bars