First sign of overheating and how to prevent?

[TurboMike]

Just read through a bunch of old posts and I learned:
-Cyberpoet sells an oil temp gauge (figured I'd beat you to it since you answers all my questions)
-Kats are pretty good at not overheating
-First signs of overheating is steam/oil smoke in the fairings
-Idle can go over normal
-Motorcycle specific oil is better at keeping you from overheating

What happened to me:
About 70 degrees I'm riding the highway into Manhattan. Come up on horrible traffic. Get off the highway and I'm in the horrible traffic on the side streets. So even when I can cut through traffic to the front of a light, I'm waiting at a red light. This goes on for 30 min or so. Dont notice anything weird at idle, but a few times when I first start out in 1st gear the bike is like "dieseling" until 3k rpm and it goes away. Like its running on 3. I dunno if thats motor knock or not. That happens a few times and I decide to turn off the sidestreet I'm stuck on and go up an ave for a few blocks just to get the bike moving in some air. I took it to high RPM in 1st and 2nd then coasted in neutral. My thinking there was to clean off the plugs (do they foul during an overheat and cause that knocking) then coast with some air getting through the cooler. That worked for a while but I decided since I wasnt getting anywhere fast anytime soon anyway I parked at a diner for a milkshake. Traffic was thinned out after. So was I starting to overheat or something else? I put new plugs in the bike when I bought it last fall and just changed the oil (yeah I used car oil, shame on me).

So next oil change (or before I try going into the city again) I'm gona get some bike oil (jato or whatever Poet said). And if the bike IS overheating whats the best course of action: water on cooler, shutdown (for how long?), or find open road no matter what?

[Kat-A-Tonic]

As long as you are able to maintain 10mph or more you'll be able to keep the bike from overheating provided...

- You have sufficient oil
- The oil in your bike is of good base stock and designed for motorcycles (e.g. 10W40)
- You did not rev the bike too much as this adds heat

It sounds like it could have borderline case but as long as the oil did not reach it's flashpoint (usually around 440 to 460 F), you are probably fine. If you suspect overheating, shut the bike off for 15 to 30 minutes and let it cool.

[suzukisportrider2004]

probbly just had the fuel boiling out of the carbs

[fasteddie]

Wow, good info here!

[The CyberPoet]

It sounds like it could have borderline case but as long as the oil did not reach it's flashpoint (usually around 440 to 460 F), you are probably fine. If you suspect overheating, shut the bike off for 15 to 30 minutes and let it cool.

Flash points for most motorcycle oils are in the 410 to 420 degree range. For many car oils, they are even lower (plus other issues involved)

For TurboMike my specific recommendations would be:
(A) Immediately drain the oil and the cooler contents. That oil has seen better days, even if it wasn't car oil. The fact that's car oil just makes it worse.
(B) Replace it with Mobil 1 MX4T or a mix of Mobil 1 MX4T and Mobil 1 VTwin (these two particular oils have the highest flash temp of any JASO-MA spec oil I've found on the market). You can usually find them at SuperWalmart stores 24-7. Run your oil at the full mark or slightly over-full to help give it more thermal mass to hold excess heat.
(C) Consider grafting a larger oil cooler on the bike (such as the 750 cooler in place of the 600 cooler) to help disipate the heat, and/or adding fans, if you regularly find yourself in this kind of situation.
(D) If you have an ignition advancer installed, remove it and return to stock (the advancer causes the engine to build more heat in the first three gears, making it easier to overheat if you encounter such situations frequently).

As for cooling it down, you already know the basics (you listed them) and Kat-A-Tonic spelled out the mistake you made (don't run the RPMs high when you are in an potential over-heat situation -- you want 3k RPM and below as much as feasible when hot, even if it means the engine is chugging a bit).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[TurboMike]

If you remember my other post, there are no Wallmarts around here. Any the KMart/Target stores dont carry car stuff (NYC area).

I'll have to stop at some bike shops and look at the oil. Is JASO a rating that is printed on the oil jugs?

What are the odds I was boiling fuel/vapor locking the carbs? I thought as long as the motor was running (even at idle) there'd be more than enough fuel pressure to refill a hot carb to anything lost to heat?

[The CyberPoet]

If you remember my other post, there are no Wallmarts around here. Any the KMart/Target stores dont carry car stuff (NYC area).

Might be worth a trip into the burbs... or hit an MC shop.

I'll have to stop at some bike shops and look at the oil. Is JASO a rating that is printed on the oil jugs?

Yes. Look specifically for the logo and not just the phrase "meets JASO-MA Friction specifications" (the full JASO-MA suite is substancially more complicated and stringent, and it was developed specifically for air-oil cooled Japanese motorcycle engines).

What are the odds I was boiling fuel/vapor locking the carbs? I thought as long as the motor was running (even at idle) there'd be more than enough fuel pressure to refill a hot carb to anything lost to heat?

About zero, IMHO, with our particular carb/airbox design. Yes, fresh flow would replace any lost, and the vapors would go into the engine as long as it's running any way (the carbs get cooled by a combination of the air inbound to the engine [still cool] and the vaporization of fuel). If the engine drew in fresh air over the top of the engine, it might be a different tale...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet