Temperature Gauge Norm

Rode the wife's bike around on some errands the other day. I notice the temperature gauge was reading was above 1/2 way on the scale (bar was in the middle of the temperature symbol). Is the the norm for this bike)

Hello Hvymtl,

Yes...Half-way is the normal operating temp when the scooter is all warmed up.

Normal is 3 bars.

billc. wrote:

Normal is 3 bars.

Yup, 3 bars is normal! Agree

Amen

I recently bought one of these. 2001 600cc. My temp Guage runs up to 1 bar off redline and stays there the whole time I'm riding. Little bit worried but it never goes into red.

You're commenting on a long forgotten topic from 2012 mate, twelve years ago. When really your first post should have been Introducing yourself.

Hi Slugg and welcome to the forum. Meldrew is correct in first introducing yourself. This helps other members to understand you riding history and whether you do DIY to your bikes etc., however, if you try the search bar above using key words I'm sure you'll find plenty of reading material on this topic.

For now I would suggest your problem could be a blocked radiator, a faulty thermostat or a faulty temp sensor. I would recommend that you investigate it; running the temp that high during normal riding doesn't give you much headroom for overheating.

If you can't find what you're looking for please come back to us using this topic heading.

Thanks for that LooseMarbles. I'm from NZ. Spent most of my life being "that guy" who never got his bike license but rode extremely powerful bikes. Been riding since I was 12 when I got a CB125. Now my son, who is 21, is getting interested in bikes so I decided to emulate the correct way to do things. Got my Learners license and the Silver Wing is a bike I can legally ride. Took it for a decent ride yesterday and was really surprised by how well it went! Looking forward to more rides in the future. I used to do all my own work but now my body is too shot so I have a mate do it. Really looking forward to being part of this forum!

Meldrew wrote:

You're commenting on a long forgotten topic from 2012 mate, twelve years ago.    When really your first post should have been Introducing yourself.

Thanks Mildrew. Will make sure to pay more attention!

If you have access to an IR temperature measuring gun you can directly test the radiator temperature. The usual running temperature should be around 80C which is where the thermostat first opens, that assumes the bike is moving and creating airflow through the radiator. It will go to around 100C at a standstill or crawling, and at that point the fan should be cycling on/off over 5 degrees.

Bikes "of a certain age" often suffer from thermostat failure where it jams part open, and that can limit the coolant flow to the radiator when things get hot and result in higher than expected temperature. If the thermostat is healthy the radiator stays stone cold on a start up for a few minutes, then quickly gets too hot to touch when the thermostat opens and dumps the hots stuff from the engine block. A jammed thermostat will allow the radiator to slowly heat up from the time the engine is started. The Swing thermostat is an easy thing to change if needed.

Terry Smith wrote:

If you have access to an IR temperature measuring gun you can directly test the radiator temperature. The usual running temperature should be around 80C which is where the thermostat first opens, that assumes the bike is moving and creating airflow through the radiator. It will go to around 100C at a standstill or crawling, and at that point the fan should be cycling on/off over 5 degrees.

Bikes "of a certain age" often suffer from thermostat failure where it jams part open, and that can limit the coolant flow to the radiator when things get hot and result in higher than expected temperature. If the thermostat is healthy the radiator stays stone cold on a start up for a few minutes, then quickly gets too hot to touch when the thermostat opens and dumps the hots stuff from the engine block. A jammed thermostat will allow the radiator to slowly heat up from the time the engine is started. The Swing thermostat is an easy thing to change if needed.

That's awesome. Thank you very much!

Have just ordered a new temp sensor and am looking for a thermostat now. Figure I'll just change it all and be better for it!