Went for about a 70 mile ride today, a beautiful sunny day and ~70 degrees. However, I noticed something that has me wondering. The engine coolant never even got up to 160 degrees for about 30 miles, until I got into San Antonio and hit traffic and red lights. Then the coolant temp soared to 210 degrees. It would cool down quickly once I got back moving again. On the ride home, as soon as I hit the open road it cooled back down to 162 degrees where it stayed the whole ride home. This just seems a bit low to me, I thought most modern engines were designed to run hotter to keep emissions down. Has anyone else ridden enough to notice where your temps are? I'm just trying to figure out if this is normal or if I have a problem that I need to get checked out.

It's so normal... How normal is it?... It's so normal, you see 6 bars in traffic, bet me you over heat, I'll buy the coolant.

I have been running mine up and down the Oregon coast for 3334 miles up to now. Outside temp has been 43-50 and my temp runs from 142-146. The fans come on waiting at a stop @ about 198 or so and it cools off rapidly. I wouldn't worry about it.

Wow that's a really cool running temp. They probably run it that cool because they can, wonder if it has anything to do with those oil jets spraying the piston?

You gotta read the service manual for everyone worried about coolant temps. I believe it reads thermostat begins to open at 160 and fans come on at 210. So sitting in traffic and fretting over rhe engine temps adding wetter hot wiring fans to a switch smaller fenders don't mean poop. The engine is doing fine as designed.

You have 3334 miles on a 2012? Wow, you've been running the wheels off of it.

No bet Hub, I know it will in the South Texas summer! I saw 210 today in 70* outside temps. Talked to Muzzy about their metal cooling fan but it does not fit. The '12 has dual fans so they are designing a set of fans to fit it, the price will be $80 when they are available in several weeks.

(Edit) Kawnow, I never even saw 160 in 30+ miles of riding, it opens much earlier than that. Shoot, for 15 or so miles it stayed in the low to middle 140's. Plus, I don't have a service manual for a 2012, information on them has been harder to come by. Lots has changed.

* Last updated by: CSX4350 on 2/21/2012 @ 3:18 PM *

Hey CSX4350

Here is your free service manual enjoy the reading!

ZX14R Service Manual

Snuffy

Snuffy ZX Thank you for the entire 2012 ZX-14 factory shop manual. I forget what I paid for the hard copy for my 08. Around $100.

+1, thanks so much! You da man!

That answered my questions, page 4-17, thermostat opening temperature 136 to 144* F

So I guess in cooler temps what I'm seeing is normal. That's all I needed to know. Plus it won't be an issue 10 months out of the year here.

I was quoting from memory on old 14 but that does seem cool to open.

My 14R does the same thing. The coolant temperature gauge is all over the place. When I'm running down the road it hangs around 150ºF. If I'm in traffic it will soar to around 205ºF. These temperatures are nothing to worry about in terms of engine damage. My fans will activate to provide air flow across the core and things stabilize until we get moving again.

Did I mention how much I love riding this thing? It even smells good.

Anytime Guys the Internet is a Wonderful Place Lots of Free Stuff Floating Around!!!

Snuffy

"It even smells good".....You noticed that also,eh?Ya....nice and new!!!! .

Temps are normal....mine does it as well...though here it's been very cold on some of my rides...so a few times it never got even up to like 160.But she's doing fine!Nice to be able to see the actual temps on there....

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 2/22/2012 @ 12:41 AM *

Snuffy you are a bloody legend, thanks for the link!

Neil

Snuffy, I didn't realize that you were the original poster of that link back in December. Please accept my thanks for this information. I downloaded the Service Manual and the Prep and Assembly manual prior to buying my 14R. That Prep and Assembly manual was invaluable when I picked up my bike.

This link saves anyone who uses it about $70 for the maintenance manual and another $30 for the prep manual. That's a heck of contribution. Thank You!

No Worries Neil Glad to Help!

Hey Fowvay No Need to give Kawi any more money!!! We already paid enough for our bikes!!!

Snuffy

Isn't that the truth!

Another beautiful day, upper 70's and another 100 miles on my newest ride. This thing handles so much better than my 09 and inspires much more confidence. It's a real joy to ride, not that my 09 wasn't but this one is more so.

Plus, no matter where I go that green paint attracts attention.....not always a good thing when your blasting down the interstate at supersonic speeds.

CSX what are the Can-Am spiders like?

Hey CSX4350

NYC had some nice weather today as well almost 60 D today....this time last year we needed a snowmoble to get around.
The weather report looked so good this morning I took the bike to work.
So I;m Zipping along and having a blast when all of a sudden I check my 6 oclock and here comes one of NY's finest in a Dodge Charger lights flaring so I change lanes to get out of his way and he flew right by....Thank God!!! I thought I was gonna get it at 6:30 in the morning! Turns out a few miles ahead there was a wreck and he was responding to that.
I ride with a bunch of guys from work and this was the 1st time they have seen the 14R and they where loving the green color and the rims.

Snuffy

I had a GoldWing, but after busting up my knees a few times it was getting scary trying to catch the weight at red lights. I didn't want to go without a cruiser, some times you want a luxo-barge with cruise and satellite radio! So I bought a Spyder. Four days later I got hit by a cager who was going over 100 mph, he had fallen asleep with his foot on the floor. Totalled the Spyder but I walked away without one scratch! My guardian angel had his hands full keeping my fat butt from falling off at 70 mph that day I assure you! If I'd have been on two wheels I'd be dead.

The Spyder is different, it takes some getting used to. The biggest things are that all of the braking is done with the right foot. I kept grabbing for the hand brake, but coming up empty would remind me. A few days into my second Spyder and that was behind me. Another problem I had was over driving it, I was contantly trying to correct the steering, so I ended up looking drunk going down the road. If you just let it drive itself you're much better off. The third thing was getting used to not staying on one side of the road, you have to ride in the middle of the road or one of your front tires will be in another lane. I have to say that once I got used to it, there is absolutely no problem switching back and forth between it and a 2 wheeler.

It's much more stable than a standard trike, and the standard traction & stability control works great. The only real drawback is that I wish it had a bigger V-Twin with more low end torque.

mine dose the same thing....I dont think its a issue.

Today is the last nice day for a while now in NE Illinois. High temperature near 43 degrees. Put some more miles on the R and now have couple hundred to show on the odo.

Been riding it from from just about 30 degrees and up on dry day only. Engine temperature has never gotten above 205 while the engine was running. Operating temperature for the beast has been tween 140 and 205 degrees. Fans cut in somewhere about 200 or at least they pick up audibly at that temp and then the read out starts to drop while stopped at a light.

I have seen 210 after engine shut down with the fans running while I played with the console settings. I couldn't get the tip meter to reset today. Guess I will have to check out the manual(s).

Two negatives on this new 14: pipes are growing on me in looks and sound but the width of the duo is simply cramping my garage space in comparison to the KR Tuned slip-ons on the old 14; don't much care for the lack of a helmet lock either and have replaced that loss with a combination carabiner lock that works well but is a bit slow to fumble with.

Three inches of snow coming tomorrow, damn it.

My observation is that the first fan kicks in about 190 to 195, the second kicks in about 205 to 210. Once the second kicks in it cools down fairly quickly, at least in my current temps. Summer and 100+ degrees will be different.

To reset your trip odometer select it with the down (or bottom) button, then push and hold the down button until it resets. Do the other one the same way. To reset the average MPG select it with the top button then push & hold the top button until it resets.

So far I've been averaging about 37 MPG, not bad for only having 200 miles and my running the snot out of it. Or at least as much snot as kind of following the break in instructions will let me do. I don't think I've taken it over 6,000 or been any faster than about 95 on it.....

Your observation should be... From day one, there was never an overheating problem year after year with one fan, multi bars, cries of fear my bike, my bike! I need to peek at some websites and search, 'over heating in my own mind' I find jacksquat!

Look at chews!

Don't mind me. NWLTT