Just got my 09' 14 Now I know you should ride with proper gear, but I was not and the bike puts off so much heat onto the inside of my knees that they looked slightly burnt after a 1 hour ride and the bike was to hot to really grip with the inside of my legs. The temp gauge is spiked. So I took the bike back to the dealership and they ran it in the sun and street for 5 min. no overheat and said it is normal for this bike to run that hot. Are they full of it or do I need to toughen up my dainty little legs. THNX

Do you ride your zx14 in shorts?

No, you need to run that bike slow or low rpm like the book says to break it in. This thing is tight on assembly. The oil and pressure against that soft surface will take some pounding before things loosen up and begin to cool off.

Shit, I'd say you might have one mean bike broken in heat stroke my unit wise. I'd keep the legs away from the heat or use your body to absorb it. Your choice in the dainty dept. I'd have my legs spread, either ball is going to hang on where it wants is up my body to cool those ispermus.

Yeah, heat will run that friction close tolerance hot, until she works that metal into a slight distance on the collapse. That kind of break in or haul ass if you can take the heat. You push that wind faster, you won't see 5 bars for long. Long comes the man, though.

We've seasoned bike break inns all 4 seasons, someone is breaking in a new bike. There are no overheating issues I can see as consistent, short of some random overheat that may have occurred. Was there some screen booty over the radiator to cause the overheat? Beats the heat out of me.

Come about 1,500/2,000 miles, she might cool down to all normal 2/3 bars on average.

* Last updated by: Hub on 8/7/2009 @ 4:31 PM *

Sometimes I know I shouldn't, but it happens

Sneakers and a T-shirt too?

thanks for the info hub

quit shaving those dainty legs

hey there bka, i hope we can hook up & do some riding
i live in schaumburg,finally after 3 months in the shop , i p/u mine tomorrow.i will show u what i did to keep it cool.
lotta connections if u need a turbo, air ahifter, dyno, painter.u name it ,we got the hook.just hope u r not one of those posers that sit all night at streets of woodfield

I don't know why someone hasn't just plain answered your question.

Yes, the 14s run hot as hell. The only time they don't is when the air temp is really quite cold, or you put a second fan on it, and/or better coolant. Some say putting a zx10 fender on helps, I think it makes them look ugly, frankly.

They get a little cooler after you put 10,000 miles or so on them.

Ceramic coating the exhaust gets rid of a lot of rider heat.

Putting a Muzzy aluminum fan blade on will make a difference, too.

As soon as I can afford it, I'm buying the Schnitz auxiliary fan for the zx14. Its a 7" fan, so I think you can put a Muzzy fan blade on it too.

* Last updated by: privateer on 8/7/2009 @ 10:10 PM *

I don't know why someone hasn't just plain answered your question.

Anytime, 90... OK, plain and simple. Since 2006, the 14 has yet to receive a second fan. Therefore, there has not been a heating problem with the bike since new. You have the aftermarkets meeting an owner's fear of too hot a bike and now, it is time for them [a new owner] to re-engineer the water bar.

Fear not... Factory did their homework is yet to hear a bike overheating on any phase of break in or out in the field in general.

* Last updated by: Hub on 8/7/2009 @ 11:29 PM *

Wow You guys rock I have asked some questions on other forums and I get yelled at for being a newbie. Here you guys answered and gave me good advice As for ALUCARD Let me put some miles under my belt and get comfortable on her before I start riding in a group, but I appreciate the offer. Now when it comes to the Turbo talk that got me interested. I am trying to get the bike to go 200 mph certified at texas or maxton. My email is bka1142490@comcast.net

I have asked some questions on other forums and I get yelled at for being a newbie.

Hell, I last just a few posts being a newbie at other websites. They think they were newbies is treat them like a used oil rag is rag on the place they start inn on me.

I searched one of my screen names looking around. Found one where this guy posted, whoever that guy was, he was cracking up about posting a thread looking for me is the groupthink blew me away is that guy was having a laugh or two.

OH Well E N, 1984, "All pigs are equal." So much for newbie'zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Hey bka,

First off, I hope you understand Hub more than the rest of us ha-ha. <3 Hub.

Bike runs hot, especially without break-in. But many find it still too hot on sunny days even after that. Two most common mods are after-market radiator fan from Muzzy (cools a ton faster once fan kicks on) and replacing coolant with the better-quality Engine Ice (takes longer for temps to rise). These mods are cheap and DIY (allow several hours though). I can find you threads if interested, or you can just search this forum - people posted how-tos for both mods.

However, you will get even better results if you replace stock exhaust with a full after-market exhaust system (or at least replace mufflers with after-market slip-ons).

Welcome to the club!
Alex

+1 on understanding Hub :). It is kinda like reading shakespere (sp) or the bible....gotta break the code on the syntax I guess!

Just a thought here. This bike has plates that block the heat from reaching the rider and if you look at the fiche file or manual you can see where they are uuder the fairings left and right sides of the bike and just behind the radiator on top of the motor. At the lower part of the farings there are two one on each side that are just foam incerts that are just held in by the farings no glue no pins so if one or all where not mounted correctly you will feel the heat for sure Its just one of those things that can get loose (in the case of the lower ones )or get bent of broken (in the case of th uper ones) easy enough to check just takes time. to pull the parts off to check it hope that helps Ride safe...xxx's

I don't think those two foam rectangular inserts (one on each side, lower (belly) fairings) are for heat control, I think they are to keep the fairings from vibrating. Or are you talking about the mid fairings ?

In any case, since mine was new (and I know it got put together right, because I know who did it) it has put out too much heat on days when ambient temperature is 80+. Especially at stops.

I'm not sure if a second fan will make any difference, but expect it will. Once I get one on I'll see for myself.

Ceramic coating the header and pipes back to the cannister would go a long way to keeping some heat off the rider.

Today I rode over to the Belle Grove Rally (East Coast Sturgis) since I've never been to it, and for about an hour while riding there my temp gauge dropped to 50%. Mostly due to the sun going behind clouds some and the ambient air temp dropping probably 10 degrees or a bit more. Then the sun came back out, it got pretty warm again, and the gauge went back up to 2 bars short of max like usually.

Never seen it hit max, but have seen 1 short of max many times.

I never saw 6 bars on mine, even when brand new. Saw 5 at imes when doing low speed city riding. highway has been 3 bars or even 2 bars if the air temp is cold. If your gauge is going all the way to the top in IL, I think tht is a bit hotter than what you should expect even on a new bike. I would try Water Wetter. I think it's cheaper and easier to use than Engine Ice.

Just adding a few ounces of distilled water and kawasaki anti-freeze mixed 50/50 seemed to help keep my temp reading down a bar when the bike was new. I bet your coolant level is on minimum mark. Some may tell you to just add water alone but this is only in emergencies. Coolent that has too much water can be hard on the aluminum in you cooling system so if yopu add, go with the 50/50 mixture of kawi and distilled water.

Have to agree about the fraternal courtesy members of these forums show newbies. I encourage new members to ask any question, no matter how simple it may seem. You might get a little ribbing from a few people but it is good natured and you will get a lot of valuable comments, too. Many of us remember being newbs ourself (although I believe we have a good number of members who were motorcycle experts long before there ever was a ZX-14 in production). So, always ask and ask for coments to be clarified when you don't understand replies. You'll get your info.

Welcome aboard, bka!

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/8/2009 @ 9:21 PM *

I found that if you ride the 14 on back roads running at higher RPMs with a lot of shifting and compression breaking that the bike gets maxed out on the guage. I've gotten sunburn on my legs right through my pants from the heat. Engine Ice coolant did absolutely nothing to help. I got an 06 headder and had it ceramic coated. I'll be installing it soon, I hope. I'll have to post how it works.

You'll notice the difference right away Sharky. Even after all these years I still say ceramic coating my header was the best mod I have done to my 14.

Sharkey wrote :

I found that if you ride the 14 on back roads running at higher RPMs with a lot of shifting and compression breaking that the bike gets maxed out on the guage.

I ride this way too, a lot. I get back into the mountain roads and bomb around, and use the engine like it should be used. Use the tires, too.

But... when I rode my ZX-11 in western Europe, down in the southern Alps in France, I rode it every bit as hard and it never got as hot as my ZX-14 gets (judging from the heat on my legs and body, not the the gauge).

And my ZX-11 went every bit as fast as my 14 goes, in every way that matters. Though it was slower in the 1/4 mile by about 1/2 second.

privateer wrote:

use the engine like it should be used

* Last updated by: Sharkey on 8/9/2009 @ 12:14 PM *

One thing that could be different on these bikes is the way they engineered the way the heat travels off the bike. It seems to be routed only off the left side, of course because the fan is right there, roasting your left leg a bit.
That was one of the major complaints of the earlier FJR'S. Since then, they were able to reroute the air away from the rider, and guess what, no more complaints. I'm sure that they didn't do much to the engine cooling system either.
So I guess I'm trying to point out that maybe our bikes are not running to hot, it's just that we feel it more.
I've really never seen more than 4 bars on the gauge in the hot weather, and I know the fan will cycle on and off at that point. On cooler days, even when near 80 degrees. when traveling, mine will run at 3 bars allot. So maybe I got a good one in this respect.
I absolutely agree that you need to break the bike in. I found a big jump in fuel economy after the 1000 mile mark.

I used to be worried a little when my 06 was new, but after 4 or 5K mi. it will settle down. Very tight engine tolerances will cause a lot of heat, when new at 90 degrees and above I would see 5 bars, and one time in traffic I saw 6 for a short time. Now, with almost 19 thousand miles I usually see 2 bars and sometimes 3 in city traffic on hot days - I quit worrying about extra fans and stuff about 14 thousand miles ago - break it in easy and it will cool down with time and last for a good long time - my milage is still going up, so I dont think it will be fully run in till around 25K or so

I couldn't believe it but the other day we had the hottest day to date in NJ, ran it up on RT78 were they just repaved it with the blackest asphalt, the temp was running at three bars with air temp tipping in the mid 90's.
7k and counting.