keefk1100lt wrote:Thanks for your quick answers folks!!!
The K1 isn't overheating as such. The problem is that, in the current very warm weather here, the heat from the engine is enough to toast the rider's legs in a very short time, and worse when the fan kicks in. It's not fitted with the optional/aftermarket deflectors in the fairing, which doesn't help a lot.
Last night we had a squint at the radiator cap. It seems to be a bit deficient in the plastic department. Comparing it to the one on my K1100, there wasn't a plastic "retaining" clip on in it, and there was a rogue flat rubber washer that appeared to seal the hole that lead to the overflow bottle.
After removing that, we ran the motor up until the fan kicked in. We could see that coolant was now flowing into the overflow bottle, which had never been seen before. And the level went down there when the bike cooled too ;-)
A new radiator cap is in the offing, at least.
I think you are on the right road keef
good luck
it does seem problematic in cooler climates as the ambient temperatures increase ....I guess many do not experience this ...but for commuters ill bet they are very aware of the issue ,,,,it seems to me that until about 25 c the cooling characteristics are fine (for a engine developed in the northern end of Europe) .....
to all those south of that, like spain usa aussie and many others
can I offer the comment that until it gets over that magic temperature the ride is always clean and cool as
a note, I did a radiator thermostat upgrade with an aftermarket unit which proved to be a positive result
from that investigation I might comment that the thermostat unit could seem to be an issue ....although maybe unnoticed until heat issues occur .....I suggest look there first , I found that the throw (passing of fluid ) was quite restricted on a couple of units I tested as it wouldn't throw to full open as temperatures were reached ,
this has a compound effect 1> the bypass flow around the radiator (designed for quick heating to operating temperature ) does not close fully as the thermostat reaches flow temperatures (resulting in bypass hot fluid being recycled bypassing the radiator . consequence being that the radiator is holding back high than normal temperature fluid
2> the full flow through the radiator is not realised when running relatively hot temperatures . thus the cooling effect is dramatically reduced
good luck
some where to start huh ?