www.boxertrix.com

I've now put 200 R1100S boxer miles under my belt and many questions are cropping up.....
( One of which is btw, Why has it taken me so long to get one of these fantastic bikes ? !! )
Anyway ...
As a bit of a follow up to Gruffalo's earlier post and prompted by a ride this afternoon in high temperatures and heavy traffic I'm interested in the possibility of overheating ?
Does it happen ?
What are the symptoms ?
If it doesn't happen , why not ?
What do you old hands do to mitigate against overheating if it is a problem at all ?

The closest I've ever got was on my 1150GS (which has temperature bars on the display). It was about 2 off maximum after I'd been sat in London traffic for a bit too long on a scorching day. I ended up just doing a bit more filtering and occasionally using the hard shoulder to get some air onto the oil cooler. If I couldn't do that I'd have just pulled over and turned it off for a bit.

I think 99% of the time in England it won't be a problem unless you're stuck in traffic and it's idling for a long time in which case you just want to turn it off.

Stuck in traffic, 25 C ambient, hit 105 C while crawling along. I plumbed in a gauge reading from the upper oil gallery, just before the valve to the radiator. NB normal suburban riding is about 95 C.

The heat input to the oil is proportional to the amount of fuel burned.

At tickover - there isn't much fuel getting burnt.

But - if you think you are going to be sitting stationary for a while - switch off the engine.

If you really suspect your oil has taken a beating in extremely high ambient temps - drain it out and refresh afterwards

Al

there is a fan kit fitted to the police spec R11x0RT's that "may" be able to be fitted to others in the range.

ISTR a video somewhere of some guy who made his own kit up with some high powered computer fans and an alloy bracket all controlled with a manual switch, which seemed a good mod to consider

slparry wrote:there is a fan kit fitted to the police spec R11x0RT's that "may" be able to be fitted to others in the range.

ISTR a video somewhere of some guy who made his own kit up with some high powered computer fans and an alloy bracket all controlled with a manual switch, which seemed a good mod to consider

That rings a bell, Steve............

Think it got a mention on Boxertrix a while back?

Al

Fans seem an interesting idea but as I live out in the sticks and am not often stuck in traffic on hot days I think I'll wait on that one.
What are the actual signs of overheating on a stuck in traffic R1100s ?
ie would the engine warning light come on or would it just be rough running or pinking or something, anybody experienced it ?
I must admit as a new owner I'm struggling to come to terms with the lack of a temp gauge or warning light !!!

How about some fans of the Benelli? THey are under the seat on that bike tho so don't know if they would be able to be mounted anywhere on 'our' bikes.

Brings back memories of the scorching heat on the shins mid-summer in Australia on country roads from my airheads, R90s and R100RS

Mitch1100 wrote:Brings back memories of the scorching heat on the shins mid-summer in Australia on country roads from my airheads, R90s and R100RS

I concur. I did a 3000km trip down the west coast of Namibia (read Desert) in 45 degree Celcius heat on my 1150 GS. NO problems with the engine overheating ( can't say the same for myself ). As Al has recommended, I changed all the oils on my return to be sure.