temp gauge normal???

Good morning! Hope everyone's well. Still sorting out the new-to-me '06. ( 38K mi ) And maybe when I bought in Aug of '23, I hadn't been as attentive as I ought. But last season it seemed as tho the temp gauge only went up to like 7 or 8 bars if the ambient was 85+F and it had idled for a minute or three. Like at a V long light, or construction delay. This season with ambient at 85 or so, It jumped up to 6 or 7 pretty quickly; say, when I stopped momentarily at a light. So I had the coolant flushed. Just got it back from a short ride in the 75 degree weather. It runs at 4 bars at hi way speed in 4th or 5th gear, but just a minute or two driving in 2nd or 3rd gear around town, it goes pretty quickly to 6. It returns to 4 bars in say 30-40 seconds at 60+ mph
Anything?
Thanx!
Ride safe!
PS the new Rd 6 tires are swell. They're also new and the old tires were old.

I have an '06 also, and from what you describe the bike works as expected. At 7 bars the fans kick in to help cool the bike when there isn't enough air flow to do it by itself. At higher ambient temperatures the bike will reach 7 bars even quicker, but as long as the fans come on and cool the engine down to 6 bars there is nothing to worry about. Remember that you have a big, powerful engine confined in a very tight space enclosed by the tank, frame, and fairings. It will get hot quickly. The '06's heat management is much better than my '03's was. The first gen bikes got hot too, and I also felt it a lot more as a rider.

Make sure the radiator is clean. Make sure the radiator is actually full and not air locked. Make sure the line to the overflow tank is not kinked and goes to the bottom of the tank. Make sure radiator cap is tight. Beyond that, you might want to check out thermostat and water pump. Air locked rad is most common cause...

Run engine and top off radiator. Make sure overflow tank is to max. Run engine until fans come on. Allow to cool and coolant will be drawn from the tank. Repeat.

"Make sure overflow tank is to max." - Only when bike is hot. If you fill it to the max mark when cold, it will lose some coolant when it gets hot again, leaving the level around one third or half way up the reservoir. All four of my FJRs did this, other than that, none used coolant between services.

Pic below of my 2006
(Click on image for larger view)

mcatrophy said:

Only when bike is hot. If you fill it to the max mark when cold, it will lose some coolant when it gets hot again, leaving the level around one third or half way up the reservoir.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I was just suggesting the best way to make sure that air was purged and there would be enough fluid to be sucked back as it cooled. I usually set mine about halfway between min and max and don't see leakage when it gets hot.