Heat Complaint

[RonC]

I just finished a ride and my lower left leg and butt were BAKING! I could feel that hot blast right on my left shin. The seat felt like a toaster.

OK, OK. This happened on my 'new' 2001 Kawasaki KLR 650.

I wanted to point this out to help put the FJR heat into perspective.

I thought the heat from the KLR 650 seat was going to turn me into a butt roast. This heat is from this little 650 Thumper I bought a few weeks ago. Engine temperature was just fine. I guess that the heat is just the nature of the beast. It certainly was warmer than anything I have yet experienced from the FJR.

Riding in the dirt was BLAST and was the first time for me in the dirt since I rode motocross in the 70s. Wooweeee!

Ron

 

[Rentaroo]

Hmm, I have an '05 KLR 650 and have not experienced this "heat problem" you speak of.........and my FJR is cool as a cucumber also.......

..........OK, so neither bike is that cool running. The FJR is a bit warm at times and when riding around town on the KLR, the engine will roast my right leg. Of course, I expect this since the exhaust pipe is next to my leg.

KLR is a great bike, I really enjoy riding the local fire roads and Jeep trails. Ride Safe!

 

[Canes]

Doh!!! :axed:

 

[MR FJR]

I have not noticed a serious heat problem as of yet. My bike has got a little hot but not to the point of cooking anything. Maybe you guys should stop riding in shorts and flip flops!! :bleh: :good:

 

[EastTNFJR]

Only have a few thousand miles on mine but have ridden in heat up to the mid 90s so far. If you wear proper gear,keep the tank half full and keep the windshield down, and most importantly--keep moving, it isn't horrible. I just came off of an '03 Harley Road Glide and you want to to talk about hot!!! I truly thought my right leg was medium-well when I got caught in the Sturgis traffic for about an hour cruising down main street!

Every bike has some kind of problem or quirk. I have noticed that internet boards really get the discussions going on their machine's faults. The FJR has heat management problems and the "tick". The Harley had a main circuit breaker that would shut off ALL electrical power when it got extremely hot and without any rhyme or reason. The Road Star had "the knock" and it also ran extremely hot--actually cut itself off one time on me in traffic because it overheated. The Gold Wing overheated at slow speeds into an oncoming wind and had the potential frame cracking problem. I don't really notice it (the heat) that much coming off of the Harley after two years. I know it bothers some worse than others though.

John

 

[BobbyBlue]

I live in South Texas and we know hot...I cooled my bike off alot by simply removing the little rubber inserts under the tank, they are the ones you can see sittinng on the bike and looking straight down at the tank. Lift the tank and 1 allen head per side. This dropped my around town temps by a bar average.

Bobby

 

[eaglemike]

I'm looking forward to doing the PCIII thing on the FJR - it sure made a difference on the Strom. I'm sure a little judicious mixture adjustment will help with heat. Of course, decent riding pants go a loooooonng way.

There is a no cost idle mixture adjustment for the KLR650 that often drops the temp gauge 2 or 3 needle widths. If you don't know about, I can walk you through it. It's basically removing the aluminum plug over the idle mixture screw, screw it in lightly 'til it touches, then back out 2 to 2.5 turns. I'll bet you $20 that'll help your bike run cooler at low speeds, especially traffic and hot weather.

All the best,

Mike

 

[RonC]

EagleMike,

I just sent you an email. Thanks for the KLR tip!

Ron

 

[eaglemike]

I'll pm you the details........since we're here on the FeeJuh.....

 

[Pappy]

I had a Bandit 1200S last year. Never thought about heat while riding it.

Traded up to the FJR and whined about heat for a while until I did the complete Cromet fix which fixed it right up. After the fix I noticed the seat got a little warm which I tend to obsess on a little.

Last month I rode a friends Bandit 1200S on a 95 degree day and was amazed at hot the seat was. Put my FeeJeR heat issues into perspective.