Incriments On The Fjr Temp Gauge

[GunMD]

I know I've seen a chart or list someplace that shows a breakdown of what temperture must be achieved for each of the bars on the temp guage to be displayed...but I can't find it. Anyone know the answer?

 

[Woodstock]

Cool, Low, Medium Low, Medium, Medium High, High. :haha:

(sometimes I just crack me up )

 

[markjenn]

I don't know precisely, but most Japanese water-cooled bikes run about 180 degrees in steady-state cruise conditions and click their cooling fans on at around 220. These are two bars apart on the FJR, so this works out to about 20 degrees per bar. And this would mean that the FJR officially overheats at six bars or about 260 which sounds about right.

- Mark

 

[twowheelnut]

Concur with mj. My VFR ran at 180, idled at 220, starting to freak at 240 (a small stone had lodged itself in the fan preventing it from turning - common VFR issue).

 

[Constant Mesh]

Water Temp. Gauge info here:

https://www.fjr1300.info/tuneup.html

 

[GunMD]

Constant Mesh, you da man! That's the very chart I saw a few months ago but couldn't seem to find.

Thanks! :clap:

 

[Overfly]

Those are some fairly cool temps. Not a bad thing though, higher temp units seem to have more cooling issues.

GunMD,

Great signature line on guns vs. spoons, couldn't agree more! :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha:

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

I have seen my bike one bar past midpoint twice in the 100+ degree heat. Is there something wrong or is this normal (only when movement is severely restricited by traffic)

 

[NoCage]

Those are some fairly cool temps.

Those temps. used the Celsius scale... in case you didn't catch that. The conversion to Fahrenheit is (C*1.8)+32. So... 1 bar is 104 - 140, 2 is 140 - 176, 3 is 176 - 212, 4 is 212 - 230, 5 is 230 - 248. MarkJenn guessed pretty close.

 

[JaminBrown]

I have seen my bike one bar past midpoint twice in the 100+ degree heat. Is there something wrong or is this normal (only when movement is severely restricited by traffic)

Hitting 4 bars in stop and go is totally normal.

In hot weather (90s), If I'm staying moving (over 40mph steady) I'll see 2 bars. Slow down too much and I'll see 3. Stop and go and it'll hit 4, until the fan comes on and it drops back to 3. From what I've read, that's pretty much normal for most folks.

 

[brazos parker]

@JaminBrown

+1

Exactly my experience.

 

[RonBB]

Concur with JB. Exactly.

 

[Constant Mesh]

An interesting sidebar to this discussion is the operation of the the cooling system thermostat.

According to the service manual the thermostat begins opening at 71 degC and is fully open at 85 degC.

Two bars on the temp. gauge = 60 - 80 degC

Three bars = 80 - 100 degC

This would suggest that at two bars indicated temperature the thermostat is not 100% open.

Of course even when the thermostat is closed there is a continuous coolant flow through the throttle body plunger control and the oil cooler. The plunger control mechanically raises the idle speed (fast idle) when the coolant temperature is below normal operating temperature.

 

[onecooltngeek]

Here in knoxville we are aversly affected by the TDOT ( Tennesse Department of Transportation) who likes to have as many projects running at one time, rather than slam out one project and then start on the next one.Due to Tdot's strange practices ( 4 guys drinking coffee, 3 guys flagging traffic around, 2 guys sitting in their pickup trucks, and 1 guy running the backhoe with 3 other guys all telling him what to do) I end up sitting around in traffic alot waiting for my turn to go through a stoplight or something... When I know I am going to be stopped for a few minutes, and I hear the fan kick on, and my legs are melting, I have been turning off the engine, but leaving the key on to let the fan run... is this helping it cool faster, b/c no heat is being created, or is it slower, cause the cooling system is not pumping antifreeze around anymore??

any insight from the guru's would be appreciated...

 

[penguin1300]

When I know I am going to be stopped for a few minutes, and I hear the fan kick on, and my legs are melting, I have been turning off the engine, but leaving the key on to let the fan run... is this helping it cool faster, b/c no heat is being created, or is it slower, cause the cooling system is not pumping antifreeze around anymore??
any insight from the guru's would be appreciated...

I've shut the engine off in traffic jams before. Here's a trick I do. Put the bike in Neutral, kill the engine, turn the key off, turn the key back on and let the fan run. The purpose of turning the key off and then back on is to get the front headlights off. For background, the headlights do not come on when you turn the key on. It's not until you bump the starter that they come on. This way, you aren't draining the battery with both headlights and fan and leave you with a dead battery by the time the jam is over.

Even though I have done this in the past, I don't think it helps much because there is so much heat already stored "under the hood" that you still end-up roasting yourself trying to pump that heat out. Personally, I got tired of bumping the starter again and nowadays just leave the sucker running. YMMV

Of course, there is always the option of pulling some mad skillz with a wheelie down the double yellow while flickin' off all the cagers :lol:

 

[Mary's Peak Motorcycles]

Okay, Now someone do Gen II.
After coolant flush (due to valve cover removal) I'm getter much cooler running temp of only 2 bars at highway speed. 3-4 bars in town. (Gen 2 has more (10-12?) bars).

It's only 55*f here but still. Is running TOO COOL? Do I need a new thermostat? That used coolant didn't look great, could the change make that big of a difference?

*Note: Thanks, I read a lot here on how to pull my valve cover to fix a leaky gasket. It worked!

 

[RossKean]

I think you are OK, but keep an eye on it - I would expect a bar or two more, depending on ambient temperature. It is possible that the thermostat is off but also possible you have a radiator that isn't completely filled.

Make sure the overflow tube isn't kinked and it goes to the bottom of the reservoir. After a few cycles to the point where the fans come on (followed by cooling to ambient temperature), check that the level in the overflow bottle is right.

 

[Mihalis fjr]

Okay, Now someone do Gen II.
After coolant flush (due to valve cover removal) I'm getter much cooler running temp of only 2 bars at highway speed. 3-4 bars in town. (Gen 2 has more (10-12?) bars).

It's only 55*f here but still. Is running TOO COOL? Do I need a new thermostat? That used coolant didn't look great, could the change make that big of a difference?

*Note: Thanks, I read a lot here on how to pull my valve cover to fix a leaky gasket. It worked!

Pretty normal for Gen l!Mine does exactly the same with yours.. Don't worry about!Also my friends Gen ll runs the same about,2-3 bars on highway,4-5 bars in city depending to outside temperature..

 

[torch]

Wow. An 18 year old thread, come back to life! Well, it does show you are doing your research before asking questions, so kudos to you!

As Ross says, that doesn't sound unreasonably low. The GenII has twice as many bars as the Gen1, but it's just a finer granularity -- the range is the same. So, roughly two Gen2 bars = one Gen1 bar.

In cold weather on the open highway, my Gen1 (Pandora) would show 1 or 2 bars, 3 bars in warm weather, 4 bars in stinking hot weather. My Gen2 (Legacy) shows 2 or 3 bars in cool weather, 3 or 4 in warm weather. The Gen2 radiator is larger and more efficient at cooling, so the Gen2 doesn't seem to get as hot as fast in hot weather.

I don't suffer much stop and go city riding, but I have seen 5 bars on Pandora once when caught behind a pile up in the summer. I don't think I've seen more than 6 in slow traffic on Legacy.

 

[chazglenn3]

Interesting. My Gen 2 reads 4 bars as a normal operating temp. Goes to 5 on warmer days. Never goes above 6 thanks to the Ivan Flash turning the fans on sooner.