Rode through East L.A. today...

[ramrezz425]

After buying an '05 FJR on May 15th, It sat like a garage queen, till today, I had a nasty cold., Anyways, Can anyone tell me if its normal for the bike to heat up to the 3rd bar on the gauge?, lots of stop and go riding, Then a quick pit stop at King Taco. Didn't overheat or nothing but there was a hot wind coming up my left pant-leg. Just curious. DR

 

[marcusorelius]

3 bars is normal fer warm wheather & stop & go, don't sweat it!

 

[redtail]

After buying an '05 FJR on May 15th, It sat like a garage queen, till today, I had a nasty cold., Anyways, Can anyone tell me if its normal for the bike to heat up to the 3rd bar on the gauge?, lots of stop and go riding, Then a quick pit stop at King Taco. Didn't overheat or nothing but there was a hot wind coming up my left pant-leg. Just curious. DR

My '05 runs at 2 bars most of the time. Anytime I hit stop and go, it rises to the third bar. Sit in traffic long enough and you'll see the fourth bar, and hear the fan come on! This, I understand, is why we're able to "lane share". As soon as you get back up to speed, the temp. drops right back down.

So, yes it's normal, and the solution is pretty cool too! Just get around the cars and take off! :yahoo:

 

[03HiYoSilver]

Ram,

Here is some info for you for the GenI heat range where the Fan kicks in at the 4th bar:

For Gen I bikes: Fahrenheit 1 bar 104-140, 2 bars 140-176, 3 bars 176-212,

4 bars 212-230, 5 bars 230-248, and 6 bars 248 and up

 

[marcusorelius]

Ya also need some "heat" ride'n through the mean streets of east L.A.!

 

[ramrezz425]

Ya also need some "heat" ride'n through the mean streets of east L.A.!

Those Tacos set my mouth on fire, Forgot to get the sauce on the side. lol dr

 

[Tree Doc]

Ya also need some "heat" ride'n through the mean streets of east L.A.!

Those Tacos set my mouth on fire, Forgot to get the sauce on the side. lol dr

Cool bike ramrezz, and great question. I had the same ones on my mind. Just bought my '05 2 weeks ago with <4400mi. These do definitely feel warm and I've learned that as an infamous characteristic of the FeeJ. Mine runs at 2 bars when I'm making best speed but the stop and go city hustle gets me right up to 3 bars and on the warmer days, she's hit 4 bars for a bit but then subsided when I get rolling.

Thanks to 03HiYoSilver for that explanation of heat ranges. Now that I see that, it settles my nerves a bit as that is almost the identical operating range of my other water-cooled bikes in the past but those displayed actual temp.

On a side note, how's Whittier life these days. Grew up in La Habra Heights and know Whittier quite well. My older Sis owned and lived in a little 2 story house right next door to the Bright Spot Retaurant at Penn / Bright across from Whittier PD. It's been 20 years since I was there, though. It might be mowed down by now. The earthquake got her house in '85.

 

[wfooshee]

Did steam come out of it anywhere? Did it rattle and stop running? Did water start bubbling out of the overflow tank? Did the gauge even approach the top of the indicator?

Then it didn't overheat.

If the fan didn't even kick on, how can you be worried about overheating?

I see four bars on mine regularly, and I saw 5 once. Briefly. Once traffic cleared and I got moving, it dropped rapidly back to 3, and eventually 2. Turns out my coolant level was a bit low, I'd probably never have seen 5 bars with a full level.

I've don't recall anyone ever posting that they actually overheated their FJR. If you pop a hose and start spraying water, park and get it fixed. Otherwise, it just doesn't get too hot. Fan kicks in, radiator works, and incredible bit of engineering, all that! :rockwoot:

 

[FJRBluesman]

After buying an '05 FJR on May 15th, It sat like a garage queen, till today, I had a nasty cold., Anyways, Can anyone tell me if its normal for the bike to heat up to the 3rd bar on the gauge?, lots of stop and go riding, Then a quick pit stop at King Taco. Didn't overheat or nothing but there was a hot wind coming up my left pant-leg. Just curious. DR

Only three bars! I like betting the whole enchilada for the 9 bars.

 

[ramrezz425]

Did steam come out of it anywhere? Did it rattle and stop running? Did water start bubbling out of the overflow tank? Did the gauge even approach the top of the indicator?
Then it didn't overheat.

If the fan didn't even kick on, how can you be worried about overheating?

I see four bars on mine regularly, and I saw 5 once. Briefly. Once traffic cleared and I got moving, it dropped rapidly back to 3, and eventually 2. Turns out my coolant level was a bit low, I'd probably never have seen 5 bars with a full level.

I've don't recall anyone ever posting that they actually overheated their FJR. If you pop a hose and start spraying water, park and get it fixed. Otherwise, it just doesn't get too hot. Fan kicks in, radiator works, and incredible bit of engineering, all that! :rockwoot:

I Said it didnt overheat.

I was just curious of the gauge activity, Thankfully, 03hiyosilver was helpful enough to "splain" I'm not worried, Thanks for the reply though. DR

 

[ramrezz425]

Ya also need some "heat" ride'n through the mean streets of east L.A.!

Those Tacos set my mouth on fire, Forgot to get the sauce on the side. lol dr

Cool bike ramrezz, and great question. I had the same ones on my mind. Just bought my '05 2 weeks ago with <4400mi. These do definitely feel warm and I've learned that as an infamous characteristic of the FeeJ. Mine runs at 2 bars when I'm making best speed but the stop and go city hustle gets me right up to 3 bars and on the warmer days, she's hit 4 bars for a bit but then subsided when I get rolling.

Thanks to 03HiYoSilver for that explanation of heat ranges. Now that I see that, it settles my nerves a bit as that is almost the identical operating range of my other water-cooled bikes in the past but those displayed actual temp.

On a side note, how's Whittier life these days. Grew up in La Habra Heights and know Whittier quite well. My older Sis owned and lived in a little 2 story house right next door to the Bright Spot Retaurant at Penn / Bright across from Whittier PD. It's been 20 years since I was there, though. It might be mowed down by now. The earthquake got her house in '85.

Whittier's doing good. Nice quiet town, Uptown area is trendy, My wife works near penn and bright, I think bright spot restuarant is a hamburger joint now. Couple of biker bars here but mostly Harley peeps.

 

[James Burleigh]

When I'm making my way through rush-hour traffic, stop and go, baby'll get to four bars.

 

[Hudson]

My buddy's Harley only gets to one bar, then he heads back home.

 

[Fairlaner]

I only hit one bar tonight.......

R

 

[ramrezz425]

I only hit one bar tonight.......
R

hey that looks like a badass fury in your avatar. dr

 

[Old Michael]

I only hit one bar tonight.......
R

hey that looks like a badass fury in your avatar. dr

Ooooch! :lol:

 

[RenoJohn]

Ya also need some "heat" ride'n through the mean streets of east L.A.!

I only hit one bar tonight.......
R

Giggling in Reno

 

[Tom Edison]

After buying an '05 FJR on May 15th, It sat like a garage queen, till today, I had a nasty cold., Anyways, Can anyone tell me if its normal for the bike to heat up to the 3rd bar on the gauge?, lots of stop and go riding, Then a quick pit stop at King Taco. Didn't overheat or nothing but there was a hot wind coming up my left pant-leg. Just curious. DR

I have a new to me '05 also. Cruiseing around town the other day, slow, I stopped at the Harley store looking for a plain black licence plate frame ( they only had chrome ones!). When I started the FJR the fan came on and the bars went to three or four. I thought it was just hot having to look at those Harley's. Glad you started this thread it clears things up. Cooled right back down once up to speed. Just a lot going on under that cowling. h34r:

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

I guess nobody has explained that GEN I feature? It is the radiant oven. Folks wire up food in foil by the engine, and before you know it, dinner is done!

Yamaha removed that feature in the otherwise bad-ass GEN II's.