It appears the ambient temperature and load on the engine has exceeded the limits of your cooling system. There is nothing wrong with the bike, it was engineered to a certain standard, with the radiator size being the limiting factor in this case. If riding in these conditions, keep an eye on that temp indicator, don't let it overheat as that might warp the cylinder heads.......

 

Could you put a manual switch on the fan so that you could turn it on and leave it on as soon as the motor warms up? I live on the west side of phoenix and my Wee has no problems but then it is the 650. and the 650 has less problems than the 1000. If you are half way handy, people down here have added an additional manually controlled fan to various bikes.
Normally we spend the summer in our summer place in prescott az, but with this virus going round we figured we would be safer in sun city for the summer.
some vehicles do have problems with the heat. I often start riding before the sun comes up.

 

Maybe figure a way to add a second radiator? Or find a thicker one from a different motorcycle? I don't know if it's possible at all, but it seems like there'd be a way to make something work. "Where there's a will, there's a way", after all. 🙃

 

Wow, even going through Vegas in crap traffic in the heat of day has mine ever gone over 3 bars.

 

Same here on two trips to Death Valley.

 

...
At this point I'm at a loss. I know 115°F is hot, but surely these bikes can operate in these climates, right?

I live in the desert and haven't seen anything higher than 3 bars on the display and the fan has never come on on my 2014 1000 or my 2012 650 either.

Seems to me that you could have air in the coolant system.

When I changed coolant I leave the radiator cap off with the motor running. Once the thermostat opens up you'll see the water circulating. Keep an eye on the level. I squeeze all the hoses I can get to. Usually that will drop the water level a bit. Top it off, cap it. Check the overflow tank level.

I'll ride the bike let it cool off and check the radiator level.

 

It could be your grade of radiator fluid (antifreaze and distilled water mixture) is suspect. If mix is ok and purged of air following the good advice in the above post, one can consider wiring in a fan an override switch or even a second fan. The override switch will allow the fan to run while the ignition is turned on, but under the control of the rider. The continuous running fan should help with the cooling. If the switch is not active, normal fan operation takes place. How do I add a Cooling Fan Activation Switch?

 

I would check over the entire system with a IR thermometer looking for abnormalities and to ensure your 4 or 5 bars are a true reading.

 

Agree with Spec. You could have air in the system.

It's not in the instructions, but when refilling, here's what I normally do. After I fill the radiator I leave the cap off, then run the engine for just a few seconds. This sucks coolant into the rest of the circuit and you see the water level in the radiator dropping quite a bit. Top off, and then fit the radiator cap, and follow the rest of the service manual procedures (squeeze hoses, top off overflow reservoir, run through a couple of warm up/cool down cycles, lean bike left and right, ...).

(When you run the engine, make sure there's oil in the engine of course. Sounds obvious but as I'm typically changing the coolant during a service, when the oil is out and other - sometimes essential - parts of the bike are off/disassembled/drained, I have almost made that mistake already.)

 

Something is clearly wrong. And you have approached the problem at this very logically.

I see you ruled out air in the system by bleeding procedure. Is the over flow coolant retention system in place and functioning? If not, that could be your problem as the expansion and contraction of coolant will reintroduce air.

Rolex's IR thermometer suggestion is a good way to see if the entire radiator is functioning vs only a part (e.g., due to blockage).

When you checked the thermostat on the stove did you test the temperature it opened and that it opened fully, not just that it opened? Thermostats are cheap and do fail in more than one way. I would replace it and go from there.

 

Ultrarunner -- Have you tested your radiator cap? When it gets that hot, is it puking any radiator fluid? A few years back I was having similar issues, and no where near the ambient temps you have. I was stumped for an answer. I tested everything, and even changed radiator fluid. Still got 5 bar temps. When I pressure tested the radiator cap, it showed that it was fine. But logically, it was the last thing that could possibly be a problem. I replaced the cap and never had hot temps again.

 

The bike should not overheat in those conditions.
You have tried several things with little change.
#1: It appears this is a low speed condition. You mention that 50+ mph it does not overheat? Does it run normal temps at 50+? That tells me the cooling system can maintain coolant temperature...but may still be compromised.
#2: A radiator can look clean, but have several tubes either blocked with debris or pinched off by damage or poor construction. If nothing else is found wrong, I would look for a replacement radiator.
#3: Do you by chance have a radiator guard installed? Are the fins bent or blocked in the front of the radiator? Do you have any accessories installed that might in any way block air flow into the radiator?

 

The bike should not overheat in those conditions.
You have tried several things with little change.
#1: It appears this is a low speed condition. You mention that 50+ mph it does not overheat? Does it run normal temps at 50+? That tells me the cooling system can maintain coolant temperature...but may still be compromised.
#2: A radiator can look clean, but have several tubes either blocked with debris or pinched off by damage or poor construction. If nothing else is found wrong, I would look for a replacement radiator.
#3: Do you by chance have a radiator guard installed? Are the fins bent or blocked in the front of the radiator? Do you have any accessories installed that might in any way block air flow into the radiator?

It is possible for deposits to form on the inside of the radiator tubes restricting flow through the radiator and potentially even blocking some of them.

If you can't find any debris or damage on the cooling fins externally as realshelby recommends, it may still be an internal problem. All else eliminated you might try a new radiator.

 

It sounds like the fan is working so air movement is good that leaves water movement or bad/incorrect sender reading.

You say your impeller was not slipping but was it worn ?

If it's not a good fit into the housing water movement will be reduced.

 

You say your impeller was not slipping but was it worn ?

Yeah, I can't believe I neglected to take pictures. It looked like it was in good shape— no visible signs of wear. But I also know that I don't know what I don't know, so perhaps. I did run it with the radiator off with a hose in one side to flush out the old coolant. It pushed water out pretty effectively when revved, so I'm confident that there's a decent amount of flow.

I'm going to go buy an infrared thermometer and take a look.

Looked for radiator caps and have been told there are none in the state, so I may have to order one. With water only it did boil over during a ride around the neighborhood, which included bubbles in the expansion tank. My (not very strongly held) theory at this point is that the cap isn't holding enough pressure, lowering the boiling point of the coolant enough to result in internal bubbles that act as insulation.

 

I can't imagine riding over 110* here in Phoenix, let alone 115* it always hit 4 bar regardless in Phoenix.

If you need a ride or help, I'd be happy to do so.

 

If yours doesn't go over 3 bars. I suppose coolant flush is in order for mine. What's the highest temp for you guys that would remain at 3 bar?

 

I removed the radiator guard from mine and it's made a very noticeable difference in how soon it hits three bars and how long it stays there.

Also, if you (or anyone else) happens to find damage or corrosion, Myler's in Utah does fantastic motorcycle radiator repair work. They're fast (although shipping is a crapshoot nowadays) and very reasonably priced.

My Vee came to me with a tweaked radiator from some long-past PO's oopsy, and eventually it developed a leak. Myler's repaired and reinforced the radiator and it's been great even since.

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5 bars seems wrong, but four bars in 115° heat going slowly doesn't shock me. I've had two '02s, an 06 and 08 1000, and have seen four bars when in traffic on very very hot days (mostly when travelling around California). These are good suggestions, but I'd go with the manual fan switch, and switch it on as soon as you see two bars and see if that helps. It's quick and easy.

 

Thanks all for your suggestions, there's some good stuff here.

I replaced the radiator cap and had no real change. It might increase a little slower but without staring at the gauge instead of the people trying to turn left in front of me, it's hard to get an exact timeframe and I'm not sure there's a ton of value in doing so.

My wife said, when I rode with spirit in front of her, that my bike "smells like a snowmobile." I interpret that to mean it's rich on acceleration, and probably not developing extra heat from a lean condition. So if the thing making the heat is normal, the things pumping the heat around (impeller & thermostat) are normal, pressure isn't leaking anywhere (so boiling temp stays high), the only place left is where it dumps heat.

I've ordered a new aluminum radiator which should be here tomorrow. If that doesn't work I'll look into the possibility of some chemical treatment to the inside of the stock radiator, although, again, the little I could see inside with a flashlight looks fine, and the pump body, hoses, and thermostat housing are all clean.

Either way I'll post a resolution when I get one.

 

Yeah, keep us posted on what happens.

 

New radiator? Dang, you ain't playing.

 

New radiator is on. Idling it got up to 4 bars again, but I haven't ridden it. I'm headed to a worksite about an hour away in just a moment, so that will be a good comparison.

I'm starting to think about ignition timing or something along those lines. I revved at a stoplight the other night and could see a slight haze from the tailpipes, so I again don't think I'm running lean. I'm running out of things that make an engine run hot.

Clogged cat? Does that happen on these bikes?

 

Bummer. I know you said the water pump had strong flow when you had a hose off or something. The thing is, though, when the system is closed and under pressure, it is likely much harder for the water pump to move that much water. The impellers in water pumps can fail a couple of different ways. The most obvious is broken blades, but sometimes the impeller can slip on the shaft and slow coolant flow.

 

What year is your bike? Not that it matters much; the cooling system and parts are the same 2002-2012.

The US models do not have catalytic converters, so that ain't it.

I'll go through a few things to ponder, in no particular order:

1) You mentioned that the temperature switch and the temperature sender appear to be working as expected; the fan comes on somewhere in the high three bar range, which is normal, and appears to cycle normally. You might check that these are operating correctly; I think there's a resistance spec in the manual for the sender, and a temp spec for the switch.

2) I had to reinforce the plastic shroud behind the fan on my bike because it was warping when hot and hitting the fan. You did mention the fan is running on your bike, so that's probably not a factor. However, if the shroud (#6 below) is missing or damaged, you may not get enough air flow.

3) Some sort of flow problem comes to mind; something wrong with the pump, or a blockage or a collapsed hose somewhere.

4) Your wife mentioned an odd smell; is it burning any coolant from a bad head gasket?

 

Until you pull your sparkplugs and have a look you may always wonder if it's running lean ?

 

Just a shot in the dark (I'm a new DL650XT owner so I'm not experienced yet) - has anyone every tried the wet, burlap bags that hold water and leak slowly to stay cool. This used to be a standard practice in the 1950 with cars in west Texas - they hang in front of the radiator. I have not idea if it would work on a bike -but someone should check it out if all else fails. ALSO, I just got an Ergodyne "Chill-it" vest (Amazon, under $30) absorbs water and evaporates for cooling ones torso. Works GREAT in the dry hills of SW Colorado. Doesn't affect bike, but keep me cool! 😁

 

Well, a non-update. I measured several places around the engine and got ~115°C (~240°F), which is solidly in the range of 4 bars. Today was another 115°F day and at 10:30pm I clicked on the key to see one bar showing (had not been run in several hours). The cylinders, heads, etc measured 110°F so I suppose that means the temperature gauge is accurate.

1 Bar	<138°F	(Lower limit to zero bars is unspecified)
2 Bars	139-210°F
3 Bars	211-231°F
4 Bars	232-246°F
5 Bars	246-248°F	Red light starts at 251°F

Hoping it was simply running retarded ignition, I also bought a cheap timing light. I rotated the crank to T|F, scribed a line on the crank nut & case with a sharpie, and found it's about 3° advanced at idle, advancing further somewhere around 3000RPM before the timing light fails entirely. Guess that's going back to the store. Anyway, 3° BTDC seems fine for idle, at least to the extent that it shouldn't boil the coolant. I am unable to locate a power commander under the seat that the PO might have blessed me with, and I'm pretty sure yosh boxes can't affect ignition timing anyway, so this must be stock.

Speaking of yosh boxes— I have to note that after idling and checking this stuff, I came inside and noticed immediately that I smelled like I'd routed an old snowmobile exhaust up my pant leg. Everyone complains about DL1000s running lean, but I feel like this thing is running pretty rich. I have never modified the ECU personally, but I'm wondering if someone did along the line. I do have the capability (though the time is iffy) to build myself a yosh box. That said, running rich ought to make it cooler, right? Is that only to a point? Any engine gurus want to clarify this for me?

Next up is cam timing. I don't have any reason to suspect they're off other than that I checked the valves several months ago— before it was hot outside— and can't think of anything else. So tomorrow I'll peal off all the plastics again and take a look. I may even try advancing them slightly with the theory that a stretched cam chain would lead to retarded cam timing. At that point I will take some photos of the plugs as well.

Open to ideas, including advice on successfully executing insurance fraud.