Thermostat.

I have been having a problem with my bike overheating when riding the tight stuff. So I fitted the computer fan and this made no difference. Further reading and i came across the issue with thermostats, surely not on a bike with only 2000 miles on the clock.
Yes the pin in the thermostat was bent and the thermostat was stuck fully open.
I have now fitted a new automotive one.
Could this be the main reason for the overheating as the thermostat was seized open if not totally fully open.

PS. I live in the UK so the idea that a bike designed for the desert can overheat here is a surprise

Hi,

If you use Evans NPG-R coolant with a Stainless thermostat you won't have any problems. If you can't get Evans over there then I'll be cool with helping you get some. Most the guys racing the Dez over here just use the Stainless thermostat and Evans and never have a problem.

It comes by the one gallon bottle or in a box with four one-gallon jugs. Perhaps you could get some friends to go in with you? You don't need the Fluidynes and the rest unless you are doing some serious putting around in the desert with the bike. One gallon more than fills the bike. You'll have to flush and clean all the old coolant out of the bike before adding the Evans. It lasts forever so once you have it in just drain into a clean jug when working on the bike. I flushed with distilled water and then blew it out with air and then let dry for a week. Evans is sacrosanct on the Yahoo group.

Is there a dealer for Mooneyes over there? With all the nostalgia stuff there surely is. They carry it in their store in LA.

The fan would be the last thing you'd do because it will restrict air flow when not running and doesn't do too much when running. I've always assumed KTM put the fans on the smaller dirt bikes because they either put too small radiators on the bike, or they improperly engineered the block for cooling of the cylinder.

You might read the plugs way down deep inside to see if you are running the bike too lean - that will heat 'em up too. And your water pump is good?

Good luck and glad to help ship if you want.

I don't run a thermostat,yours may be a scratch lean.

badcooky wrote:I don't run a thermostat,yours may be a scratch lean.

I don't know why I never even thought of this. What's the danger, really? Running too cold? Taking too long to warm up?

Didn't he tell us his thermostat was stuck fully open? So removing it altogether changes what exactly? :~)

If you remove it the bike will likely take a long time to warm up. And there are a lot of dissimilar metals there so it needs to warm up before twisting away on the loud grip ...

Heat is horsepower so you want it to run as hot as it safely can.

I put an XR's only thermostat and 1.6 rad cap in mine. She runs cool and purrs like a panther in all conditions now..

Evans won't boil in the XRR so there's no need to pressurize the system, or over-pressurize the system. With Evans you run 100% Evans and no water so there's no steam. Since it won't cavitate or boil next engine walls it doesn't pressurize the cooling system. So there's no need for a higher pressure cap. Sorry to be on a soap box about Evans but it is the sh*t! Evans also does a lot of high end cooling research for the auto companies.

BACK40 wrote:I put an XR's only thermostat and 1.6 rad cap in mine. She runs cool and purrs like a panther in all conditions now..

Thanks for the tip, but if its good enough for XR's only race bikes its good enough for me.

Fair enough. If you are riding at XRs Only Race Bike speeds all the time the bike will have zero problems with cooling itself! Since I do not, I went with the Evans. In fact, I've done everything: Evans, Fluidynes, SS thermostat, Aluminized resin coating on the header, ...

BACK40 wrote:Thanks for the tip, but if its good enough for XR's only race bikes its good enough for me.

SFXR a carefull warm up is best where possible.
But if i've been out tomcating and i leave for home so to speak it is a bit loud so i idle off till it's half way warmed up then clear out.

BACK40 wrote:I put an XR's only thermostat and 1.6 rad cap in mine.

I did that to mine today, the thermostat didn´t have any byepass hole like the one in the bike. Am I in problem now or is it correct.

Thanks for the replies.
I will see how it goes after fitting the new thermostat and then move on to the Evans coolant and 1.6 or 1.8 cap
My original idea was to run without a thermostat but have played safe after reading a few bad things.

All I have to do now is find how to get the bike to start moving on a steep muddy slope. It can find traction once the clutch is out butits a real challange to get forward motion until that point is reached. I'm running standard gearing but may lower it.

JossaXr wrote:

BACK40 wrote:I put an XR's only thermostat and 1.6 rad cap in mine.

I did that to mine today, the thermostat didn´t have any byepass hole like the one in the bike. Am I in problem now or is it correct.

Drill a hole in it like the stock one! ASAP! You will not have any flow until its warmed up without the bypass hole.

Trl_Rdr wrote:

JossaXr wrote:

BACK40 wrote:I put an XR's only thermostat and 1.6 rad cap in mine.

I did that to mine today, the thermostat didn´t have any byepass hole like the one in the bike. Am I in problem now or is it correct.

Drill a hole in it like the stock one! ASAP! You will not have any flow until its warmed up without the bypass hole.

If I dont have any byepass hole it will be at working temp must faster and I like to go fast can the bike take any dammage if I don´t drill any hole? If so then Xr only is

I think it needs that small amount of flow to move the warm coolant from the engine to the thermostat so it will open. Without it the coolant around the engine would get very hot before that heat would get to the thermostat and it opens up. Most of the information I saw on changing thermostats refers to the need for the bypass hole.

Oh for Pete's sake! I just bought the XRs only thermostat, and now I have to drill a hole in it? I think I'll just not install it then.

In other news, I took off the smog stuff, er, the smog stuff fell off .. ... and now I have MUCH better air flow through the right radiator and out the vent on the right side. I can't imagine a fan would be as effective unless the bike were at a complete standstill. No fan for me! And apparently no thermostat either.

You're driving me crazy here! You're an attorney for crying out loud. Is hearsay admissible in court?

You don't drill the thermostat. Just install it, flush the system with distilled h20, let it dry, and then fill with Evans NPG-R. You won't have any problems! END OF STORY.

Guys still win / finish desert races with stock thermostats and Evans. You are getting caught up in tinker's BS. For what you are doing, you need to talk to Gene and / or Eric on the Yahoo forum. Gene races the bike every weekend. Eric has been on the bike since it came out. Or Bornyak on this site. These three guys were there when the BRP was in the manger.

SFXR wrote:Oh for Pete's sake! I just bought the XRs only thermostat, and now I have to drill a hole in it? I think I'll just not install it then.

In other news, I took off the smog stuff, er, the smog stuff fell off .. ... and now I have MUCH better air flow through the right radiator and out the vent on the right side. I can't imagine a fan would be as effective unless the bike were at a complete standstill. No fan for me! And apparently no thermostat either.

I am a griper, aren't i?!

I just don't race. Nothing even close to it. I don't even like to go fast. Blasphemy, I know, but I like to take my time.

Any time I hear that something is good for racing, it goes in one ear and out the other. And when someone is as enthusiastic about a product as you are over that coolant, an automatic flag of skepticism goes up in my head. It's probably a great product, but that's the lawyer in me. But I do ride at everything from 30 degrees to 120 degrees, 200' below sea level or 12000' above. I ride freeways, twisties, dirt roads. Colorado, Death Valley. Everywhere. I need the bike to be able to do it all too on the same trip with minimum mods.

No thermostat isn't a great idea for cold. Stock thermo without a hole is apparently a bad idea too. I presently have stock radiators and stock 1.1 cap. I have removed the smog device, which helps airflow, but otherwise it's bone stock in the cooling dept. Is it good enough for all I plan to do with it? Maybe not. That's why I'm here picking up tips.

I changed over to Engine Ice right after I bought the bike. Im going to flush mine later this year and find the Evans coolant. The Engine Ice has worked good BUT Ive heard alot better things about Evans.

Ive also heard bad things about changing the cap. Mostly about hose failure but never seen any examples.

Yeah, the racing stuff is often wrong for moderate duty applications. But in this case, most desert races aren't that fast. Sure they show the WFO stuff on videos but I've been in the race and most of it ain't fast I assure you. So to my thinking what you need are the products that will make your scoot trouble free for 1000s of miles. And that's where these long distance desert races come in. And the BRP in particular. You're gonna need some jetting changes with a 12,000' delta. I have a set of jets for 5K to 10K and another set for 10K and up. Glad to share that with you. There's also a video on the Keihin carb you can get off Amazon that's a good intro to jetting. I have and can loan it to you.
The cap doesn't matter if you are running Evans because Evans doesn't boil, or cavitate. So there's no need to force the system to higher pressures with a cap because there'd no pressure increase from atmospheric.
Evans for coolant. Footpeg fix. I'd put new cables on. New tires. Carry some master links. That sort of thing.

Have you thought about a seat? Perhaps I missed it here. You need a seat. The BRP has two weak spots: Seat, and airbox. Renazco is the best and he's local to us in Santa Rosa. He sometimes gives a $100 discount to locals.

You aren't griping. But you are living a remarkable life.

SFXR wrote:I am a griper, aren't i?!

I just don't race. Nothing even close to it. I don't even like to go fast. Blasphemy, I know, but I like to take my time.

Any time I hear that something is good for racing, it goes in one ear and out the other. And when someone is as enthusiastic about a product as you are over that coolant, an automatic flag of skepticism goes up in my head. It's probably a great product, but that's the lawyer in me. But I do ride at everything from 30 degrees to 120 degrees, 200' below sea level or 12000' above. I ride freeways, twisties, dirt roads. Colorado, Death Valley. Everywhere. I need the bike to be able to do it all too on the same trip with minimum mods.

No thermostat isn't a great idea for cold. Stock thermo without a hole is apparently a bad idea too. I presently have stock radiators and stock 1.1 cap. I have removed the smog device, which helps airflow, but otherwise it's bone stock in the cooling dept. Is it good enough for all I plan to do with it? Maybe not. That's why I'm here picking up tips.

Bump wrote:You aren't griping. But you are living a remarkable life..

That is probably the single most positive thing I've ever read in an open forum on the internets. Thank you, and right back at you. Love this forum. Great tips on a great bike by cool people.

Wait, you did mean remarkable in a good way, right?

You are thinking of "Unbelievable." That goes both ways. I do mean it in a good way. I mean it in a great way. Envy I suppose.

There's a guy named Patrick on Advposer who rode his BRP to Alaska and back from California. Gene has soloed the 1000. The bike stock will not have any problems if you use Evans and change nothing else except the footpeg. I think gene recently rode a bike right off the showroom floor and finished the V2R. I prefer smaller bikes for riding but built this BRP up to do long multi-day rides through the desert exactly because of its reliability - it's bombproof! Look at Wachs stuff in eastern Oregon for example.

I'm in Sonoma, you are welcome to try my Renazco seat if you are in the area. I tried a fat guy's BRP and he had a Renazco and I was instantly sold.

Every morning while loosening up and drinking your coffee or tea, go over ALL your fasteners. It amazes me how many guys takes these long trips and all have a story about how something just fell off! Do some of the pilot shit SFXR! Contrary to what you read everywhere, the only bolts team Honda used any thread sealant of any kind on was the front fender, and there they used RV silicone.

I do know a guy who tire-threw a rock into the back of the rear of the airbox and punched a hole and grenaded the engine about 40 miles from the end of the 1000.

You might get a safety wire rig. This guy near Sac City has all the correct stuff and is a nice guy too: http://www.davebean.com/Tools.htm#Jig

SFXR wrote:

Bump wrote:You aren't griping. But you are living a remarkable life..

That is probably the single most positive thing I've ever read in an open forum on the internets. Thank you, and right back at you. Love this forum. Great tips on a great bike by cool people.

Wait, you did mean remarkable in a good way, right?

Where are you guys finding the Stainless steel thermostats? I must be blind!!!

The prolems with Evans or any other coolant that can't be mixed with water is trial fixes... If you split a hose and lose coolant on the trail...you just cant drop some water in it to limp back in with. If you're not a wrench turner, keep your mods simple and easy to fix on the trail...

I installed a KTM fan on my radiator...When the going gets slow, I turn it on and no problems with overheating.

Pretty much the XR650R cools off with even at slow speeds while you move, I see L on my dash a lot while I am moving. I have seen as high as 200, but if I turn the fan on (I got a KTM fan installed) it will take it down to 180 or so. One reason to install a dash with a temperature indication/readout (Acewell). I tossed in some Water Wetter, just because I had it laying around. Otherwise I used some pre-mixed Prestone coolant I think it is. I have had no problems as of yet.

Not sure why people are afraid to install the KTM fan, it cost $100, not the most expensive thing out there, and it works *shrug*.