[ozhirsty]

Under normal operating conditions (So Cal area) engine gauge showes just above cold. As suggested slid a 2" piece of cardboard in front of
lower radiator. Temp gauge now resides just under 1/2 way. At about 42 min past the hr.
Question: Is it better in this range than running cold.
Warmer wears better than cold - Right.
Thanks, Alan

 

[Nick D]

Technically, warmer should mean less viscous oil and better flow, as well as better atomization of fuel and therefore better gas mileage. However, that's just theory that relies on the specs of the engine in question. The only time you should need to cover any part of the radiator is when the engine can't get warm and runs poorly. If your only problem is that the gage doesn't come halfway up then just forget the cardboard and go ride your bike - it's normal for it to stay toward the low end unless you're in traffic. The only time you really need to even look at that gage is when it heads toward the redline at the upper end.

 

[fog]

Ah Nick, you started out so good.
Your engine any, engine wants to be hot, the hotter the better. The limits to this temp is the strength of the metals it's made of and the vaporization of the lubricating oil. Engine and oil designers have settled on around 200 Deg> F with the older engines like the EX @ about 180F. Running you engine much below those temps is not good. As nick said poor fuel atomization andeven the bearing clearances were designed for a given oil viscosity. too cold too thick.

Get a new thermostat or continue with the carboard. that's just a form of manual thermostat.

FOG

 

[longhaul747]

This is my take on this issue. Even though the temp gauge is kind of big and has a lot of movement the actual difference between the cold side and hot side might be only 20 or 30F. Mine runs very cool on the gauge most of the time even though the weather has warmed up considerably. Even though its still cold the motor is hot to the touch. It runs solid and smooth and gets 58 mpg. I would say its running pretty close to normal even though the gauge does not show it. The only exception might be when its around freezing.

I tried blocking off part of the radiator this last winter. It did bring the temp gauge up quicker and it did stay there but it got kind of hot in traffic. So I decided it would be safer to just let it run on the cool side if it even really is.

 

[MrSciTrek]

Good point, Longhaul.

Car experience over the years showed that, for a while, it was popular to switch from a stock thermostat of 195 to one of 180. Except for hot weather it gave a little more engine power for a longer period of time... I think the injector programming causes the effect... runs a little richer when the engine is not up to full operating temps.

But the gas mileage does drop & with some other concerns (don't recall) the generally recommendation is against changing to a cooler thermostat.

As long as the engine doesn't approach overheating temps... the stuff that I've read left me with the impression that the warmer the engine the better the overall efficiency & durability... for road use anyway. Just as FOG wrote.

 

[fog]

Long hauls interpretation of the gage readings is correct the Cos. don't put numbers on there to keep the phone from ringing off the wall. If you wanted to give us some usefull information, you could have place the sending unit in a pan with water and another Mercury Lab Thermoter. Then cooked the water and reported to us the actuall temps of various points on the gage.

FOG