Finally made my way to the forum. Im half blind and doing this on my smartphone so its a little more inconvenient rather than the FB group..but the buellformation here is pretty extensive. Long story short and ill prolly catch hell for this too, but Texas heat is coming and im looking for the best preventive measure to take in keeping the bike cooler. Ive seen adding a right scoop, puttin a switch on the fan, larger oil cooler, wrapping the bike in ten foil..so what works best, what doesnt?
Last edited by TeXB12s; 04-05-2019 at 07:41 AM.
The foil would go on the inside of the gas tank or frame, the side facing the engine, this is more for keeping the gas tank cooler than cooling the engine which it does nothing for. The comfort kit and a larger oil cooler would probably be the most efficient at cooling the bike, while actually moving, the fan switch would be the most efficient while stuck in traffic, if you remember to turn it on. This is my opinion, for what it's worth.
Just put the RH scoop on it and make sure your fan (and sensor) is working correctly. It doesnt hurt but the Ulysses heat shield on the exhaust will help keep a little of the heat off your leg.
Also, make sure the bike isnt running lean or anything like that is going on. Resolve that before going after the rest of the issues.
In Phoenix, XB's don't have issues cooling if everything is up to snuff and working correctly. All of the ones I buy, I automatically put the RH scoop on them, but they've been running around here for 10+ years with the stock "scoop" / shroud whatever it does.
Loco is right about the foil helping keep the gas from boiling, but the only way to really install it correctly is to at least rotate the motor and *thoroughly * clean and prep the inside of the frame. If the foil doesnt stay stuck to the frame and falls on the engine, you may have created another issue.
The only way I boiled the gas on my XB was when the rear head temp sensor went out. My 1125 used to do it all the time during the summer.
Fact: air cooled engines are designed for much higher and lower 'operating temps' (vs. water-cooled) due to the air cooled factor of the engine. i.e. most air-cooled aircraft engines run from a very cold ambient at altitude to 425*(!) before enrichment and spark retard kick in.
Conversely, water cooled engines have a much, much, narrower band of operating temperature, typically 180*-240*. Late model computer controlled cars shoot for 205*-215*(!) because they can, and that is what people are used too. Except Lunatics. The dinosaur he rides to the quarry likes a balmy 70* and breezy
For Buell XB's, the factory manual recommends 10w-40 oil for operation below 40* (4*C) with "Excellent starting characteristics" but doesn't give any recommendation for the lowest temp riding. Any colder and there's snow anyway you animalsBut the factory deems it ok to run it at least that cold.
Most factory ECM fan logic programs I've seen have the operating fan on/off at 220*-200*, but we are talking about overheating, where the fan is past it's capacity to cool the bike. The timing retard to cool the bike starts at 280* and the "kill limit" is 305* (*edited at 12:36)
That means an XB motor is fine from sub-40* to 304*. Texas is hot, not that hotThe bike will shut down by itself before it lets you kill it with temp.
So, add an RSS and just ride it.
Gas boils only at 181 degrees and isn't an issue either, just looks scary. Mostly an 1125 issue (more power=more heat under there) but I can imagine an XB would do the same in more extreme conditions. Mine never did well into the low 100's ambient temp, but I did always have a RSS. #1 XB mod!
A manual fan switch is dumb. Whats it going to do? Make a cool bike cooler? The Buell fan logic is only on or off. Let the bike do its thing. If it's getting hotter than the fan can control, it's because the fan lacks the capacity to cool it. Running it earlier (or constantly) won't change that.
You didn't say what year your bike isbut the later '08-up bikes had a slightly larger oil cooler that retro fits easily. That works, because it is increasing the bikes capacity to cool.
Last edited by Cooter; 04-06-2019 at 07:35 AM.
My XB's had a high and low speed. I really only noticed in when shutting down from a ride. It would go on high for about a minute, then kick to low for another before shutting off.Originally Posted by Cooter
Interesting 34:19, What year is yours again? Not that it matters in the overheating discussion but makes me curious.
I'll look for that logic when I check for the max allowable temp
Knowledge is Powa!
Last edited by Cooter; 04-06-2019 at 07:33 AM.
The Buell fan logic is only on or off.
that is incorrect. every XB ever produced has high/low fan settings. high speed for approx. first 10 seconds of operation....low speed until fan shuts off. if an XB fan doesn't function as such something is askew.
Interesting 34:19, What year is yours again? Not that it matters in the overheating discussion but makes me curious.
I'll look for that logic when I check for the max allowable temp
Knowledge is Powa!
I could have swore all of them did 04–07. I know for certain my 06 Ss did.
In the 2008 electrical diagnostics book on page 2-104, it calls out dtc’s for “fan control circuit high” and “fan control circuit low”. The fan appears to be a single speed fan as it only has 2 wires. Maybe the ECM controls how much voltage it gets to regulate its speed? Maybe it limits voltage for low? (6v low / 12v high)?
You’re smart and handsome, I know you’ll figure it out.
Last edited by 34nineteen; 04-07-2019 at 02:18 AM.
I tried the 2 stroke oil trick on my bike as well. I didn’t notice a difference, however Cooter did mention that I may have been running too much. That may have caused a slight lean problem that offset any cooling benefit I was after.
Where is Gloomshadow anyways?
Yes, both my 07 and 08 fans do this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.
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