temp gauge

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Have finally got around to fitting my chrissy present to my bike, got the idea off  another website so thought id give it a try, koso slimline waterproof gauge with velcro pad and a 22mm inline sensor adaptor, total cost $72.00 off ebay and easy to install, very acurate gauge, tested it on the fan cut in temp which i know is 105 deg C and just as it hit 105 fan cut in, ran till temp droped to 100 C and cut out, bike runs at 80 to 84 deg on open road and gets to 94 deg in traffic will be interesting to see what temp it gets to in the twisties when i get the chance.

pity they don't put them on from the factory  

That looks about as slimline as my GI pro gear indicator . Bloody good idea though. What $s and where can they be found. Did you buy it locally?

I would love a combination temp and voltmeter gauges

reddog wrote:That looks about as slimline as my GI pro gear indicator . Bloody good idea though. What $s and where can they be found. Did you buy it locally?

I would love a combination temp and voltmeter gauges

reddog, if you go on to ebay and into motorcycle parts and accessories then type in digital gauges at the top there is a few to choose from

Nice result, Tallon. 
Very neat install.  
Be sure to re tension those clamps after a few runs. Seapage could be disastrous near your injection plugs.

Now if we got a bulk order of 15 +  I could make a phone call and say "How about a discount "

So i''be #1 ,anyone else please put my name then yours ect ,ect .
1-Gus

please..somebody tell me why you need a temp gauge on a bike?

on a car I agree, but on a bike?

PLEASE don`t tell me you need it if you`ve blown a hose or put a hole in your radiator from a rock, that will be so obvious you don`t need one. 

If you do an annual clean of your system, every thing will be clean...

so why?

mtbeerwah wrote:please..somebody tell me why you need a temp gauge on a bike?

on a car I agree, but on a bike?

PLEASE don`t tell me you need it if you`ve blown a hose or put a hole in your radiator from a rock, that will be so obvious you don`t need one. 

If you do an annual clean of your system, every thing will be clean...

so why?

No reason other than i wanted to know what temp my bike ran at, after the problems i had with crystalisation in my radiator i decided to put a temp gauge on it, not saying that anyone should or has to just a personal thing, why do we make any changes  to our bikes

The same reason any guage is fitted to anything. To monitor that specific parameter. 
Why have a fuel guage? Because pushing your bike to the next servo is a pain. 
Temp guage will indicate if you have a problem with the cooling system.  Whether it's something that you may identify through other indicators,  like steam from a leak, or something less immediately apparent such as a blockage, fan malfunction,  head gasket problem or impeller issue. The temp guage is going to give the best chance to stop the motor before any serious and expensive damage is done. 
The SV has a not uncommon problem with some of or all of the magnets coming free from the rotor and causing very expensive damage to the stator. For this reason I have fitted a volt meter which monitors the voltage output.  If I notice a change from the usual reading I will investigate.
I spent thirteen years working on cooling systems.  Believe me a temp guage is a great investment.

Bosco15 wrote:The same reason any guage is fitted to anything. To monitor that specific parameter. 
Why have a fuel guage? Because pushing your bike to the next servo is a pain. 
Temp guage will indicate if you have a problem with the cooling system.  Whether it's something that you may identify through other indicators,  like steam from a leak, or something less immediately apparent such as a blockage, fan malfunction,  head gasket problem or impeller issue. The temp guage is going to give the best chance to stop the motor before any serious and expensive damage is done. 
The SV has a not uncommon problem with some of or all of the magnets coming free from the rotor and causing very expensive damage to the stator. For this reason I have fitted a volt meter which monitors the voltage output.  If I notice a change from the usual reading I will investigate.
I spent thirteen years working on cooling systems.  Believe me a temp guage is a great investment.

nice one bosco, could not have said it better myself

mmmm....to each their own,

I`m not convinced, my nose smells when there`s something wrong, and an immediately different feeling in heat around my legs, and before damage mode to an engine on a BIKE, your sitting on top of the thing, and if your in the middle of no where, your gauge and my nose will tell me the same thing..stop and let it cool, or come to the conclusion something is wrong, and your calling for help.

my 2c

The liquid to air cooling system is quite a simple system. When it is working correctly it is easy to take it for granted.  When it fails, it is very easy to recognise that there is a problem.  There is a whole range of things that can happen between working perfectly and failure.  
Cleaning of the cooling system annually is certainly an excellent choice for longevity of its components. It is not as straight forward as you may think. 
 Not all coolants are compatible with each other.  A mix of as little as half a cup of old coolant can cause a serious problem,  and that is in a cars system that holds upwards of ten litres. Our bikes probably hold less than three litres. Believe me. Home mechanics are the life blood of radiator shops around the nation.  
When changing out the old coolant it is very important to get it all out. Crystalisation, which Tallon experienced, is a result of a chemical reaction between coolants. Flushing the system without the thermostat fitted is the best way to ensure it's clean. 
Electrolysis,  a reaction between different metals can cause similar blockages.  
Stray current, an electric current running through the cooling system can eat out alloy radiators and blocks in weeks. Often seen in auto cooling industry when aftermarket stereo system is fitted.  Electricity takes the path of least resistance and that happens to be the coolant in your cooling system if you are not careful to get a good earth with your electronic add ons. 
All of the above can block the tubes of the radiator.  
Our bikes have alloy single row radiators (Gsxf1250fa, at least) with 24 tubes. Block three of those tubes and you have lost more than 10% of your cooling capacity.  You don't have to block the whole tube either,  just one end and the flow stops. 
Most radiators are designed with 10% more tubes than required, just to put your mind at ease.  
So, in summary of this very brief cooling system lecture,  a temperature guage allows you to keep an eye on your system and hopefully notice any slight change that may indicate that maintenance is necessary.

My Aprilia has ones standard ,it tells me stuff , I like It .There was one time the oil light came on 50 kls from home . I was  confidant that it was a $20
oil pressure switch . With a temp gauge I could tell the temp was going down , which with no oil flow would have been unusual . With no guage  it
would have been a long push .

oh well..good luck with your gauge.

I`ve only been ridding 24yrs, not as long as some on here, and in all my bikes, only one has had a gauge. I do my own services on my bikes and cars, and am competent in doing so, mechanical family background, and was tort so from a young age. Have never felt the need for one, and will continue so.

I do respect your views though, and not looking down upon those that want one, just trying to get inside the heads of those that do, and their needs.

Ask me about Gps on a motorbike .  Actually that's a thread .

im like you mtbeerwar do my own services both bike and car and just about any mechanical repairs, but the problem i had with the radiator made me realise that all the mechanical knowledge in the world wont allways tell you what is going on till its to late, on a 3 day trip i did about 2 months ago i realised that my bike was running a bit hot after the first full day of riding but still didnt think it was that much of a problem as there was no leaks or any coolant dripping from the overflow tube took the seat off and checked the overflow bottle was a tiny bit high but that was normal (had been dripping out while i was sitting on 100kph down the road for most of the day) day 2 and now the fan is on when i pulled in for petrol after about 3 hrs riding just thought it was normal as the traffic in the town was slow as we came in, (didnt realise it had been on for the last 3 hrs as i was sitting on 110kph on the road) once again no coolant leaking out and nothing dripping out the overflow tube while im filling up the bike, next morning i removed the tank (just curious to know) and checked the radiator level before we all left, put in just over 1 litre of water to fill it up, so after 2 days of riding and my bike running at 120deg C for 2 days (found out later) i had no idea that it was that hot, no red light on during that whole time, my radiator was blocked which had been slowly happening over the last 3 months getting worse every time i rode the bike ( if i had a gauge i would have known 3 months ago) so when your riding down the road at 120 kph for about 3 hrs how do you know what is happening beneath you, i just want to protect what ive put alot of time and money into and a few $ investment is worth it, thats what's im my head

just to add to that, the overflow recovery system on our bikes has a Y piece just before the overflow bottle so any water being forced out the radiator when its hot finds the path of least resistance and bypasses the overflow bottle thanks to the Y piece and out the overflow tube under the bike, so you loose the coolant which is why my overflow bottle wasnt filling up and i lost all that coolant, ive now got rid of that Y piece and and redirected the overflow tube so the bottle has to fill up before it goes out the top of the filler neck overflow tube and onto the ground, so now the system works as it should and coolant that comes out of the radiator goes back in when its cold

this is part of my point, you new it was running hot without the use of a gauge on the first day as you quoted, and without the advise of a gauge, which has triggered your instincts to take action.  You were in the middle of no where, what do you do, well what ever you can.

I`m like you, but you can usually smell an engine is getting hot when it reaches 100*, it starts to radiate heat around your legs, and emits an odour, and this is before the thermo kicks in, this is when basic instincts kick in and common sense and pull over. The only time I would be alert to a gauge is when I start to smell or fell something, and that's when I would look at a gauge anyway, that's telling me what I already know. I personally wouldn`t keep on ridding if it had the said symptoms,

I can except if its a new bike, and you don`t know it in side and out, but if its a bike you live and breath with, you know its character and idiosyncrasies.

and this is all of my point, if i had the gauge 3 months ago the slight problem would have been picked up then and not developed further

by the way most sports bikes run at 100 deg C so i guess you would be doing alot of stopping

For the display of any engine parameter I am far happier with a dial or bar graph display rather than a numeric display.

I like the fuel gauge on the Bandit and consider temperature and pressure gauges using this technology are far better for the rider and also should cost far less particularly if the various parameters share a single display.

I'm sure in a previous life I have come across a temperature/pressure/?? gauge using a single display

has anyone thought about using this as a coolant replacement. I have seen a few workshop show where they have use a similar product and it gets great reviews.

Waterless coolant

Mpottsy wrote:has anyone thought about using this as a coolant replacement. I have seen a few workshop show where they have use a similar product and it gets great reviews.

Waterless coolant

" Nano Heat Conductor Particles "

Roflmao.   

Water is free. It also has pretty good thermal efficiciency. That is, it transfers heat from the block to the radiator pretty well. 
additives marketed as coolant, whether pre mixed or concentrate, are used primarily as anti corrosive agents in this climate. 
A 50/50 mix water/coolant is less thermally efficient than 70/30 as there is less water in the system. So long as you have enough coolant to prevent corrosion, the more dilute the mix the better, so far as thermal efficiency goes. 70/30 is generally accepted as being an adequate mix if using quality coolant. ie anything that contains more than 1050g/l of ethylene glycol or close to. 
If you live in a climate where freezing is a posibility, then 50/50 mix is preferable. 
Waterless coolant may work very well, I can't comment as I don't know what it is, but I guarantee that it will cost a lot more than h2o.
Personally, I think it is overkill. Like nitrogen in your tyres. It may be better, but air will do me.

talon440 wrote:and this is all of my point, if i had the gauge 3 months ago the slight problem would have been picked up then and not developed further

by the way most sports bikes run at 100 deg C so i guess you would be doing alot of stopping

you misinterpret what I say, I`m not going to stop at 100*, as a thermo kicks in after that, I`m saying you can smell its odour at that, and like I quoted....

"I can except if its a new bike, and you don`t know it in side and out, but if its a bike you live and breath with, you know its character and idiosyncrasies"