SunShine = Paint

[sledge]

we're packing for the first Camping meet of 2010 , after this long cold winter we're Sooooooo ready. It's in Crossville Tn. , Spring Lake , we'll be back home Sun. Night. . . . I'll be checking what everybody has done soon as we get back home. :music2:

 

[sledge]

We're home and I've been workin' on the Goldwing some , while I got the Radiator off I checked the Water Pump , ( It feels Fine ) and I took the Thermostat out .... it says 82 c , I think thats about a 180 f ... one more question .... my truck that I pull the Teardrop with , and many many other cars and trucks I have owned over the years , I run everyday With NO Thermostat in it , and it's easy on the Rad, and the Hoses , I'm just wondering since I'm not gonna need high water temps for a heater or anything , do I really need to put one in it ??? because I'm pretty sure it will run cooler without a Thermostat , my Truck pulling the Teardrop at 70 mph Never gets over 125 f. . . . . I know some of these new cars say it needs to run hot ....and I really don't know about that , but since this Goldwing is 30 years old , I figured it might be good to keep it down around 125 - 140 f...... you folks are the Pros on Goldwings ... what do you think ????

 

[mcgovern61]

Not a good idea to run these engines without a tstat, aluminum engines do not do well at high internal temps at the heads with cold water running around. They can develop cracks very easily without a tstat because of the ability of aluminum to increase and decrease temps rapidly.

 

[dan filipi]

It's not a good idea to run any engine at such low temps as I understand it.
Engines are designed to run within certain temps, that's considered to be the normal operating temperature.
Too low then the space between bearings is too close which prevents oil from creating that much needed cushion between moving metal parts which results in more wear. If too hot the space is too wide which makes the bearing "pound".
There are other reasons for running at the the proper temp for better combustion, preventing carbon buildup etc.

 

[joedrum]

the things gerry says have merit but one of the best things i did was chunk the thermostat and put a manual switch for radiator fan ... it made everything consistant without temt swings .... with an engine so small like the wings theres not enough travel to have any hot spots to speak of .... the only time i have to trun on the fan is in traffic and it runs cooler then than any other time...and if i run it just sitting you can get a feel for how well the system works before it gets hot enough to turn the fan on.... the bike is more comforable to ride as there is no heat problem at all none....one of the things id like to do is to make some kind of adjustible screan or luovered deal that can be adjusted on the fly while riding ...this would be total controll over the cooling system so thats where im going

i would not go back to the thermostat and thermo swicht..its like what you said better on hoses better on pump and another plus is the oil gose right by the water pump and is a oil cooler rather honda meant it or not it is ...ive been running this way for yrs the motor has never been open at all heads have never been off so if im hurting the motor in some way i dont know it ... in my veiw in equal conditions theres no comparison on what works the best...only in cold wheather dose it go the other way but i always warm my bike a lot before riding and when i fully modify my bike this will not be an issue

thats what i think :cheeky: :mrgreen:

 

[sledge]

Thank You , Thank You , Thank You ..well then I hear what everybody is saying , so I might put a real LOW Temp Thermostat in it. .. and yes I'm with Joe I don't like to depend on a Thermo Switch to turn an Elect, Fan on , because what IT thinks is too hot....and what I Think is never the same thing.... :smilie_happy: even my little Sedan Delivery has a switch to turn the Fans off and on . I'm down to the small things now on my Goldwing , still waiting on the Pin Stripping , and my wife is making a new seat cover . thank you all again , I'm proud to have found this site , and all you fine folks to give an old man advice..... Thank You.

 

[dan filipi]

I would never depend soley on a manual switch to turn the fan on, too easy to forget which is what I would do.
I put an adjustable thermo fan switch on mine that I can adjust to have the fan come on at a lower temp if I like.
Especially nice when it gets into the upper 90's and 100 around here, and it's on and off temps are much closer than the stock.

Besides the Tstat controlling the temperature it also slows coolant flow thru the engine to help soak up heat and to reduce hot spots but if your happy running without one and haven't had any problems then go for it.
I for one like to experiment and think outside the box so whatever works for ya.

 

[Joep]

I have heard that the normal operating temp is designed to heat the oil hot enough to remove the condensation that occurs when the engine cools down.. it helps burn/boil off this sweat to keep this from contaminating the oil, causing corrosion in the motor..

 

[OldWrench]

Engines with aluminum heads should run about 190 degrees, not only does it protect the head it also helps with fuel atomization and dispersing contaminates (mainly any moisture) in the oil. As long as a thermostat is working properly it will have no effect on an engine overheating, reason being the thermostat is wide open once it’s control temperature is reached. A cold running engine will also get poorer fuel mileage, however I have never seen that proven. One thing I do is whenever I service the cooling system I replace the thermostat, they are cheap enough and it is just good protection.

 

[sledge]

Makes a lot of since , I guess I might as well wait till the Pin Stripping comes in and while I'm picking it up buy a new Thermostat and Spark Plugs. I'm getting close now. :music: Oh yeah I forgot , Dan .... where did you ever find a Adjustable Thermo Switch ???? or is it for something else ??? That sounds like something I would like to do also.... thanks everybody.

 

[dan filipi]

Dan .... where did you ever find a Adjustable Thermo Switch ???? or is it for something else ??? That sounds like something I would like to do also.... thanks everybody.

I got one like this from Kragen Auto parts.
https://www.jcwhitney.com/engine-cooling ... map=378602

 

[sledge]

Thanks Dan , and thats a good price too. Thanks.

 

[joedrum]

hey sledge was thr weather a problem on the teardrop meet ?...its been wet here for more than a week but its sure got everything green and pretty here just love this time of yr.....its lightly raining now and a little cool so its anice days to beat my brains out on the drums for awhile... things have calmed down some around here ...

when it comes to the thermostat thing i guess all that techno deffinitions are relevent but it only took one trip to fla. to learn that i could not rely on the cooling system ...it got hot several times with everthing in good working order .... the fla extremes were just to much on its operation.... one thing is for sure there are no hot spots on the heads they run run much cooler.....the inside of my motor is one the cleanest ive seen and its never been opened ever past the valve covers in the thrirty yrs its been around.....the temp of the motor dose have a sweet spot ive learned and its that hot but at that temp i can look and see its there and it willscream and run like a porsch whitch is wuy i want to modify radiator screen to adjust temp with fullflow of the coolant . anyway its been set up like for yrs and i just cant discount it at all

it looks like to me your bike is going to be a show peice your skills seem mighty and im looking forward to the results

spring is the perfect time to get something done in comfort

 

[sledge]

hey there Joe , well we Camped Thur. and Fri. and left Fri. night at Midnight after the nightly pickin session was over. , because they was callin for Bad Storms , High Winds , Hail , and Rain ...... about half the Teardroppers left but the rest waited the storms out.... a Teardrop is too small and light to with stand much of a storm . I'd rather just take it home and go again another day. and it started raining back here at the house Sat. and has rained off and on ever since . and it's still raining right now..... and as for the cooling system , I think I'm gonna buy a Thermostat as LOW as I can find, and then put me a toggle Switch to bypass the thermo switch , like you said I like to have to power to deside for myself when i want it to run.... I have the same thing on my little Camry Sedan Delivery , and it works like a dream . and I have been driving it since 2001 with no problems. . . . I'm not much into Automatic devices , just one of many reasons why I don't drive a new car.... everything on new cars are automatic , and when anything goes wrong , it takes a man who has been through school on THAT car , and a piece of equipment worth $100,000 to just say yes.........it don't work..... :smilie_happy:

 

[Joep]

You can get an adjustable thermostat switch from JCWhitney for $30.. it will come on between 170 and 205 and you can set it in that range for when you want it to come on.. I will be doing that beore too much longer .. currently my fan is running key to key off (shorted across wires..) and the fan switch will correct that..

 

[sledge]

I have owned maybe 12 old Suzuki GT750's ( Water Buffalo ) and I have a super nice one right now , but I need a motor , somebody run it out of oil.. . . but anyway , I used a Toggle Switch on most of them . those little Fan Motors are about the same size and all as a Goldwing Fan Motor . and I don't know how long they would last running all the time, but I would guess it would shorten they;re life a lot. we have been having some Cool , Wet , Weather ... I went yesterday to check on the Pinstripping .... they hadn't even ordered it . soooooooo I said well let me check around then, I'm thinking about just buying some online ... I found this place lastnight , https://www.customvinylgraphics.com ... they have all kinds, they are a little high , because these are BIG rolls ... like 150 feet. If I buy this I'll have to pinstripe everything I own the same color. :smilie_happy:

 

[joedrum]

i remember when gt750 came out suzuki was making all the big moves back then in the 2 stroke bikes.that x6 hustler came out won the daytona race it frist yr the smallist bike ever and the biggest lead ever i was there sounded like an angry chainsaw ,nobody like it at all i remember that well..dang i sure would like to have one of thoses water baffalows or titian 500 or 250x6 hustler

 

[sledge]

I bought a brand new Water Buffalo in 1972 ( first year they was sold in America ) and let me tell you from 0 to 90 mph they was Quick. I have loved them ever since, and I have had at least one of every year that was ever sold in America, 1972 thru 1977 and I have had 2 or 3 of some years , right now I have a super nice Jypsy Red ( Orignal Paint ) 1975 that is clean as a pin , but it had a Bad Crank in it , I bought a 1976 that was rough for the Motor and IT was bad also. .... they are getting really hard to find nowdays , they was never a big seller , people who Liked them Loved them.......and everybody else DIDN"T. :smilie_happy: but anyway , it finally stopped raining here and the sun came out , I Wet sanded the Goldwing side covers with 1000 grit and hand rubbed them some today.

 

[dan filipi]

The paint job is looking real nice! :clapping:

 

[sledge]

thanks Dan , it's coming along . still likes a ways ..... but, I'll get it ....