Air cooled, too easy to overheat?

[Reckoning]

The other day I was stuck in stand still traffic on my 07 air cooled gs500f. It was mid 90's and very sunny out. About 10 minutes of sitting still I noticed a bit of smoke coming up between my handlebars and gas tank. I figured it was overheating since no air was passing across it so I pulled over and shut it off for about 10 minutes. Then went but I want to know if it seriously cannot handle sitting still in hot weather for even 10 minutes. If so, I just need to keep in mind to avoid traffic at all cost! What are your thoughts? Think it's something other then overheating?

[jestercinti]

Is oil leaking somewhere?  Did something spill on the exhaust or hot engine?  Normally, at idle it should be OK.  Make sure you oil is full.  That is how our engines are cooled.  Well, air also.

If prolonged idle, stop and let it cool down.

[burning1]

I had an air cooled BMW R1150R. 10 minutes was enough for the exhaust headers to start to glow. I wouldn't recommend leaving any bike idling that long.

[wayne242]

Why most people buy liquid cooled bikes. The lights around here don't hold traffic that long. If there is something that will hold us for that long i will turn around or shut bike off and get off to walk around . I have always wondered how hard it would be to hook a cooling fan on these bikes, but probably not possible (like with on/off switch for sitting at lights).

[fetor56]

If it looks like i'll be stuck for awhile i'll turn off my engine & put down my side-stand & sit......it's no big deal to start again with electric start.

[wayne242]

If it looks like i'll be stuck for awhile i'll turn off my engine & put down my side-stand & sit......it's no big deal to start again with electric start.

unless of course it doesn't start that is

[codajastal]

If it looks like i'll be stuck for awhile i'll turn off my engine & put down my side-stand & sit......it's no big deal to start again with electric start.

unless of course it doesn't start that is

LMAO been there (not on the GS though)

[Twisted]

I've never had any over heating issues on my GS in hot Aussie summers. Smoke usually means you have oil leaking onto your exhuast.

[codajastal]

I've never had any over heating issues on my GS in hot Aussie summers. Smoke usually means you have oil leaking onto your exhuast.

Ditto

[Reckoning]

I haven't noticed any oil leaks but I will investigate it further  , thanks for the help so far!

[ThatOtherGuy]

Why most people buy liquid cooled bikes. The lights around here don't hold traffic that long. If there is something that will hold us for that long i will turn around or shut bike off and get off to walk around . I have always wondered how hard it would be to hook a cooling fan on these bikes, but probably not possible (like with on/off switch for sitting at lights).

Actually I reckon a system that worked of the electric impulse of a Halls monitor that sensed when you've been at standstill for say 2 minutes, then switching a fan on, that is deactivated when you move away would be a perfect solution.  The electronics should be straightforward for someone into that sort of thing.  Mounting the fan shouldn't be too hard off the front of the frame for naked bikes, not sure for faired, don't own one.

[wayne242]

Why most people buy liquid cooled bikes. The lights around here don't hold traffic that long. If there is something that will hold us for that long i will turn around or shut bike off and get off to walk around . I have always wondered how hard it would be to hook a cooling fan on these bikes, but probably not possible (like with on/off switch for sitting at lights).

Actually I reckon a system that worked of the electric impulse of a Halls monitor that sensed when you've been at standstill for say 2 minutes, then switching a fan on, that is deactivated when you move away would be a perfect solution.  The electronics should be straightforward for someone into that sort of thing.  Mounting the fan shouldn't be too hard off the front of the frame for naked bikes, not sure for faired, don't own one.

Wouldn't be that hard on fairing bikes, its just finding a fan that don't draw to much from the charging system is the problem.

[Calpantera]

At idle the motor is not generating that much heat, some from the pipes right at the heads but as far as the engine internals it is minimal, its not like a car that that depends on engine speed to turn the fan and water pump, the engine generates the most heat when under load but fortunately that is when you are moving so the air cools it (Unless on a dyno, that is why they have big fans). Most likely you had something on the pipes that was burning off or have a leak that you do not notice when you are moving. You would not want to put a fan on there that would block the airflow when you are at speed though. I would no go re-engineering your bike, thats what the guys that designed it got paid to do and the GS motor has been basically unchanged for many years so you can assume it is a darn good design. I have sat in traffic in 108-110 temps and I got way overheated before my bike did.

[yamahonkawazuki]

Is oil leaking somewhere?  Did something spill on the exhaust or hot engine?  Normally, at idle it should be OK.  Make sure you oil is full.  That is how our engines are cooled.  Well, air also.

If prolonged idle, stop and let it cool down.

aye.  when i rode my gs' in patriot guard rides, ( formation 15 mph tops ) usually warm or hot days she didnt like it. this was on a 97 E, w/o oil cooler. still as he said, make sure oil level is full. now, id check and see if there has been an oil leak. even when i had to break formation and let it cool, no smoke. or at least none that i saw.
Aaron

[iclrag]

If it looks like i'll be stuck for awhile i'll turn off my engine & put down my side-stand & sit......it's no big deal to start again with electric start.

unless of course it doesn't start that is

Been there done that!

i wouldnt think it would over-heat that quickly, ive let it idle for about 20-minutes before after riding while talking to people and had no problems

[vinny]

Ive ridden over 2 hrs in 40'C, spending a good half of it at walking speed filtering or stationary (damn roadworks) - except for loads of heat rising up from the engine i didnt worry about it. It never gave me a reason to, no smoke, no misfires, no stalling.. 

The engineers would have designed it to handle pretty bad weather and riding, so even half hr idling with no airflow shouldnt cause any problems..

[Reckoning]

Engine oil is fine, can't find any leaks...
I've been riding it and although I haven't seen any smoke it seems the bike is a lot hotter. Maybe it's just my paranoia now that I think it's overheating but I'm not sure what else to check 

[Suzuki Stevo]

lemmmeQuoteMyself...

You can take any air cooled engine, put it in the middle of any desert and let it idle for any amount of time you want, it should be able to dissipate enough heat to survive, air cooled engines are built looser than H2o engines to accommodate the extra heat, this is also why they use oil right off the showroom floor. If anyone here has had an engine seize while idling.....please correct me in this thread 

[sledge]

Something is coming back to me from my student days, anyone familiar with Newtons law of cooling? The one that says the hotter something is the faster it will cool?

It states that the rate of heat transfer during free convection (as opposed to forced convection) is directly proportional to the difference in temperature between the heat donor and the heat recipient.....so.........as an engine on tickover gets hotter the difference in temperature between it and the surrounding air will increase. As this difference in temperature increases the rate of heat transfer between the engine and the air surrounding it will also increase, this will in turn increase the cooling effect....So it follows that the hotter a running engine gets the quicker it cools which means its temperature must at some point stabilise and top out

I guess the really clever part will be in designing the engine and jiggling the figures so that when its temperature at idle does stabilise it wont be significant enough to cause it any long term harm 

[comradeiggy]

Rate of conductive heat transfer is directly proportional to the temperature difference. This applies to both forced and free convection. During forced convection, or when the bike is moving, you constantly are constantly moving through new air, so the temperature difference is constant. During free convection, the air is moving a lot slower, so the bottom of the engine will get fresh air, but the air around the top of the engine will have been heated as it moves up the engine, basically, not to mention the boundary layer that forms. So either way, the rate of heat transfer from the engine to the air will eventually stabilize, but if the engine is moving it will stabilize at a lower temperature, all other things being equal.