Another question:  In 50 degree weather how long would you let a GS idle?  I have an engine of unknown condition that I want to let run for a good while to see if it makes any unusual noises but I don't want to cook it.  Thanks for any input!

-Jessie

I think it's pretty much impossible to overheat one of these motors, no matter what you do.  At least that's my experience with the GS. 

you will never overheat a gs in 50 degree weather

Let it tick over and I would guess you will run out of fuel or volts before any damage occurs, assuming the oil is good of course. If it does start to seriously overheat it will start running rough due to the fuel vapour locking and the mixture pre-igniting as it enters the chamber.

Thanks guys!

-Jessie

Well Im a little late to chime in on this one but here I go....  The GS is air cooled, So if your not moving and reving the shiitake out of it it may, that or until we run out of air, but then as you would guess it we would have more serious problems than our GS'......

What's the point to let it run for several hours, 'til it runs out of gas? It warms up idling in... let's say 15 minutes in a 50 degree environment, so any issue it may have will appear by then.

I would agree and say that in 50 degree weather you should be fine. I let me bike run in 50-ish degree weather each morning and evening for at least 20 minutes just to warm up. And after its warm, you shouldn't need too much time to listen for noises with no load....?

Quote from: Chanse on December 07, 2009, 02:42:45 PM
The GS is air cooled

air cooled? Are you serious? 

Quote from: gregvhen on December 07, 2009, 06:55:55 PM

Quote from: Chanse on December 07, 2009, 02:42:45 PM
The GS is air cooled

air cooled? Are you serious? 

Mine is water cooled. Wait. No. Thats my Audi.

Quote from: gregvhen on December 07, 2009, 06:55:55 PM

air cooled? Are you serious? 

So what is it then???

Quote from: ineedanap on December 07, 2009, 07:06:54 PM

Quote from: gregvhen on December 07, 2009, 06:55:55 PM

air cooled? Are you serious? 

So what is it then???

I cool mine by filling the hallow handle bars with milk.

Quote from: gregvhen on December 07, 2009, 07:13:15 PM
I cool mine by filling the hallow handle bars with milk.

Those must be some nice bars.  

From wikipedia - Hallow is a word usually used as a verb, meaning "to make holy or sacred, to sanctify or consecrate, to venerate".  The adjective form hallowed, means holy, consecrated, sacred, or revered.

worse come to worse you could prob get away with pointing a fan at the front of it, and it'd get a little airflow.  Although, it sounds like it might not matter...

Quote from: ineedanap on December 07, 2009, 07:20:03 PM

Quote from: gregvhen on December 07, 2009, 07:13:15 PM
I cool mine by filling the hallow handle bars with milk.

Those must be some nice bars.  

From wikipedia - Hallow is a word usually used as a verb, meaning "to make holy or sacred, to sanctify or consecrate, to venerate".  The adjective form hallowed, means holy, consecrated, sacred, or revered.

If they are Hallowed bars then you would fill them with milk and honey.

-Porkchop

Quote from: ineedanap on December 07, 2009, 07:20:03 PM

Quote from: gregvhen on December 07, 2009, 07:13:15 PM
I cool mine by filling the hallow handle bars with milk.

Those must be some nice bars.  

From wikipedia - Hallow is a word usually used as a verb, meaning "to make holy or sacred, to sanctify or consecrate, to venerate".  The adjective form hallowed, means holy, consecrated, sacred, or revered.

hence hallowed be thy name - to make thy name holy.

My GS is cool , who says it isn't ? 

1. the fan at the fins idea is sound. nice.
2. the bike all of the sudden being holy, also sound. I ride one, I keep it safe, it keeps me safe. holy? yup.
3. where do I get milk filled bars. nice.
nice thread guys, you make my hangover alot easier 
( genuine not sarcastic this time )

I doubt youd be able to get a fan to spin faster than the wind blowing while riding. I guess itd help at stops, but i dont think it help that much.  besides, it would cause less air flow when youre riding, cause it would block some of the wind that would otherwise being moving much quicker than what the fan is pushing.

but i still say dont do anything to it, youre not gonna overheat, unless your just revin in the driveway. and if it does start to get too hot when your riding (which it wont) youll see some signs so just pull into the closest QT and by some Skim. (skim has the best viscosity)

Wow, this thread took an odd turn...  Sorry if I wasn't clear, this is just a parts bike with an engine of unknown condition.  There were no carbs on it when I bought it.  I don't want to waste space storing an engine unless I know it is good.  I just want to start the bike and let it run a while to see if the engine makes any bad noises.  It has good compression and now starts right up, it is a bit smokey though.  I know the oil rings on Toyotas stick sometimes when the cars sit for a long period but they usually free up if the engine runs long enough.  I'm hoping that's what will happen on this engine if I let it run a while.  If not, I'll hope it's just the valve seals.  My concern was running it too long while sitting still and having the engine over heat.  The general concensus seems to be that it won't overheat in 50 degree weather.

-Jessie