Anyone have any ideas? (bike running problems)

[MrGman]

A few weeks back i bought a 2010 ZX6R to turn into a track bike, it's done 7k miles and is in good condition.

I picked the bike up in a van, it all appeared to be running well when i bought it but i wanted to give it some care so before actually riding the bike i changed the oil/filter, spark plugs, air filter, coolant, sprockets, pads etc, after it was all back together i took it for a 5 mile ride, when i got back i noticed the temperature was at about 60degreesC, thought that was a little cool even though it was over a short period, next opportunity i took it for a longer ride, let it get up to about 70degreesC before setting off but as soon as i rode it this dropped to about 55-60 again, even after a good 20 minutes it still was getting any warmer.
I thought this could be a stuck open thermostat so replaced that as it was a cheap option, while i was there to save any doubt i replaced the temp sender as well, got the bike back together and took it for a ride (about an hour this time) and still, it was sitting around 60degreesC.

figuring that the bike has the correct coolant in it, a new thermostat i thought there can't really be a running issue with the bike so i done a track day on it today, thinking maybe it's running cool due to the air temp, but today was around 13degrees and even after 20 minutes of thrashing the bike, still reading around 60degreesC.

For a bike that is known for running hot (100-120degreesC on track) surely something is a miss here? But what?

If you leave the bike idling it will get to 104 and the fan kicks in till it drops to around 98 at which point it stops, the only thing i would say is this takes a bloody long time.
My concern now is if the bike for some reason isn't reading the correct temperature, what is the actual temperature when the fans kick in?

Anyone have any ideas or thoughts? Am i just worrying too much and this is normal?

[dern]

Does sound odd. You could pick up a cheap ir thermometer to see what it's actually running at.

[Rubin215]

You're turning it into a track bike, which means you're going to thrash the st out of it at every opportunity and possibly chuck it in the kitty-litter at some point; running cool isn't really an issue.

Stop worrying.

[MrGman]

I did think I need a way of checking the actual temperature with a stand alone unit, how would I go about doing this?

It maybe being used as a track bike but I’d still like to look after it and keep an eye on how it’s running so I’d like to know everything is working as it should and know I’m monitoring temperatures accurately.

[TooLateForAName]

Has some previous owner done some mods to deal with the normal hot running? Bigger/more efficeint radiator? Fan coming on at lower temp/all the time?

Edited by TooLateForAName on Saturday 16th February 21:02

[CAPP0]

Unless the fans are running all the time, a bigger rad shouldn't make it run cooler. The stat should still allow it to get up to temp; a bigger rad would just bring control the temperature quicker.

May be worth chucking another stats in, I know you've changed it already but I've changed stats before and the new one's been fubar.

[Krikkit]

I'd be checking the thermostat function- when warming from cold make sure it only opens once folly warmed etc.

[MrGman]

I didn’t check the new stat, but I did the old one and it functioned spot on. I checked the old temp sender also and that worked as it should.

Changing the stat on a 2010 zx6r is a st job, it means moving the tank, throttle bodies, starter motor, oil cooler and so on. Plus the stats open at 60 degrees so in the mid sixties you’d expect it to be open anyways, I could always change it again but even if it was stuck open a 20 minute session on track should raise the temperature to more than 67 (the highest temp I saw all day, although when returning to the garage and putting the tyre warmers on it’d raise to about 80.

[CAPP0]

Are you actually seeing any running issues, or just a low number on the dash? Dodgy electronics?

[MrGman]

It runs lovely, exactly as you’d hope your bike to run.

I feel it’s under reading from everything I know and have done, but apart from the sender what could cause this? A dodgy earth you’d expect to show erratic readings wouldn’t you?

[Kawasicki]

Why not try an infrared thermometer pointed at the temperature sensor?

[MrGman]

Kawasicki said:

Why not try an infrared thermometer pointed at the temperature sensor?

I guess this would give a pretty good guide, as the block around there would be a very similar temperature to the coolant wouldn’t it. It’s a very easy check as we have infrared sensors at work.

[Kawasicki]

MrGman said:

Kawasicki said:

Why not try an infrared thermometer pointed at the temperature sensor?

I guess this would give a pretty good guide, as the block around there would be a very similar temperature to the coolant wouldn’t it. It’s a very easy check as we have infrared sensors at work.

It worked for me.

[rogerwilco]

If your bike runs fine, it might be a faulty temp gauge I recently had a thermostat fail, renewed it and that was a dud as well. A few years ago Cycle World mag tested a new Kawasaki sport bike in California in a hot August, and the gauge was reading well into the red ;they didn't want a seized motor to happen so they returned the bike to Kawasaki. When they got it back it was reading OK but CW got to thinking how do you drop the temp without some drastic changes to the cooling system? They found out that Kawasaki had just added in a resistor to the wire to the gauge. So maybe you might check for corrosion on the wire terminals.

[lowdrag]

As above; faulty gauge perhaps. In Jaguar world unless the part is NOS (hens' teeth) we get lots of problems with faulty senders bui just live with it.

[MrGman]

I’ve put a new temperature sender on there, checked the old one against the workshop manual and it’s within range.
The plug from the sender I assume goes to the ecu which then sends the info to the digital dash? I’ll check all the plugs and connnectors for corrosion though.