How hot is too hot on an early EVO?

hottrocker · #1 05-31-2008, 10:22 AM

My wife has an 883 EVO 1986 Sporster.
She complains about the heat. I havent got a dipstick gauge yet but when I do get it in I need to know what the temps mean to me.
I have heard that it should never hit over 250*. I am running synthetic and thought this would bring the temp down a bit.
I also have ordered one of those over the filter oil coolers and may even get the filter access oil cooler if that doesn't bring it down.
It doesn't seem to be blueing the pipes. It runs relatively good. No popping or anything. But she is telling me that it burns her leg when riding. Might be because I put on forward controls? I dunno.
I guess I will have to see what the dipstick oil gauge says when we get it in from ebay.
So what is the proper operating temp guys? Any one know?

t150vej · #2 05-31-2008, 10:44 AM

Synthetic will "do the intended job" at a wider range of temps, otherwise there's not enough difference in heat dispertion to mention.

I've not owned a Spertster, so I may be a bit off on some figures but for a big bike........

Oil will typically run 100 - 110 degrees over ambient (+ or - 10%) without a cooler, i.e. 80 degrees riding open road slow or fast, it'll run about 180 - 210. Obviously, with a cooler, the temps will be reduced, depending upon the type and mounting position. Heads will check externallyat about 235 degrees depending on the fuel mixture, backpressure, ridnig conditions, etc.

No doubt, moving to forward controls puts her leg closer to the front pipe, and also changes the way the air moves on and about the bike.

Hope this is of some help and rememmber - "if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!"

Dr.Hess · #3 05-31-2008, 12:57 PM

My wife has an 87 883. Hot is a relative thing. Remember that an air cooled motor is going to run hotter than a liquid cooled motor under some conditions. How hot is too hot for oil is also one of those debateable things. I'm not comfortable with oil temps over 220F on any vehicle. Some race teams (auto) will shut the motor down around there or a bit higher on oil temps. We have an oil cooler on the 883. I routed the oil return line through the crash bars and put a thermostat at the bottom. Works fine. Anyway, if you had a digital pyrometer, you would know a lot better what the cylinder head temps were, which is the important measure. They run around 175-185 on the highway to 215-ish at idle on our bike, as logged on my pentop off the CHT sensor for the EFI.

If your bike is too lean, that can make it run too hot. The stock carb on that bike was really, really lean. So, maybe moving the controls, maybe adding an oil cooler, etc. may all help you (her).

grbrown · #4 06-02-2008, 01:58 PM

What does your wife wear when riding and which bits of her are getting too hot (don't answer that if you prefer not to!). I could imagine her right ankle or around there, in which case she could wear a reasonably long bike boot (or two...)?

BarneyMN · #5 06-06-2008, 09:58 AM

You could also wrap the pipes with heat tape..like this! it helps considerally

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