Hi all,

My bike overheated the other day. Did the 8th Annual Firefighters Memorial Ride in Cleveland this past Sunday. 1500 bikes and 40 miles of slow riding in 1st and 2nd gear in 85 degree weather. During the ride I could feel the abnormal heat frying my legs. At the end of the ride my digital dipstick read 290. The EITMS never kicked in though.

So here's the backstory. I installed SE204 cams a few weeks ago and everything appeared to run smoothly. I used my service manual and the S&S video as my guides. Per the S&S video I left the oil pump bolted to the cam support plate and didn't do the alignment. I also replaced all the o-rings. I have good oil pressure and I pulled the crankcase drain plug and got only about 4 ounces of oil so it doesn't seem like I'm sumping.

Do you think the the slow ride going between 1st and 2nd is what caused the high temp? I didn't hear anybody else complaining about an overheating bike. Or do I need to go back and do the oil pump alignment? If I have to I have to, just trying to get some thoughts and ideas before I do.

 

I think everything is fine.
You shouldn't have much oil anyway in the sump.
4 oz is about right.
I think that before you start jumping to conclusions that you should ride it some more.
I think that you will find that it is normal.

Even with a stage 1 I hit right @ 290-300 once in the summer.
I wouldn't worry about it just yet.

Do you have an oil cooler on?

That may be a good thing to do.

I put an oil bud cooler on mine.
They guarantee a 35 degree drop in temp and it does all that and then some.

Good choice in rides too, I might add.

 

From your description, I would not be overly worried about it. I get the feeling that otherwise your temps are pretty normal.
I have had the odd occassion in real hot/slow riding where the temps soared. The one thing I do if the temp has climbed to around the 300* mark I make sure to change the fluids as soon as I can.

1HarleyGuy1

 

Those dipsticks are junk, don't go by them. The higher the temp, the more off they read.

 

Absolutely the slow ride. EITMS should not be expected to kick in because the bike must be idling, as soon as you hit the throttle it will kick off. I sit in I95 traffic all the time and I can tell you those slow speeds really generate the heat. If you ride parades often a parade fan will really help you out.

 

Thanks for the warm and fuzzies guys. I have a ride with my HOG chapter this weekend. I'll see how it does. I really don't want to back into the cam chest.