Is my curvy hot or not? [Archive] - SV650.org

Blue_SV650S

24-07-06, 08:40 PM

er that’s not quite what I meant guys, #-o :lol: I would like a readout to see if/when she is getting a bit ‘ot. The simplest thing I could think of was to put a LED in on the fan circuit to see when the fan cuts in, but to be fair I’d like to know things are getting warm before that … hence wonding if anyone has fitted a gauge.

petevtwin650

25-07-06, 07:57 AM

Yes I'm surprised that no one has made an aftermarket kit for the curvy. Pointy guys may not realise that we only have a wee light on the dash to warn of fan failure and imminent doom.

sdusk

25-07-06, 08:06 AM

I wish Suzuki had kept just the light on the pointy! On a water cooled engine it is next to meaningless to know the exact temperature - as long as it is below 120 Celcius you are fine.

kwak zzr

25-07-06, 08:22 AM

tis pointless really :roll: this is the only bike ive ever own'd thats had one.

bobsere

25-07-06, 08:36 AM

i spoke to my suzuki dealer recently about an intermittent cutout problem i had and he asked me if it happened whilst running the bike stationary, i said that i had been worried about doing this because of cooling at which point he mentioned tha the curvy runs at 100 -110 before the fan cuts in

petevtwin650

25-07-06, 08:50 AM

Better to know than to not IMO, and it also indicates if you're working the bike too hard, such as high speed cruising. It's the temp gauge and digi speedo I'd have off the pointy, everything else is brilliant. Oh and maybe the headlights. Curvy ones are crap.

Blue_SV650S

25-07-06, 09:20 AM

I like to know the temp so that I know the bike is in its best operating range. This is most important to me in the winter or summer as the ambient temperatures are the extremes.

Although annoying on the road, I am particularly interested as I am building a track bike, I’d like to know if it is struggling with temp or not, especially as the rad has a few fins bent over. Also when warming it up in the pits before a session, well, basically when it is ready!??! :?

petevtwin650

25-07-06, 09:36 AM

You can buy a gauge that fits where the oil filler cap goes. That will indicate oil temp. Not used one so don't know how good/accurate they are. Surely it can't be difficult to fit a sensor replacing the one for the warning light that you could connect to a small gauge. Really surprised nobodys done it afore.

Banus

25-07-06, 09:40 AM

Dont really think you need a gauge. Within a very short time you get to know your bike and even though I dont ride that much, I can tell within (say) 15 seconds when the fan will cut in.
I know its a bit sad, but that bit of info led me to examine my cooling system not long ago (as the fan didnt cut in when I expected it to), and discover that the plug and socket that activates the fan under the tank had come apart ! 8)

petevtwin650

25-07-06, 09:54 AM

Hmmmm, I've covered over 50,000 miles on my Sv's and I can never tell when the fan has kicked in, or when it should. You must be very in tune with your bike Mr Banus.

Blue_SV650S

25-07-06, 10:02 AM

petevtwin650 - Although probably ok for indicating ‘setting off’, the filler cap oil temp one won’t do me much good going along.

As for replacement sensor and fitting of gauge, yep that the sort of mod I was expecting someone to have done too (and wanting the details).

Banus – I need to know when I am ready to set of, this will be somewhere around 80deg +-5 water temp. If it has got to the point when the fan is about to kick in means it has got too hot already!! I also don’t want to risk going out when it is say 50deg as this could cause wear problems.

In this sort of blistering heat and going round a track, I really need to know the actual temperature as I won’t see or hear the fan come on and I’d suggest when the overheat light comes on, it is probably to late already!!!

northwind

25-07-06, 10:09 AM

You could rig a light to trigger from the fan switch? Alternatively, Demon Tweeks sells about 50 different adjusable temperature gauges, they're designed for cars but I'm sure they'd fit. And be very ugly and massive :)

Grinch

25-07-06, 10:44 AM

What you worryin about... I find its so rare for the fan to kick in I just don't even think about it... then you can normally hear the fan kick in.

All these gauges are for poofs...

Black Rider

25-07-06, 12:29 PM

When your fan plug comes loose and your bike overheats we'll see who's the poof :smt052

Sid Squid

25-07-06, 12:46 PM

On the SV1000 the fan cuts in at 104 degrees, and even stationary the fan brings the temperature down by 4-5 degrees quickly.

jambo

25-07-06, 12:54 PM

In this sort of blistering heat and going round a track, I really need to know the actual temperature as I won’t see or hear the fan come on and I’d suggest when the overheat light comes on, it is probably to late already!!!

Just to put this into perspective. Here's what a Fan does: It draws air through the radiator grills (mostly only one part of it). Nothing more, nothing less. If you are sat in traffic and there is no airflow then you start getting issues shifting the heat from the radiator as all the air arround it is already hot. Enter the fan drawing cold air through it.

When you are moving the Fan will almost never cut in as there is already airlfow. On the track the Fan would make no diference at all as there's already far more air being forced through the rad than it could provide anyway.

To illistrate:
Kwak ZX6R -
Normal roads A-B roads: ~80C (Fan not bothering to come on)
In Town in Summer : Up to 108C (The Fan is woking to keep that down)
On track: ~69C (fan not bothering to come on)

The fast airflow more than made up for the extra work the motor was doing :wink:

Blue_SV650S

25-07-06, 02:49 PM

Jambo- Good for you, I’ve had bikes (with a gauge) hit the 100deg+, in motion.

I don’t want to presume everything will be ok, or wait until my overheat light comes on (like I said, by that time it could be to late), I’d like to know how my SV is coping temperature wise whenever I like. How do I even know the thermostat isn’t seized shut? Like I said I know the rad efficiency is compromised as some of the fins are bent over. That might be ok if I was using it on the road, but unless the SV is overcooled as standard I could run into problems when spanking it on track?!!?

Id firstly like to know that it is up to temp before I set off and be able to monitor it when in progress. That way I can detect if it is struggling and take appropriate actions.

You can’t talk me out of this I want to know the temp!! :smt022 :lol:

Northwind - motorworld do gauges for £30, that come with a sender, does anyone know what thread/size the SV temp sensor is, hopefully they will be the same/standard and I can swap them over??

G - renamed

26-07-06, 08:23 AM

I've got a gauge on my curvey minitwin.
However afraid that's about as much help as I can be right now, not sure on details.

Sid Squid

26-07-06, 08:56 AM

Of all the things that might go awry with your bike, I do rather feel you're obsessing about this particular issue, it simply isn't a problem from which the SV is known to suffer, your concerns over the light coming on and it being too late are perhaps not realistic, when the light comes on it means: getting very hot - not: it's broken.

Blue_SV650S

26-07-06, 09:22 AM

G – Can you look up the details for me please, that would be most helpful ta. :thumright:

Sid Squid – perhaps I am obsessing, but I don’t think there is anything odd about wanting to know what the temp of the engine is. Especially on a bike that I have never properly run before, let alone ragged round a track!! How do I know the bike isn’t faulty?? I have trashed engines before where they have overheated where the cooling was impaired (rad was blocked on one, also one where the waterpump failed).

As for the warning light, I might miss this??? If i am on track , I am probably concentrating on other things?? The odd glance at the temp isn’t that much of an overhead mind. Once I get a ‘warm feeling’ (pardon the pun :lol:) that everything’s normal then I can pay less attention.

muffles

26-07-06, 10:58 AM

if you're fitting an aftermarket temp gauge connecting it to the oil instead of the water is a much better idea - the coolant gets up to temp v. quickly compared to oil - hence quite a few performance cars have oil temp gauges as you can wreck them quickly otherwise. also the oil temp is of more relevance.

you could perhaps get a gauge for each if you really want water temp...

G - renamed

26-07-06, 11:49 AM

G – Can you look up the details for me please, that would be most helpful ta. :thumright:

Afraid the bike's with the Jordan's at the mo, collecting it tomorrow then going straight to Brands from there.

If you still need the info, wanna drop me a pm sometime after Thursday, as I'll probably have compeletely forgotten on Monday, after a weekend's racing :).

(Or if you're at Brands, pop over and you can have a look yourself).

Abyss

26-07-06, 12:10 PM

I wish Suzuki had kept just the light on the pointy! On a water cooled engine it is next to meaningless to know the exact temperature - as long as it is below 120 Celcius you are fine.

My K6 has the temp gauge and a red light for FI / Oil.

Blue_SV650S

26-07-06, 12:53 PM

Yeah a mate with a duke had a fancy dash, that had oil temp gauge (amongst everything else including intergalactic walkie talkie!! :lol:) but I have to say I am more familiar with coolant temp, lets face it, if the bike has been running long enough to get up to coolant temp, then there will be some heat in the oil too :)

G – I am picking a RaceX one up tonight, hopefully even if the sender doesn’t fit directly then I can get an adaptor?? I’d still be interested to know what yours is though, so I’ll give you a shout next week. :) Do you know if it is electric or capillary?? (does it work with the ignition off).

G - renamed

26-07-06, 01:25 PM

It's electric - from what I rember there's a single electrical cable going from the radiator to the 'clock' on the dash.

Blue_SV650S

26-07-06, 07:50 PM

Ok, the RaceX one was a capillary one in the end. There is no problem with this, but the sensor simply doesn’t fit the bike!!! £15 wasted …

So I went down Halfords, they did do a gauge, a TIM 034 Superdash to be precise £29.99. Opened the box in the shop, it was electric this time and the little sender on this looked like a standard sender, it also came with some adaptors. Got this home, wipped out the temp warning sender. It was close, but no cigar with the new sender!!! :( Ready to say feck it all … but I had tried the other gauge in the fan switch hole (to no avail), so I thought I’d try it using one of the adaptors in this with the TIM gauge. Yipieee, she rides, the smallest of the adaptors is a perfect fit!!!!! :drink:

I have yet to wire it up, but the hard part is done!!!

The £15 wasn’t totally wasted as I used the little metal mounting plate it had in the RaceX box, but on the TIM gauge (still an expensive bit of tin :lol:). I mounted it using one of the bolts that hold the clocks on. It sits neatly below the revcounter/indicator light area (not using the clocks surround, so it is visable). So that’s a temp gauge sorted.

Obviously my fan won’t be automatic now mind as I have removed the sensotr/switch, but I intend to wire the fan directly with a manual switch, which for my track bike is ace. When I get back in the pits I can get rid of the latent heat by running the fan for a bit.

So to answer my own original question … a TIM 034 Superdash is the boy :lol:

I might get one for my road bike too!! :)

petevtwin650

27-07-06, 10:30 AM

Result Blue ! keep us posted please.

I need a new fan switch for the rad as it don't work, hence why a gauge is handy as fan is very quiet and smooth when running, and it's a cheaper option to go for the gauge and a manual switch.

Not obsessive just careful.

Blue_SV650S

30-07-06, 06:39 PM

ta-daaaaaa!!!!!!!!! :D

Temp gauge to lower right of clocks, fitted and working! 8)

http://upload4.postimage.org/730246/tempy.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/730246/photo_hosting.html)

who is your daddy??? :)

You can see the fan switch I mounted on the front of the yoke too :shock:

21QUEST

30-07-06, 06:57 PM

Looks well neat and tidy :thumbsup: . One could almost miss it.

..and for your next trick? :wink:

Cheers
Ben

BILLY

30-07-06, 06:59 PM

Looks well neat and tidy :thumbsup: . One could almost miss it.

..and for your next trick? :wink:

Cheers
Ben

A fuel gauge :wink:

Blue_SV650S

30-07-06, 07:14 PM

I am going to mount a thumb operated laptimer using the horn switch as the trigger :)

Donor laptimer from Maplin for £6:- http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=31104&criteria=lap%20timer&doy=30m7

After taking apart and soldering some wires to the button terminals so I can connect a remote button … and we end up with this … :)

http://upload4.postimage.org/730499/Image1.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/730499/photo_hosting.html)

Ready to connect the other end of the wires to the horn button 8)

Oh and this is what it was all for!! … My SV trackbike, which I will be using for the first time ever at Lydden on the 5th Aug :)

http://upload4.postimage.org/730524/Image18.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/730524/photo_hosting.html)

Speedy

30-07-06, 07:14 PM

Mines 84 -87. (pointy)

Ditto.

21QUEST

30-07-06, 07:23 PM

I am going to mount a thumb operated laptimer using the horn switch as the trigger :)

Donor laptimer from Maplin for £6:- http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=31104&criteria=lap%20timer&doy=30m7

After taking apart and soldering some wires to the button terminals so I can connect a remote button … and we end up with this … :)

http://upload4.postimage.org/730499/Image1.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/730499/photo_hosting.html)

Ready to connect the other end of the wires to the horn button 8)

8) Now , you are getting to being the daddy :lol: .

....so what you going to raise us next. :wink:

Cheers
Ben

Blue_SV650S

30-07-06, 07:44 PM

8) Now , you are getting to being the daddy :lol: .

....so what you going to raise us next. :wink:

Cheers
Ben

Cor … you don’t want much do you!! :lol:

I got my all-in-one onboard camcorder … that I need to fit … :lol: … you may have read my post about my trials with it?! I have actually now chopped into that and wired it up such that I can have a external battery pack … for two reasons … I think that it might take some of the vibration away if I can locate the heavy batts outside, also I can use AA batteries instead of the internal AAA, this should give me more durability. I also have loads of AAs!! :lol:

http://upload4.postimage.org/730683/Image2.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/730683/photo_hosting.html)

That do ya???

Anything else you want me to hack apart?!?!? :lol:

21QUEST

30-07-06, 07:58 PM

Anything else you want me to hack apart?!?!? :lol:

Oh Jeez no, that'll do for now :lol: .

It's like 'how long is the warranty?'
For everyone one else 2 years and for Blue_ , once he is out of the door :P .

Good work though.

Cheers
Ben

Blue_SV650S

31-07-06, 01:00 PM

Oh Jeez no, that'll do for now :lol: .

It's like 'how long is the warranty?'
For everyone one else 2 years and for Blue_ , once he is out of the door :P .

Good work though.

Cheers
Ben

As a tip, never lend me anything .. unless you want it back in bits or modified!! :lol:

petevtwin650

31-07-06, 03:12 PM

Blue_SV650S

31-07-06, 03:39 PM

Temp gauge looks good, but how does it read Blue? And will it be waterproof?Think I'm going to be fitting one of these next as the sender for the fan switch is 50quid I believe and the gauge a lot less.

Its clear to read. Where the sender is up in the rad, it takes some time for the temp to initially go up. Basically this is because you have to wait for the thermostat to open and water to be circulated through the rad, once the water is circulated to the rad (say 50deg) the gauge can take the temp. As I have no means of comparison I can’t say if it is accurate or not, but I have no reason to believe that it wouldn’t be unless I got a faulty one.

Oh and as a tip I had to earth out the base of the sender as the rad isn’t earthed properly (it is suspended on rubber and painted remember) and it needs to be earthed to complete the circuit, this wasn’t a problem, just an earthling wire, but it is necessary.

As for being waterproof, it is meant for the inside of a car, so measures would have to be taken to make it waterproof, but to be fair, being located where it is it shouldn’t see much rain. It also doesn’t look to ‘open’ anyway. A bit of silicone sealant and tape in the right places and I am sure it’d be ok on that front. I don’t intend to do anything with mine.

Mike1234

23-10-06, 03:16 PM

Now does anyone know of a digital temperature gauge that will fit?

The power on my Raptor 650 varies by +/- 3 hp depending on the engine temperature but I've no idea what the temperature range actually is.

The resolution on the analogue gauges that I have looked at have all been a too for my needs, i.e. I can't tell whether it is at 83 degrees or 88 degrees so I figure a digital one will solve the problem.

Any ideas?

Blue_SV650S

23-10-06, 03:50 PM

The problem is finding one with the correct size sender. I’d be interested if anyone found any other ones that fits!!

The TIM 034 Superdash I fitted isn’t that fine a resolution dial (only marked every 20 deg), but lets face it you can read it/work it out to 2-3deg, which is better than putting your hand on the rad and guessing!!! :lol: