Radiator fan - what temperature?

Howdy Folks,
this may seem like a silly question but I am new to riding and recently acquired a SV 650 S and was riding and noticed the Fan behind the radiator does not ever turn on... I thought that was kind of curious,

Then I thought that maybe at a certain temp the fan turns on, well it got up to 220 degrees Ferinheight the other day in traffic and it was 90 degrees outside anyways, but 220 seemed high and I can't find any where on the web the safe temp range and how to make sure my fan works properly.

Any Ideas?

[Stingo]

Hi welcome to the org. In my experience, my fan comes on at around 100 I think. I know that it doesn't happen often, if ever in fact. I took mine to the dealer to make sure it worked and it was fine.

kicks in at 96c

[Drew Carey]

Mine used to kick in at about 105oC.....which in F.....is approx 221oF.

Simple way to test it, go for a ride, pull over, leave the bike on tickover.....the engine will be hot and won't have any cool air to bring it down as quick. Fan should kick in. If not, then take it to a dealer.

[Sid Squid]

Generally speaking the fan will only be needed when you're in traffic, ie stationary/low speed, on a hot day. 220 Fahrenheit is ~104 Celsius, which is hot, but perhaps not hot enough - I have a memory of 106C as the fan switch level, (I'll come back on that).
To test the fan system; on the left hand side of the radiator is a brass hexagon with a two pin electrical connector plugged into the back of it, remove the connector and short the two spades with a suitable piece of wire, the fan should run. If it does the electrical supply to it and the fan itself are proven good, and the problem, (if there is one - at 220F it may not be hot enough for the fan to run), would be the switch or the connector you've just disturbed.
If the fan doesn't run when the switch connections are shorted, then leave the test bridge in place and check for voltage at the fan connector, if there's battery voltage there then the fan motor is suspect. To test the fan itself use two suitable pieces of wire to connect the fan directly to the battery.

[Drew Carey]

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

Helpful Stuff

I need to remember all that, useful tip.

mine use to kick in around 100'c. But would only be if in town riding and not moving for the cool air.

[jambo]

One of the reasons for the varied temperature thresholds is that that there are 2 sensors involved.

The dash temperature is reported by a temperature sensor in the engine block which is imersed in coolant.

The fan switch is in the radiator and simply clicks over to "on" at a preset temperature.

Because these 2 sensors are in different locations, and being unconnected to one another, except for by the coolant, there's a small scope for different readings from the temperature sensor when the fan kicks in.

Jambo

Phew, I was having a right panic when I got home, my bike hit 101oC in traffic earlier and I was worried it was about to explode, good info here

If the fan comes on, is it particularly noticable?

myn used to at 103 -105