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MOTOBRICK.COM => The MBdotCOM Community Center => Topic started by: kman on June 20, 2015, 07:39:05 AM
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Hi Guys,
I'm new to Motobrick and K bikes. I acquired an 87 K75 , with 40K miles. The bike seems to have been cared for, and runs well. My concern is heat. The weather in NC has been extremely hot for several weeks,with temperatures in the mid 90's with no end in sight. I usually ride about 65 miles daily, with about half of that on the freeway at 70 MPH. How do these bikes handle the heat? The tank gets very hot, becoming a chestnut roaster. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Welcome Kman, to the toasty world of K bikes. The search box is your friend.
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K-bike Heat Management (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3UPbNZRyr1rNWJwZGVJalJSek0&authuser=0) document. It's a collection of online articles about ways to combat engine generated heat.
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Bike can certainly handle the heat. I've had mine to 110 in the desert.
Engines also don't care about the humidity. If anything, it improves cooling due to higher heat capacity of the air.
The question is, Can you handle the heat?
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greetings kman...
welcome to motobrick.com...
whats your gotts there is the thigh roast... the motobrick thigh roast...
after lotts of reflection... i have concluded the fact of the matter is hot moto air becomes superheated moto air if it aints gotts no place to go...
so i remove all the foam and other blockages under there and let it flow... just let it flow... and go getts you some yeeeehaaaaaaa... thats right... so stop your freaking and commence to motobricking...
j o
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I have a VDO temp gauge on my bike and it never gets above about 180 degrees unless stuck in traffic. Want to make sure your fan works as it will get too hot in a summer traffic jam. I was seeing like 240 at one point. With a working fan you'll have nothing to worry about. At the expense of the rider's comfort the engine can keep itself cool no matter how high the ambient temp is
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They cook the rider in North America climate. It ain't called the toaster for nothing. I'm convinced they were designed for wet, northern European climate with no thought for other areas of the world.
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Here's a link to a thread on putting a cooler on my K75RT. The whole thing cost under $85 complete with fittings, bracket and hose. I have ridden in temps up to 80+ now and there has been no discernible heating of the tank. Makes the bike a pleasure to ride in warm weather.
http://www.k100-forum.com/t9594-k75rt-fuel-cooler
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You guys have given me a lot to ponder. And to top it off, my fan quit fannin today. I'll track that grimlin down tomorrow, and let you know what I find. Thanks a bunch.
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The BMW fans are junk. The engineer that chose that fan which is obviously not a fan for exposure to the elements, should be punished.
Break it free and lube it to get by for a bit.
This winter I will be replacing mine with the SPAL fan. I wish someone would make the mounting brackets for the SPAL fan and fuel cooler.
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They cook the rider in North America climate. It ain't called the toaster for nothing. I'm convinced they were designed for wet, northern European climate with no thought for other areas of the world.
Well Germany isn't a very hot country
(http://www.weather-and-climate.com/uploads/average-temperature-germany-berlin-fahrenheit.png)
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Yep a rider benefits from the hot bike!
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Next time I pull the side panel off of my bike, I'll take pictures of what has worked for me down here in Texas.
What I did:
There is a hose you can get at napa that will fit over your existing fuel line. This help insulate the return line from the engine heat.
I also, relocated my fuel pressure regulator to the outside of the throttle bodies.
Doing these two things and nothing else has stopped the hot tank problem. No need for a fuel cooler, just get the regulator out from behind the radiator and from baking in still air right on top of the engine.
Until you are comfortable doing this ttype mod, I would suggest that you refill at the half tank point. Not a fix but it will help keep the temp down a bit.
Hope this helps,
Freelancer
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Freelancer: I have a '92 K100RS and would be very interested in seeing how you mounted the fuel pressure regulator. I have been thinking that it would not only help the hot tank problem, but would make access to the associated fuel return and vacuum lines a lot easier.
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Will take pics of the current mounting and post them up soon.
I know that I should be better about documenting my mods at the time I'm doing them. But, once I start on a project, I don't like to stop working for anything.
Later,
Freelancer
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I know that I should be better about documenting my mods at the time I'm doing them. But, once I start on a project, I don't like to stop working for anything.
Yeah, a few weeks ago I started documenting turning a bezel for a 'ships' compass. Here's the complete tutorial (second photo supplied by client) :hehehe :
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greetings bocutter ed...
thats hack... figger better effort from a geezer like you...
j o
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Yeah, hack and whack. The spinny thing can suck you in and spit you out wondering where the time went ...
On the other hand I have lots of pics of the wood top-case I'm buidlng ... that probably won't get posted anywhere.
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put me down for a wood iconic 22 liter top box...
j o
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OK Guys, I have a fan that that wont fan and no insulation under the tank. I have everything on order, and expecting delivery next week. I ordered a SPAL 7.5 fan, a finned aluminum cooler for the fuel , and insulation for the fuel lines. I will also add a Johnny blanket. Until my Brick is back on the road I,ll have to ride my cruiser. Temps were 101 today, and may be too hot for anything.
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I mentioned to the local and expensive BMW dealer (in NC, actually) that I was restoring a K75. He mentioned, without me asking, that they are bulletproof in the heat due to the fact that it uses the same cooling system as the K 1000. Even went so far as to say in the fan isn't even needed on the 750 with the cooling system for a 1000.
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I mentioned to the local and expensive BMW dealer (in NC, actually) that I was restoring a K75. He mentioned, without me asking, that they are bulletproof in the heat due to the fact that it uses the same cooling system as the K 1000. Even went so far as to say in the fan isn't even needed on the 750 with the cooling system for a 1000.
Well the water pump is the same from a K1200LT
but
get sitting in traffic for a while and you're gonna need that fan for sure. It won't ever turn on in normal riding though
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I'm surer that it doesn't need the fan, as long as you'r moving. With the heat we've had over the last few week and the traffic around Charlotte, the bike will not live without the fan.
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Hi all,
Here are some pics of a very dirty intake area. They show where I relocated the Fuel Pressure Regulator.
I ended up only insulating the little curve between the fuel rail and the regulator. You'll see "5 V's" cut into nto the outer insulating hose on the inside radius so that it would bend without kinking. This also helps the fuel line to not kink.
The reason for the positioning are several:
1st) It allowed for the easiest mod of the oem bracket. This allowed me to use the same screw mounting holes in the bracket.
2nd)This allowed the use of the screws directly outside of the original location(Only place it really fit without custom brackets, having to clearance the fairing or "miles of extra fuel line.)
3rd) Most importantly, this fuel line routing has the smallest amount of line that sits in the "hot box" area.
(My theory was that the FPR's position and all the extra hose that sits in the hot area was the cause of the "fuel heating" hot tank problem.)
4th and finally) This was the cheapest way to test out the idea. :2thumbup: At some point I could try to make it prettier but seeing as the fairing covers it, I'm thinking "if it works, don't "F" withit. :yes
Before this mod the tank would start the thigh burn at the half tank on a 90 degree day.
Now, I can run her to the fuel light on a 98 degree day with no warm feeling.
If you have questions about this, feel free to ask.
Here are the pic's,
Freelancer
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Weird .....double post, sorry
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Well, the FPR relocation is not as complete of a fix as I had thought.
Got the ol' warm feeling today while stuck in 1st gear stop&go traffic.
Temp was beyween 94°-96°F and I had 3/4 full tank. Had 45 minutes of normal town and highway traffic then hit a no exit construction area with near dead stop traffic.
After 30 minutes of creeping along at idle in 1st & 2nd gear, the tank started feeling warm through the jeans. :swear:
Up until the bottleneck the temp was fine and once I got back up to highway speed she eventually cooled back down. *Note-The tank never got as hot as it used to....but it got warm enough.
So, as it stands, The FPR relocate as I've done mine is definitely an improvement but not a perfect fix. The tank used to get hot at highway speeds, but haven't had that problem for a year. The tank also cooled back down after I got going again.
So, I apologize if I mislead anyone with my earlier claim that the FPR relocation was a full fix/cure for the problem.
My next attempt at fixing this will probably involve a lower airbox delete. Then a smaller drycell battery laid on its side and a fan to help pull the hot air "through" the newly created open area. Basic idea is to give the hot air some place to go by venting it into the rear wheel low pressure zone.
Let me know what you guys think
Again, sorry for my error,
Freelancer
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Finally got around to moving my FPR out of the oven. I modified my setup slightly, took FPR with mounting bracket out. Flipped the bracket over and hammered the tab with the u-shaped cut-out to hold the outlet side from twisting when tightened. I hammered it back and then down 90degrees so it would remount 180 from original position. If that doesn't make sense I can try to post pics later. I then mounted the bracket to the side of the radiator In the two threaded inserts on the side of rad. My lower fairings are removed from my LT model so there are no clearance issues. I then moved the vacumn line from the rear, number 4 throttle body? To the front, number 1 throttle body. I can't see that the bike would care which source it was drawing vacumn from and it appears to run fine since then. I shortened the upper fuel line so it is a straight shot down from the tank into the FPR, then straight out the back of the FPR down the fuel rail with a large radius turn back up into the rear of the fuel rail. Instant and immediate relief from the hot fuel tank of yore. After cleaning up the now exposed FPR and zip tying the fuel line I do believe I have a neat clean looking fix. I will try and post some pics if requested just waiting on a new PC right now, not wanting to try and tackle that task on this damn tablet.
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Pictures please
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sorry about the delayed response, computer issues. The first and third photos are of the mounting on the side of the radiator with existing captured nuts. new holes were drilled in the mounting bracket to line up with rad. holes. the middle photo is routing of the fuel hose along the fuel rail and vacum lines covered with the spring protector is now ported off the front throttle body.
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I mentioned to the local and expensive BMW dealer (in NC, actually) that I was restoring a K75. He mentioned, without me asking, that they are bulletproof in the heat due to the fact that it uses the same cooling system as the K 1000. Even went so far as to say in the fan isn't even needed on the 750 with the cooling system for a 1000.
Not true. Get stuck in stop and go on a hot day on black asphalt with no fan and your temp warning light will be on in minutes.
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Nice photos rsexauer. Your Fuel Pressure Regulator installation looks better than the OEM install. Looks to be much more serviceable. Any issues with the radiator shroud going over it?
Looks like I will have to do this mod on my bikes.
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What you see is what you get, no other fairing than what you see. The FPR does not contact the rad shroud at all.
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I mentioned to the local and expensive BMW dealer (in NC, actually) that I was restoring a K75. He mentioned, without me asking, that they are bulletproof in the heat due to the fact that it uses the same cooling system as the K 1000. Even went so far as to say in the fan isn't even needed on the 750 with the cooling system for a 1000.
Not true. Get stuck in stop and go on a hot day on black asphalt with no fan and your temp warning light will be on in minutes.
Though with a working fan the bike has no trouble at all staying cool (at the expense of the rider, of course)
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On my 87 LT I just removed the inner panels where your knees typically are. Figured this would allow the hot air from the radiator to exit and not get built up under the tank. Seems to work so far, since its relatively cool where I live the air warms my legs a bit. When I venture over to the valley where its quite a bit warmer it still isn't a problem but you feel the heat when stopped. Be interesting to be able install something to control the flow of air. 82 yamaha vision with the full fairing had a setup where you could control the flow of air, it was great in the winter months!!
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I mentioned to the local and expensive BMW dealer (in NC, actually) that I was restoring a K75. He mentioned, without me asking, that they are bulletproof in the heat due to the fact that it uses the same cooling system as the K 1000. Even went so far as to say in the fan isn't even needed on the 750 with the cooling system for a 1000.
Not true. Get stuck in stop and go on a hot day on black asphalt with no fan and your temp warning light will be on in minutes.
Though with a working fan the bike has no trouble at all staying cool (at the expense of the rider, of course)
Also not true, sadly. Stay stuck in traffic long enough, in heat hot enough, and you will see that temp light come on.
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You think a K-bike is bad try a Kawi Concours...also a cooker. I think it just goes with sitting on top of an internal combustion engine.
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I mentioned to the local and expensive BMW dealer (in NC, actually) that I was restoring a K75. He mentioned, without me asking, that they are bulletproof in the heat due to the fact that it uses the same cooling system as the K 1000. Even went so far as to say in the fan isn't even needed on the 750 with the cooling system for a 1000.
Well the water pump is the same from a K1200LT
but
get sitting in traffic for a while and you're gonna need that fan for sure. It won't ever turn on in normal riding though
well mine came on [I think] for the first time while riding the other day. the temp was over 100 and I was spinning her pretty hard. it didn't stay on for long. do I have a problem?