So, what is too hot????

OK guys........I've worked VERY hard as most if not ALL of you guys have on our bikes! I have my 1994 KZ1000P running perfect.
I live in Rancho Cordova,California....and summer is here. I took a short ride the other day to run a quick errand. the temperature was 100' out. Nothing but HOT sun. :evil:

Being that most of our bikes are air-cooled, what is considered too high of outdoor temperature to expose our bikes engine to?
I kept my ride short that day, it was way to hot for me and I'm sure that my KZ1000 was running hotter than it might like. The hot day made me nervous when I got stuck at long cycling traffic signals. I could feel the heat off of the motor. That got me nervous. The last thing I want to do is cause any overheating damage to my motor by exposing it to a hot day. I've worked way to hard on this bike to trash the motor by torching it! Any thoughts or suggestions on max temp to ride?

Thanks in advance.......

I wouldn't think it would be a problem. The engine temp is quite a bit higher than the ambient temps, so 95^o or 105^o shouldn't make much of a difference. When it's hot outside, the engine heat can feel pretty intense.

In the summer I would use a 20W-50 motorcycle oil. Also, you could install an oil cooler. I think the police bike crankcase is set up to accept the oil cooler fittings from the 80s models that had it. American Classix sells an adapter that replaces the oil pressure switch fitting.

I brought my Z1 out here in the desert in 76. For the most part it was my daily driver. It does get very hot sometimes but I haven't had any problems due to heat. I installed a oil cooler in 85 and the problem I was having was no oil pressure at start up. The oil would drain back into the sump. That made checking the oil difficult as the cooler took about a quart. The oil light would come on under hard acceleration, telling me the oil level was low. Then the wreck 6/13/86 a Friday. The bike was destroyed including the cooler. Got it back on the road about two years later this time no cooler. I rode it until parked in 98. In 13 I got it back on the road after a major overhaul. Still no cooler. I've been wanting one but unless I can do something about the drain back, I'll do without one. In the two years I've been riding it, I've had no overheating problems. In the city, (I use to live in LA in 75) I can see where a cooler could help in traffic. I didn't have one at the time and yeah, the bike got real hot. No problems though. Splitting lanes was a gamble but a must do for our air cooled bikes. I have gauges now and the running temp stays in the 240/250 range. That's head temp. When shut off it will peg the gauge but once running it will go back down.
Steve