Engine Temperature

Keep in mind all... My temp measurements where at 92*F, wait till I re-measure at 110*F :blink:

OK, here's a question... If the thought is coolers are not truly needed, then why did the Kawi engineers design KZ's with them?

Best assumption would be after they had been out on the market awhile, they most likely realized that this was beneficial/required after analyzing the data. Different riding styles due to power, speed, different environments, engine component breakdowns etc...

No flame war guys for it is an interesting discussion...

OMR

nads.com wrote:

Is the rocket bike faster than your z??

they are close. a very dif kind of power though. the cbr, even my pals Honda 919 doesn't FEEL more powerful, because the delivery is so smooth. the kz is a raw torquey type of power. u are constantly reminded of power with the z, due to the torque, but the honda's fool u because there so smooth.thats how u can get into trouble, u dont realize how fast u are going and then:woohoo:

Just a thought on the liquid cooled bikes. The thermostat isn't reading oil temperature it's reading coolant temperature. I think that since the oil is in actual contact with the pistons, cylinder walls etc. The temperature would be higher relative to the coolant. I know that Harley Cop bikes run coolers here in FL and have a fan to put more air on the rear cylinder. To prevent overheating.

The last KZs sold in the US in the '90s and '00s; the Zephyrs and ZR-7s, all had oil coolers and rather big at that.

Mostly the oil coolers are not really to cool the engine, but to prevent the oil from getting too hot and loosing its lube properties, if bike is ridden hard.

Oil coolers in hi-performance motorcycles acts somewhat like the auto trannies fluid coolers in cars, picking up the extra heat generated by the wet clutch, which uses the oil as cooling media, hence the term 'wet clutch'. Oil is not there to 'lube' the clutch, but to cool it. (In a car is the torque converter). Like in a car with auto tranny, you can live w/out the cooler, but anything that contributes to control temperature, promotes longevity, thus is an intangible, but useful if you plan on keeping the bike long time.

Even hi-performance LIQUID COOLED motorcycles come with oil coolers because the oil still has to lube the tranny and cool the clutch. Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha favor a coolant-to-oil coil buried around the base of the oil filter. Suzuki and Triumph favor air-to-oil cooler as you can see on the chins of GSX-Rs 1K, SVs 1Ks, or Trimph Speed Triples.

Old Man Rock wrote:

Keep in mind all... My temp measurements where at 92*F, wait till I re-measure at 110*F :blink:

OK, here's a question... If the thought is coolers are not truly needed, then why did the Kawi engineers design KZ's with them?

You answered your own question: they designed bikes around the coolers which means they can hop the engines up more and make the total package size smaller. The point is that bikes/engines designed to NOT use coolers don't need them unless they are hopped up or used in extraordinarily severe service like LE. As correctly pointed out, their main objective is to keep the lube from being destroyed by heat and modern syn oil doesn't need that rescue.

bountyhunter wrote:

Old Man Rock wrote:

Keep in mind all... My temp measurements where at 92*F, wait till I re-measure at 110*F :blink:

OK, here's a question... If the thought is coolers are not truly needed, then why did the Kawi engineers design KZ's with them?

You answered your own question: they designed bikes around the coolers which means they can hop the engines up more and make the total package size smaller. The point is that bikes/engines designed to NOT use coolers don't need them unless they are hopped up or used in extraordinarily severe service like LE. As correctly pointed out, their main objective is to keep the lube from being destroyed by heat and modern syn oil doesn't need that rescue.

the oil may not need the rescue, but the combustion chamber may.
if u raise the compression, u may get detonation, as some guys report. the cooler can only help in these situations.

Performance builds and severe climates no doubt...

Still later year stock OEM KZ's and GPZ came with coolers... Thinking there was more to there reasoning...

Interesting indeed... One thing for sure... Oil is kept at cooler temps, oil breakdown is decreased thus engine runs smoother thus equates to cooler engine temps... My pre & post temp measurements tell me that alone.

For those that live in humid areas... Say 90*F but 95% humidity, ever accomplished temperature measurements?

Would be interesting to see the results...

OMR, I have nothing for you yet, but I will get some info after my build is complete. We have about six months of those conditions here in Houston.

Houston...ugh MUGGY!!!!

That would be perfect & please do share your results...
If you use similar format as to the measurement points I used, please add carb float bowls...

Larry C had asked about that and I just didn't think of it... Will add to the next 110*F + test coming up next moth or so...

Will do, just bear with me. I'm probably a couple of months out.

Last time I was in the Houston area, drove down to Galveston.... Bad move... WTF, had to turn on the windshield wipers due to humidity....

When ever you get around to it, no rush on my part at least... More info, data, testing the better for all...

Yeah, you better make sure that the washer fluid reservoir is full down there. That salt spray will royally f-up your windshield. Thankfully, we live way up on the north side of town in Spring. At least we don't get the salt spray. I'll stop hijacking now. I need to get one of those IR thermometers. That's what you used on the the headers and such right?