Engine temps

I recently getting my KZ project running, it is a 82 750 (4). i am a little concerned with engine temps. i have never owned an air cooled bike before, so I'm curious, what is the best way to tell if your bike is running to hot? i live in San Diego, CA where outside temps have been in the mid 90's. i noticed a little smoke coming from the crank case breather where i have a small pod filter. at first i thought it was the new engine paint steaming. Is this something i should be concerned about?
Eric

Others more knowlege than myself will doubtless chime in, but if you have an aftermarket (single wall) exhaust, (and you are running too lean, ) you will see "Blueing" of the chrome pipe at the head....not sure what a "healthy" temp reading would be, but the infrared "laser" thermometers work well for checking header pipe temps... Can also take a look at your plugs for a clue as to fuel mixture....generally these old girls seem to be ok in Summer/high temps/traffic if everything else is right.

I'm also new to owning air cooled bikes. I bought this thing without an owner's manual and have no previous bike experience. Is it okay to idle in traffic on a hot (30-35*C) day? Can you leave it idling sitting still while you play around with the carbs or do similar work? Should I be checking the cylinder head temperature or adding an overheat dummy light?

I'm in the same boat. I think I'm going to be purchasing a tempiture guage. I found one today on eBay. It just replaces you oil fill plug. Pretty neat.
I'm really wondering if the little bit of smoke I'm seeing come out of my breather is a bad sign?

Is there any gasoline in your crankcase from a leaking fuel valve or other carb issue?

zero10 wrote: I'm also new to owning air cooled bikes. I bought this thing without an owner's manual and have no previous bike experience. Is it okay to idle in traffic on a hot (30-35*C) day? Can you leave it idling sitting still while you play around with the carbs or do similar work? Should I be checking the cylinder head temperature or adding an overheat dummy light?

Stopping in traffic for short periods should not be a problem because you will be moving in a couple minutes and the engine will cool back down. However, if you're going to let it idle while you work on carbs, etc. you should direct the air flow from a large fan on the engine to keep it from overheating. Ed

nope, engine is dry as a bone. i am going to take her on a good run tomorrow, so i will let you guys know if the issue is still happening. keep in mind this in an engine that has just gone though new bearings in the bottom end, hone, some new rings, full gasket kit, ect.. i think i really need to let those new ring seat. looks like i have some riding to do

It's perfect normal to see some "smoke" from the breather, but not too much. As for the temp, all the later model bikes received an oil cooler so that should tell us something. On my air cooled Suzuki 1000 the oil temp gauge hits 300+F on a hot day when blasting down the freeway. Slow down in traffic and the temp drops quickly though. The engine seems to tolerate the heat quite well.