Oil Temperature Red Zone (02' 1150RT)

[Kbro]

I got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic in Atlanta this afternoon and the oil temp guage on my 02' 1150RT rose to the the level right below the red zone. I didn't count the bars, but if it had increased one bar, the temp would have been in the red zone. I was sandwiched between two "big rigs" and moved less than a half mile in 30 minutes. Once I got going again, the temp gauge dropped one bar before I got home (about two miles later). What alterted me to the high oil temperature was the "clicking" noise the engine was making while the temp was so high. I just changed the oil & filter last week (castrol 20W50)and was returning home from an 1900 mile trip. The oil level is fine and the bike has since cooled off and starts fine. Should I be concerned? I just turned 21,000 miles.

[Big D]

I did that in Daytona a few years back with my 1999 1100RT but it went off the charts into the red zone. There was no damage other than my oil glass started to weep alittle bit.

 

D

[Ken H.]

Should I be concerned?

No. The boxer motor can take a tremendous amount of heat. Nobody ever knew they had a heat 'problem' until they put temp gauges on them!

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

The red zone is abnormally hot; you shouldn't whale on the engine when it's running at these temps.

 

The blue zone is abnormally cool; you should wait for the engine to warm up before whaling on it.

 

Anywhere in between is considered normal. When it's running real hot you might get some pinging under heavy load; if that's the case, maybe you want to back off until it cools a bit, but other than that, just ride it normally.

[Mr. Frank]

Since you are using inexpensive oil, it would be cheap insurance to change it -- less than ten bucks at Wal-Mart.

[ProductUser]

Since you are using inexpensive oil, it would be cheap insurance to change it -- less than ten bucks at Wal-Mart.

 

I did something similar in Phoenix a couple of years ago: stuck (read: not moving) in traffic (100+ degrees) for 20 or so minutes. Unfortunately, my R1150R doesn't have an oil temp guage. I was using dino oil at the time. I thought that the engine oil was burnt. I eventually made it home (spent 40 or so minutes to only cover 10 miles) and changed the oil. To my surprise, the oil didn't smell burnt at all. I was impressed. I have since switched to synthetic simply because I ride in triple digits all of the time.

 

Looking back, I should've pulled over and waited for the traffic to lessen. But, I was burning up with all of my gear and just wanted to get home to cool off.

 

ProductUser