Engine gets super hot

[7UPyours]

Hi Team
I started having a little issue with the engine getting really hot but not overheating, temps stay in the normal range but I can feel so much heat on my legs coming from the side of the engine and under the seat and don’t know what’s causing this. With the exhaust under the seat our bikes get warm but I’m getting hot. I don’t get to ride the bike much (2 boys under 10 and lots of sports) but recently I have replaced clutch cable, throttle cables, front break pads, chain and front sprocket, fork seals and head steering, spark plugs. I feel the bike is loosing a little power in the lower rpm range but wakes up around 8k rpms, feels like something is holding it back. Already played around with the clutch cable and not seeing any difference whether it’s on a tighter side vs loose. Already went through 3 full gas tanks so it’s not old fuel. Hopefully someone has some input, TIA

 

[bryancraftyhands]

Got an air compressor? Blow the air filter clean. Should be some improvement. No air compressor? Either get one or get another filter.
Is your fan turning on?
Coolant clean/
How much air flow do you have around you? Tight crowded slow traffic? I feel some heat in that as well. Cruising and open without another vehicle 10 feet in front of me I don't.

 

[Gary in NJ]

Got an air compressor? Blow the air filter clean. Should be some improvement.

I have to ask, how does a clean air filter help to radiate excessive heat from the engine?

OP, the heat source is likely from the exhaust. You mentioned you just swapped spark plugs. Now might be a good time to do a read of the plugs to see if you are running lean. What is the part number or heat range of the plugs you installed?

 

[bryancraftyhands]

how does a clean air filter help to radiate excessive heat from the engine

Nothing at all that I am aware of. Op was also mentioning a loss of power at low rpms though, and it may help with that.

 

[7UPyours]

Spark plugs are same as stock cr9ek and gapped around .027, will get the air filter cleaned and as far as heat goes…I’m used to the heat we get when in traffic and between cars as I used to put my hands on the engine to warm up on really cold days but it’s like scorching hot even after few minutes of idle or a 5 min test ride. Fan does turn on and temps do go up when in traffic but drop as soon as we move. I will also check if I accidentally pinched a fuel line while having the tank all the way up for batter replacement. As far as exhaust goes…I will remove it for inspection ( we had a little chipmunk make a home under a hood of our car so hoping he didn’t make a new home inside the exhaust after he was evicted from the car). Not looking forward to pulling spark plugs out such a tight space hehe

 

[bryancraftyhands]

Another thing I don't see mentioned so it's worth mentioning, is have you checked / changed your oil recently?

 

[Abiram Menon]

Heating and losing power at low RPMs: It sounds more like the vehicle is running leaner. In addition to the brilliant pointers mentioned in this post, you can try altering the fuel map through the meter console. I am running slightly richer due to specific circumstances, and it took care of the heating and the loss of power.

 

[Gary in NJ]

you can try altering the fuel map through the meter console.

In this case, where the bike is suddenly running hotter (maybe leaner...maybe not) it would be wise to find the source issue rather than adjust the fuel trim to mask the problem. That is literately adding fuel to the problem

 

[7UPyours]

Haven’t had any time to mess with yet so I don’t have an update yet. Another thing that my battery died more less around the same time and I’m wondering if somehow my power commander was effected by the loss of juice so I will try to reload the map onto it to when time allows as well.

 

[Gary in NJ]

You didn’t previously mention that you have a Power Commander installed. Of course that contraption could be the problem…they usually are.