Alternative fan thermoswitch

[admin]

I guess I am too cheap to buy a fan switch, as I just unplugged it, went to Radio Shack and bought a toggle switch, and mounted that on the lower right side of my Vetter Fairing, and ran a couple of wires to the plug for the fan switch. If My engine temp gets too hot, I can just switch on the fan manually, and bring it back within limits. I haven't had any overheat problems at highway speeds, and very few times I have had to use it around town except when Idling for extended periods.
Is that bad :?:

No it's not bad, but, it does turn you into a human thermostat slaving at the switch.

[Ed Z]

John,

What ever you do that doesn't create an over heat or under heat condition within the engine should be just fine... All I was doing with the modified switch setup was to get the rad temp down before the thermostat goes wide open... Ideally any temperature control device should never reach it's max or min thresholds... Ideally the thermostat should have a bypass (although very very small) and also never reach a wide open condition... There are several engines out there that incorporate this type setup... One issue with these setups is the thermostat ends up being rather complicated (read - more expensive) than the type used in these bikes... In the best case the engine would heat up to normal operating temp rather quickly and remain there throughout any and all operating environments... Thus far this is what I have been able to obtain with the use of this new switch... I do plan to wire in a temporary indicator light that will give me a visual indication each and every time the fan does turn on... This should show if the fan has any tendency to turn on at highway speeds (as GL mentioned above)... If it turns out to be the case (turning on while on the highway) then I may consider returning to the OEM switch or finding something between what I have now and the OEM one... I'll let all know of the test results once obtained... It may be awhile though as I want to include a few hot weather days in this test...

[Guest]

Interesting conversation here. Just want to add that the best thing you can do for your engine is to get it up to full operating temperature as soon as possible after startup. Keep it there or a few degrees hotter all the time it is running for best engine life and performance. This did not happen in this thread, but I cringe when I hear about guys who remove the thermostat from their engine with the explanation that a cooler running engine will last longer, this is not the case at all. An engine running at its designed operating temperature will always give you best performance and long life because the metals within the engine expand and conform to their engineered operating specifications and tolerances and the oil is at the correct temperature to best do its lubricating job. This why cold starts and pushing a cold engine can be so detrimental to the life of your engine. So, in a nutshell, get your engine up to full operating temperature gently and keep it operating at its designed operating temperature while you're riding and you will be adding many miles to the life of your engine plus you'll get better economy regarding fuel, oil and maintenance costs.

This is true.......i have a analog gauge and never go to the middle.....i take my infrared device and i have a 145-150' F :too cold.......

i buy my bike 2 weeks ago.....the guy who have the bike did not know about the 180' working thermostat i think .

in the manual shop they say to take off the radiator to change thermostat.......: why?

btw i think i will put a mechanical temp gauge , i have one in my snowmobile.