How well does one trust air cooled

[thejij]

Probably a dumb question, as there are many engines (not just motorcycles) that are air cooled... but I want to know.

How well can I trust air cooled? I want to ride to vanderhoof, quesnel and other places, but can I trust that my engine wont overheat? Especially when its 25 degrees out?

I check to make sure there is enough oil etc before I go, but i am concerned that somehow ill heatseize it... (most of you know why, cause it happened already)

Can I trust air cooling enough?

[Hans]

Ride more, worry less.  Most of the old bikes in the vintage club are are cooled and they did the trip to Vernon last summer where it was 35C.  As long as you are moving, you have active cooling.  Air cooled bikes really only hate slow parades or being stuck in slow moving traffic on a hot day.  Heat didn't cook your bike, lack of oil did.

[stevecrout]

Hold on a sec -  I've seen a few incidents where air cooled engines have let the rider down.

1) a family of five (yes five) on a Honda 125 grinding up a set of switchbacks - engine quit had to sit for 20 minutes then go again

2) a pair of 120 kilo guys on a Yamaha  80cc trying to beat a bus off the line at a light - actually it wasn't the engine that quit it was the chain that snapped

3) then of course, there's the guy that thinks he can carry anything on his dinky little 150cc........


Otherwise I think the rider has a better chance of running as intended with an air cooled engine as long as the airflow is constant, the fuel mixture correct and the cooling fins are not blocked by fairings, feet or other junk.

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[Hortons Heroes]

I could be way off here but if you are concerned make sure your oil is level is correct and don't let it idle for a really long time.  I had the same worry for a bit then realized that we live is a fairly mild climate and these bikes work well everywhere else.

[fast1]

   Liquid cooling is more about keeping the temperature constant. On most engines it is only the top end that is liquid cooled anyway. A lot of riders of early liquids blew them up thinking they could run wide open all day. When your bike starts to overheat there is a noticeable loss of power. Time for a smoke/beer/pee break. Change your oil often and listen to what your bike is telling you and no problems will ensue. Just ride it! CHEERS.

[Olafskii]

Just saw this post (its 60 days old) but thought I should reply.
My suzuki DR650 is air cooled and it has an oil cooler.  I bought it new and immediately installed a Vapor 'Trip Computer' which includes a cylinder head temperature measurement.  The measurement is done with a thermocouple that sits underneath a spark plug--replaces the normal spark plug washer.  Here is what I found.  The results are for the Suzuki DR650 but could be extrapolated to other air cooled bikes as well.
-Idling for long periods of time does not heat up the engine as much or quickly as one would expect.
-the hottest the engine gets is pulling up long grades at high speed.  The higher the altitude, the hotter the engine runs. 
-to cool the engine when running up a hill, slow down a little. If I'm running up say Bridge Lake Hill at 120, slowing down to 110 has an almost immediate cooling effect. 
-synthetic oil dropped the cylinder head temperature 10 degrees.  Just use a motorcycle compatible oil--JASO rated
-Air temperature has much less effect than one would think.  I've ridden in the Okanogan at 42 degrees and the engine remained relatively cooler than pulling up one of the hills west of Mcbride when the air temperature was 22 degrees.
-dirt on the engine from rain and gravel roads has also not had any noticable effect.
Olaf