overheating

[desert_max]

Hi Jerry nice to hear from your CBX-6 experience, here in Sweden/Europe they started selling them as model 1978... more or less the same as -79 in US.
As You describe this is the riding "improvement" bike.... With a 35 mm front leg dia (todays 125 cc has bigger dia!) this bike learns You (or not) how to handle that "Ferrari sound/power" bike.
Bought it 1995 as a "rat bike", renovating it myself 2006-2007 now in good running condition but not mint, likes to ride also.
Have just changed to modern Bridgestone tyres front and back this will be a real improvment next season. Just now preparing for winter season with special petrol devise to not clogg carburettors.
Todays petrol are dreadful to old bikes.. my new bikes with fuel injection handles it better I believe
LOVE My CBX but my VMAX is a far better bike in all practical aspects except for the look; a straight aircooled six cylinder without a lot of extra covers is a real bike.
// Lars

Sorry to again stray off the topic of Vmax overheating, but apparently there are a few of us here who have both a Vmax and a CBX. In a lot of ways, they are similar. Both get a lot of respect, both are relatively uncommon - of course the CBX is more scarce - and both run like scalded dogs. But they definitely run and behave differently. I love both, and if I had to narrow my collection down to two, that would be the two.

Oh and by the way, my ‘79 CBX was one owner bike when I purchased it (like my Vmax!), but it was definitely not original. An older CBX collector (82!), this was the last one he kept, it had been his baby for almost 40 years. All I did was clean it up and wake it up from a 10 year slumber.

Far more maintenance intensive than the Vmax, but I love the machine. Nothing else on the road like it.

 

[Itgoes]

Really nice!

 

[funky monk]

Lovely bike... they sound amazing...!

 

[desert_max]

Thanks guys.

Yeah, I get a fair amount of adverse chatter about the “non-original” appearance of the machine, but hey, that’s the way I bought it. I have made a couple of changes to what the original owner had done but here’s my take on it:

a) The paint was way too nice to even consider covering up.

b) I think the period mods of the early 80s are as deserving of preservation as are pristine factory original examples. This one is chock-full of 80s mods. (Corbin, fork brace, rear caliper stay, Russ Collins pipes, pods, paint - body, engine and wheels)

c) I actually like the mods that were done to it (well, except for the rotors) and don’t give a rat’s ass about the negative chatter that I’ve heard. And I have heard quite a bit.

d) Since it has already been customized, I don’t have to worry about defiling every factory weld splatter, or paint mark. I can do what I want with it. Freedom!

A keeper.

 

[Itgoes]

Thanks guys.

Yeah, I get a fair amount of adverse chatter about the “non-original” appearance of the machine, but hey, that’s the way I bought it. I have made a couple of changes to what the original owner had done but here’s my take on it:

a) The paint was way too nice to even consider covering up.

b) I think the period mods of the early 80s are as deserving of preservation as are pristine factory original examples. This one is chock-full of 80s mods. (Corbin, fork brace, rear caliper stay, Russ Collins pipes, pods, paint - body, engine and wheels)

c) I actually like the mods that were done to it (well, except for the rotors) and don’t give a rat’s ass about the negative chatter that I’ve heard. And I have heard quite a bit.

d) Since it has already been customized, I don’t have to worry about defiling every factory weld splatter, or paint mark. I can do what I want with it. Freedom!

A keeper.

I agree 100% ! That is a classy custom build correct for that time period......I wouldn't change a single bolt either!

 

[Lewis19551111]

What size is the motor? I like it just the way it is too.

 

[Itgoes]

Thanks guys.

Yeah, I get a fair amount of adverse chatter about the “non-original” appearance of the machine, but hey, that’s the way I bought it. I have made a couple of changes to what the original owner had done but here’s my take on it:

a) The paint was way too nice to even consider covering up.

b) I think the period mods of the early 80s are as deserving of preservation as are pristine factory original examples. This one is chock-full of 80s mods. (Corbin, fork brace, rear caliper stay, Russ Collins pipes, pods, paint - body, engine and wheels)

c) I actually like the mods that were done to it (well, except for the rotors) and don’t give a rat’s ass about the negative chatter that I’ve heard. And I have heard quite a bit.

d) Since it has already been customized, I don’t have to worry about defiling every factory weld splatter, or paint mark. I can do what I want with it. Freedom!

A keeper.

Have you been to Barber Motorsports Park during Vintage Weekend in the early fall?

I've been there twice.....like Heaven to me.

 

[Samy]

Will an additional radiator solve the problem?
I ride my bike where i have to idle, stop quite often.

 

[Fire-medic]

Will an additional radiator solve the problem?
I ride my bike where i have to idle, stop quite often.

No you don't need an additional radiator unless your name is Herbert Kainzinger.

Kainzinger Vmax – V-Fource 1680 (thekneeslider.com)

More info on his bike:
Cycle-Word_Ausgabe_06-1997_King_Maximum.pdf (kainzinger.com)

 

[[email protected]]

Will an additional radiator solve the problem?
I ride my bike where i have to idle, stop quite often.

Is you bike overheating? Is the coolant boiling over and is there fluid coming out the hose from the overflow tank?

 

[Maximizer]

i just noticed that my bike has a radiator fan! i've never had a bike with a radiator before.... make sure that your fan is operating properly. there's got to be a temp switch that turns it on and off. also, flush your radiator , clean the outside and replace your thermostat, if possible with a cooler one.

 

[Fire-medic]

i just noticed that my bike has a radiator fan! i've never had a bike with a radiator before.... make sure that your fan is operating properly. there's got to be a temp switch that turns it on and off. also, flush your radiator , clean the outside and replace your thermostat, if possible with a cooler one.

The fan control thermocouple is part of the coolant filler neck casting. One of the other recent posts on-here about coolant work, I included a bunch of links to other threads about replacements for the OEM pieces, like caps, thermostats, the thermocouple sensor, and making the work easier.


Different Thermostat?

Some info on the coolant drain petcock, often a subject of debate: "how-doe it work? How do I set it?"

Drain cock valve assembly

Coolant system info, including Sean Morley's as-usual helpful comments:
Too Hot?

leaky cooling sys

Too hot to handle

There are more, search (advanced) is your friend.

 

[Eric Cunningham]

I just installed a Starrider thermostat on my 2006 in place of a stock, working tstat. I live in Atlanta and during heavy stop and go traffic, I would see the guage creep to the "redlands" often. Problem cured - haven't seen it break past horizontal 3 oclock since install. Fan definitely kicks on earlier and helps keep the engine cool

 

[Maximizer]

what temperature is that thermostat and where did you buy it?

 

[[email protected]]

I just installed a Starrider thermostat on my 2006 in place of a stock, working tstat. I live in Atlanta and during heavy stop and go traffic, I would see the guage creep to the "redlands" often. Problem cured - haven't seen it break past horizontal 3 oclock since install. Fan definitely kicks on earlier and helps keep the engine cool

Did you change the thermostat or the thermoswitch that actuates the fan?

 

[Eric Cunningham]

Did you change the thermostat or the thermoswitch that actuates the fan?

Apologies for mistating thermostat. It is a fan thermoswitch. 1985-2007 Vmax - Cooling - Low Temp Fan Switch - Star Rider Performance

 

[Eric Cunningham]

Apologies for mistating thermostat. It is a fan thermoswitch. 1985-2007 Vmax - Cooling - Low Temp Fan Switch - Star Rider Performance

Have to take faux tank off, right side scoop, black plastic slip on cover, remove a few ounces of coolant, swap out the switch and reassemble. Need a deep socket - 23mm I believe, to uninstall old/install new switch.

 

[sdt354]

Hi dont want to be rude but working my whole working life with heating problems in pulp and paper process industri I feel used to problems like that but after a Year with my VMax 1700 2009:
How the hell has anyone not tried to make Yamaha responsible from beginning for a very bad designed radiator system ? This is **** from beginning! I have bought mine used.....
Im getting crazy with all "solutions" to solve tYamaha problems as seen here on several places. manual fans operation ? 2019 !!!
Sorry but just now Im less of that "fantastic bike" with "under powered coóling"
// Lars

We GEN 1 owners feel your pain. And have a bone to pick with Yamaha also. On many levels.

 

[[email protected]]

Lots of folks believe their bike is overheating because the gauge is reading near the upper limit.

I put a real temp gauge in long ago. The fan doesn't turn on till about 220F. The OEM gauge will be in the red zone at that point and that freaks people out but in reality, there is nothing wrong. The fan runs and cools the bike down in a few minutes. The fan cuts off around 200F. Right at the beginning if the red zone on my oem gage.

I think if Yamaha would have recalibrate the gauge so that you wouldn't be in the red till 230F, a lot less folks would think the bike is too hot

 

[Maximizer]

I put a real temp gauge in long ago. The fan doesn't turn on till about 220F. The OEM gauge will be in the red zone at that point and that freaks people out but in reality, there is nothing wrong. The fan runs and cools the bike down in a few minutes. The fan cuts off around 200F. Right at the beginning if the red zone on my oem gage.

a very quick and easy way to add another temp gauge is to buy a "Trail Tech" that fits in-line on your radiator hose. it opperates on a button cell battery and you can stick the small digital readout anywhere.... i put one on my antique truck and i love it. simple to install too. you don't have to wire it in. just splice your radiator hose and install the sensor. here's one similar to mine. just make sure you measure the inside diameter of the hose that you will be using to mount it and then get the gauge with that size fitting.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Trail-Tech...214063&hash=item2cfa78b61e:g:PJUAAOSwQmheWC5i