Dealing with engine heat...

Rode year round up in the Northern Territory (33 degrees c and humid for at least half the year) .. maybe us Aussies are just a little bit .... tougher :whitstling:

I pray for warmth like that over here, earlier in the winter we road through fog, then the temperature dropped and formed ice on our trousers, among other things:whitstling:. Sometimes use the engine to warm gloves and dry things at a stop. Savor the warmth guys.
 
When it hits 122 degrees F (50 C) in Phoenix, a black bike seat in the sun is enough to give you a good scalding. Heat off the exhaust is kind of icing on the cake. I generally left the bike at home when it got over 113.

My son and I went to Flagstaff, Arizona. It was raining and cold. It transitioned to 115 F outside Phoenix. I had to park the bike under an underpass to get him cooled down by drenching his helmet liner and wetting a rag around his neck. I put him in the bathtub when we got home.

Our house outside Phoenix hit + 12 F one winter. The desert can be pretty extreme.
 
Just a few comment to add first to reinforce the statements about exhaust and fueling. Even tuning a stock exhaust not to be a s lean will cool it down some. I am not sure if it will really be noticeable but if you think so run with it. Better flowing pipes would definitely help but if your not wanting to spend a bunch of money. I would run a richer tune and space the heat shields out from the pipes about 3/8 or 10 mm. I would then attach some of the heat wrap to the inside of the shield still leaving room for air to pass by helping in the cooling process. I think that much extra gap will help and not really be noticeable.
Just my 2 cents worth.
 
I've lived here for 38 years. You can either tolerate the heat or you can't. If you're one of those that can, its uncomfortable, but not a big deal. If you're one of those who can't, there's nothing you can do to the R3 to make it tolerable.

I've gone from the former to the latter. I now treat summers like many treat winters, I park it for three months.
 
We've only had some temps here in the 90's the last couple of weeks. I can't imagine being in Arizona. Anyway, I found my Harley to be way hotter than my rocket when setting in traffic. I don't find the heat to be that bad by comparison. The 70's here are nothing and in cooler temperature I am amazed a how little comfort that big engine provides me with regards to warmth. It must be the liquid cooling. One thing I do like is the air intake through the channels under the seat. It keeps my butt from being scalded like it did riding my Harley. I guess you'll just have to tough it out.
 
Last edited:
Heat off of a big engine or header can be a real issue. I have had problems with both my Harley and the R3R. The R3R is not as bad as my Harley was with a D&D pipe on it. There was this big S bend in the back pipe to make it equal length that created a ton of heat. I moved over to an all stainless steel pipe and that helped.

Now, on the R3R I have not yet tackled the heat issue, but it is mostly the header even though that engine throws off a lot.

And for all the "Man up" guys out there, whether you are used to it or not, there is an issue of dehydration in extremely hot climates that no amount of "manning up" will fix if you aint careful.

One other note - Heat wrap - most people don't understand it properly. Heat wrap was originally designed to increase the heat within a header to create HP back in the day. Thus, it is hard to increase heat inside a pipe and not increase overall heat. When I had my Harley pipe wrapped it was still very hot. There was no appreciable decrease in heat.

However, if it was moved off to the shield itself and the shield spaced back a bit, it might absorb some of the heat.

Doesn't help that the stock air filter setup also vents heat up through the seat and out the sides.
 
And for all the "Man up" guys out there, whether you are used to it or not, there is an issue of dehydration in extremely hot climates that no amount of "manning up" will fix if you aint careful.

Soooooo, what you are saying is man up and drinks lots of fluids. ;) :D :whitstling:


bob
 
I had my Jardine header heat wrapped and it helps. It's certainly not cool unless the outside temp is 70 or less. The heat shields go over the wrap. It's a cheap method. The stock tunes are lean and run hotter. You could optimize the fuel with a Power Commander and dyno tune. I doubt you'll find anyone who could dyno tune with TuneECU in Arizona but that's another way to richen it up.
 
Back
Top