Low operating temperatures

[Rustysgsxr]

Hey all, I have a 2015 KTM 450 SX-F with:
Raze heated bars & thermostat
Rev Up engine blankets
Radiator blocks
Full FMF exhaust
PR2 CDI on both map 3 & 7 set at 5,5,5

I can not get / hold temps in the powder, lowest I've seen was 45°F. Something is going on and I'm not sure what or why! On the trail I fot 220-230 hottest, I thought it could be the gauge until then. Any ideas on how to approach this issue?

 

[M5-]

Check your thermostat, it may not be closing fully

 

[eric82930]

No way you can get 45 deg on a 4 stroke after its been running a while. Is your thermostat in the bypass line?

 

[Snowbikepat]

Hey all, I have a 2015 KTM 450 SX-F with:
Raze heated bars & thermostat
Rev Up engine blankets
Radiator blocks
Full FMF exhaust
PR2 CDI on both map 3 & 7 set at 5,5,5

I can not get / hold temps in the powder, lowest I've seen was 45°F. Something is going on and I'm not sure what or why! On the trail I fot 220-230 hottest, I thought it could be the gauge until then. Any ideas on how to approach this issue?

shut your bar heaters off. I've seen them do this same thing, hence the reason we switched to electric grips. The coolant filled bars are like a huge radiator. Also check close around the from pipe where it exits the blanket, snow/water vapor will go through the small gap and sit on the block. Send me your email and I I'll send a photo of what I installed that solved the problem. (cost about $5, yup)

 

[Revv Up]

I have only heard once before of a bike that was struggling to get to temp with our blankets, some suggestions were made and he didn’t report back so I’m assuming he got it. We all run a big snow guard here for a couple reasons, to keep the snow out of the front of the motor and the heat in. If we don’t we also can’t keep our feet from being blown off the pegs in the deep conditions we get. Are you running anything out front?
If your unhappy about your blankets let me know and we will make it good.

 

[CATSLEDMAN1]

My riding partner and I are riding same bike. Over the years we found out in 3rd gear cold powder we had to:
Close all air gaps on the front of our bikes
make a good guard to keep snow from track off back of engine and put thick foam back there on the engine, 30 degree difference on many days just with this mod.
4th and 5th gear on 12" of new snow on trails our bike would run 145 degrees/190 thermostat
Covered the back of our engines, right up to 180 to 190 same trail same conditions next day
5 years ago we ditched radiators and run heat exchanges because even blocked radiators bleed toooo much heat
many cold days in deep snow my ktm500 is operating strickly off handlebars and engine heat loss, I feel my heat exchangers and they aren't even melting the snow off them, yet my bike is 180 degrees and I have to run only 1/3 on my handlebar valve.

 

[Rustysgsxr]

Don, blankets are great! I'll get back to you soon. If I shut the bar heaters off it drops temp a bit, I know it doesn't make sense. I don't have a bypass and I've tested the thermostat (70°C) she opens early and closes late. Waiting for a 90°C thermostat to replace it with. I still need to make a lower snow block and I like the idea of covering the back of the engine, is there a pic of this?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Chadx]

... If I shut the bar heaters off it drops temp a bit, I know it doesn't make sense...

That could make sense (if you are talking a minor drop) as you'd push more bypass coolant through your thermostat's internal bypass and through your radiators rather than your heated bar circuit/bypass, so that bypass coolant is going to cool down more going through your radiators than through your handlebars. Closing off the handlebar circuit is more about hand comfort (not too hot) but if your engine is running cold, I doubt it's too hot, so better to keep your bar circuit open. If you are doing it to try to get more heat to the engine, then you'd be better off having a second bypass circuit plumbed (one without your bars in the circuit) so you can push your bypass coolant through your bars or through nothing but a loop.

 

[cberes]

im having the same issues.

16ktm 490
rev up blankets c3 bars raze thermo bob, obie skid plate and both rads blocked off.
yesterday in the deep powder i was lucky to see 55•f

i have a c3 tstat coming tomorrow and will report back if it works better.

 

[Chadx]

im having the same issues.

16ktm 490
rev up blankets c3 bars raze thermo bob, obie skid plate and both rads blocked off.
yesterday in the deep powder i was lucky to see 55•f

i have a c3 tstat coming tomorrow and will report back if it works better.

Just to be sure, your thermobob is plumbed into the coolant line coming out of the head of the bike, correct? And what temp gauge are you using? And is the temp gauge plumped into the thermobob or is it plumbed inline somewhere else in the system? Hard to fathom a temp of 55 degrees F. I can see 55 degress C, but not 55 F with what you have already done. Is the 55 F after you have the bike up to over 160 F and then when you hit the powder, it drops to 55 F? Or does it never get up over 160 F (which could mean stuck open thermostat)?

Also, what snowbike kit? Some throw more snow on the rear of the engine than others, but even with a closed off kit like the yeti, you are going to get a lot of airborne snow swirling in there. Goes back to insulating/covering the back of your engine and the underneath (between skidplate and engine).

 

[M5-]

I have one bike with a Thermobob and one with a C3 setup. The C3 bike runs way better and warmer than the Tbob. The C3 bike really doesn't care if the engine blankets are on or off

 

[wwillf01]

I have one bike with a Thermobob and one with a C3 setup. The C3 bike runs way better and warmer than the Tbob. The C3 bike really doesn't care if the engine blankets are on or off

On which bike... because we have a 2018 450sxf in our group on a yeti with a c3 and on powder days he is covering both radiators and has a jacket covering everywhere to keep it above 130...

Sent from my SM-F900U using Tapatalk

 

[M5-]

On which bike... because we have a 2018 450sxf in our group on a yeti with a c3 and on powder days he is covering both radiators and has a jacket covering everywhere to keep it above 130...

Sent from my SM-F900U using Tapatalk

2018 YZ450. I didn't have one side of my engine blankets finished so I rode 6 days without it. The bike will cool off but rarely goes much below 160. Usually its sitting between 170 and 180, 190+ on the trail using a 190 thermostat. Normally I only block off the one radiator. I'm running my bars off the bypass and they are smokin hot. The tune on my 18 is quite a bit leaner in the midrange than the tune on my Tbob 2011 YZ which may help the motor build heat. My 2011 hangs around 150 or a bit lower with skid plate, rads blocked and blankets and it has a 176 thermostat. I'm going to lean out the midrange of the 2011 and see what happens. The 190 thermostat is the answer at least for Yamaha IMO. The C3 part for the Yamaha is a slick piece, I'm not familiar with their KTM part.

 

[cberes]

Just to be sure, your thermobob is plumbed into the coolant line coming out of the head of the bike, correct? And what temp gauge are you using? And is the temp gauge plumped into the thermobob or is it plumbed inline somewhere else in the system? Hard to fathom a temp of 55 degrees F. I can see 55 degress C, but not 55 F with what you have already done. Is the 55 F after you have the bike up to over 160 F and then when you hit the powder, it drops to 55 F? Or does it never get up over 160 F (which could mean stuck open thermostat)?

Also, what snowbike kit? Some throw more snow on the rear of the engine than others, but even with a closed off kit like the yeti, you are going to get a lot of airborne snow swirling in there. Goes back to insulating/covering the back of your engine and the underneath (between skidplate and engine).

im on a yeti, i can warm my bike up to 150 hit powder and im right now to 55-65. this is in BC where thow powder is fender deep all day long.

i have one riding partner with a husky/c3 tstat+bars/yeti/ rev ups and he is up around 130-150.

got the new c3 tstat in on my bike today. might try todo some testing this week and see how it works before i head out to the moutains this weekend.

i got some crazy carpet kicking around im going to rig up a cover for the back of then engine aswell

 

[M5-]

Those guys in Vernon, The Snowbike Shop sell a valve to shut off your left rad. Might be something to look into. If coolant is actually sneaking past the thermostat a bit, it doesn't take much, and going through the rads at least then it would only be going through one rad after the valve was shut.

 

[Rustysgsxr]

Those guys in Vernon, The Snowbike Shop sell a valve to shut off your left rad. Might be something to look into. If coolant is actually sneaking past the thermostat a bit, it doesn't take much, and going through the rads at least then it would only be going through one rad after the valve was shut.

Should I be worried about deadheading?

 

[northernexposure1]

Riding 2016 ktm 450sx-f with 2018 ARO, thermobob 3 @ 195 degree thermostat, factory rad guards, installed temp gauge end of last year, and here are my non scientific results Riding in DEEP powder (1.5-3 feet of fluffy heaven) Riding Revelstoke B.C.

only skid plate 105F
add engine blanket 130F
add right 3.25" wide rad stop 165-180F (3.25 fits behind plastic rad guards)
add left 3.25 wide rad stop 170-195F

Thoughts:

Engine blanket works great at keeping snow off engine (I fall over lots) but didn't have the ultimate impact I thought it would. A necessity for my bike but more was required.

Rad stop : on groomed trail up, the right rad guard was needed to maintain higher temps as lots of airflow. When going slow on up trails slugging through whoops I would overheat and rad guards would come out and temp would stabilize 190ish. Summary: air flow thorough rads has huge cooling effect. As soon as I hit powder I needed both rad stops in keep heat up (165-185)

Being as the rad is wider than the stops, some air was still getting around them and through the rads causing some cooling effect.


Phase II
Just finished building and have not tested (this weekend fingers crossed)

Installed C3 heated bars with C3 thermostat, Full aluminum rad guards that I have made removable truck tarp covers for. I am hoping that the full covers will help with keeping temperatures up and will report back. The only thing left to do is make a cover for rear of engine. I have spoken with several people that have been out recently and most have had trouble keeping temps up with all of this fantastic snow.

 

[M5-]

No, you do not need to worry about deadheading

 

[needpowder]

Snow conditions makes such a huge difference. Normally with my Thermo Bob, Engine jacket, back of motor covered, if I cover my radiators I am too hot in some deep powder conditions and have to pull my rad covers or just run one. Last Sunday in 25 inches of super light cold blower I would get up to about one 160 when climbing long hills and then instantly dropped to about 125 going downhill or through the flats. Never saw lower than 120 though. I don’t worry too much about that I just change my oil every ride. I am running the PR2 So shouldn’t have too much gas in my oil but don’t like those temperatures obviously.

 

[cberes]

yeah i just made a foam liner for the bottom of my engine and a foam/magic carpet flap for the back of my engine.

i also have a pr2 and have never had milky oil until last ride it was 35cm of okanagans finest champagne powder.

hopefully with these adjustments i can get her to a point where i am too hot and i can mange my temps by taking out blockers