Additional cooling...

[stevel]

As has happened to many other folks, I've had problems with cooling on my K1300S, especially when in hot weather and slow riding in European towns with their 30kph speed limits - it's not long before the temp climbs and the fan kicks in - and when it gets that far I get quite nervous about it overheating.

My radiator is new (and yes, it was vacuum filled) coolant is the BMW stuff that must contain a fair amount of gold particles or something, given how much it costs. I don't think there's anything wrong with the bike, other than poor design. So I'm thinking about adding some extra cooling - a radiator would be tricky as there's nowhere to put one, but I think I can squeeze in a small additional oil cooler under the headlight somewhere. Has anyone tried this? And can any of you lot see any problems with doing this? I'm thinking it'll add some extra cooling capacity (not much, but I don't think it needs much extra capacity - a little bit extra should help, in any case), and it's still thermostatically controlled if I run the lines off the existing oil cooler.

Any thoughts before I waste approx £150 and a LOT of time?


Thanks!

Steve

[richtea]

Have a dig around Sutty's post on radiator correction.

This is a good place to start:
https://eurokclub.bike/index.php?topic=4061.msg48811#msg48811

Or just PM him direct if you need more detail. He's very helpful.

[fjtwelve]

Unless your temp gauge hits the top of the screen and you get big red flashing warnings I don't think you should worry because the fan is on. My k12s reached the big red flashing stage once after a very protracted slow charity ride with a filthy old radiator. I stopped and10 mins later it had cooled enough to ride on. The fan comes on occasionally whether the radiator is clean or not on both my k12 and k13. I keep an eye on it and occasionally take it easy for a bit, but don't lose any sleep over it
If you want to add more oil cooling, this was a common mod for fj1200. The owners club found a radiator with more cooling capacity that would fit in the same space as the original. They put together a fitting kit with hoses and sold it as a DIY item. It worked well but the fj12 was air cooled and could get very hot. I've never seen anyone try doing it to a k

[Phmode]

Seconded.

After cleaning mine last month it rides at 3 bars when pushing on, climbs to 4 on occasion and then in town the fan comes on and it hits 5 bars but the fan always brings it down. I'm happy with that performance.

[black-k1]

It's the time for the fan to stop running, as defined in the FAQs, that is the best judge of things to come.

ETA This was the advice from my dealer:

The way to test the radiator condition was to allow the bike to idle when hot to the point the fan came on. If the radiator is in good condition. the fan should switch back off within 30 seconds to a minute. Longer than that was a was a warning of issues to come and longer than 2 minutes was a sign of imminent doom

[Capt Howdy]

I agree with FJ12. The fan coming on is not a problem. Mine comes on regularly in traffic in 35 deg C heat and can stay on for a while when stopped at lights. I find the fan comes on when the gauge goes up by 1 bar but doesn’t go up any further thanks to the fan. Keep an eye on your temperature gauge and you’ll soon get used to it. It also takes a while to drop back to normal when moving again.