Riding in the heat?

ecefour

ecefour

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Frederick, MD
I've ridden my stock 79 Twinstar to my university a few times. It's about 120 miles round trip. Tomorrow I have an event that'll be 160 miles round trip, mostly 45-55 mph roads with some urban riding at the end. Traffic shouldn't be an issue, but you never know.

My main concern is the heat. I've only ridden it in 65-70°F weather, but tomorrow's high will be around 87°F. I've never ridden an air-cooled 4-stroke in the heat so I'm not sure what to expect. I have an infrared gun but obviously that's not the most accurate and i cannot measure temps while riding.

Intake and exhaust are stock. One muffler has a leak that I've temporarily patched, but it doesn't seem to affect cylinder head temp.

Old is only 300 miles old. Bringing tools of course. Should I send it or just take the car?
 
ecefour said:
Old is only 300 miles old.
Click to expand...
I assume you mean the oil is only 300 miles old. Be sure to check it and top it off before you leave, and take a quart with you to add at gas stops if needed. These air cooled engines consume a little bit of oil as a way of life whether you see them smoke or not, and you should check your oil at every gas stop during a long hot riding day to be sure you don't run it low. Aside from that, the engine will be fine. They were designed to keep themselves cool enough as long as you are moving most of the ride.
 
I rode my CL350 from El Paso, Texas to Dallas, Texas, to Noel, Missouri on July 17th and 18th, 1968. That is more than 1000 miles in 23 hours. I'm pretty sure the temps were higher than 100 at the beginning of the trip. No problems with overheating. Other than my personal comfort, I see no problems riding air cooled motorcycles in hot weather.
 
Reminder to put bike on center stand (not side kickstand) when checking oil level.

EDIT: if no center stand, something under side stand so to get engine as upright as possible and it doesn't get over- or under-filled
 
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When temps drop down to 80 around here I change from my summer shorts to my longer "winter shorts" around the house...lol.
100+ degrees F around here is often the normal, but it is a "dry heat"....
I ride early in the day if possible and head for the higher elevations...but I always have to come back to civilization riding in the heat...no way to get around it....
For longer trips at those temps I ride wearing an evaporative vest under my perforated jacket and an evaporative neck scarf. Wet 'em and put them in the freezer the night before and take along in a plastic bag and put them on when thawed and it gets warm later on in the trip.
At gas stops rewet them and ride on.
When I wore an Aerostich Roadcrafter, I would stop and load all the pockets with ice from the pop dispenser and open all the vents... very cool...
Hydrate yourself with a tank bag or back pack water source. Start hydrating yourself a day or two before a long trip and drink before you feel thirsty.

Fly Racing Adult Cooling Vest (Black, Large)​

 
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Temperature isn't really an issue for the bike. I was doing 3-4 hour round trip commute to work usually on a CB750 the past year anywhere from single digit temps to 100*+. Over 100* has never been memorable in the past year or past decades. 0*-10* has been memorable in that the bike takes 20-30 minutes of riding to get enough temp in it to idle nice without working the throttle, after extended warmup times. That and the occasional stop to hug the engine if I don't catch enough red lights, because my fingers stopped hurting and that's probably bad. Heat is cake, just drink a lot of water. Stay hydrated, the bike will be fine. I use 5w40 Rotella T6, is really hot temps 110*+ maybe a 50w oil is warranted but we don't get that here in the mid Atlantic.
 
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