Overheating issues! 1980 gs550L

[rarod23]

hey everyone i seem to be having an overheating issue with my bike and i wanted to know how common this is.Its been hot around here lately, 97 degrees F and me and my friend have tried to go cruising but ol' bessie hasn't let me cruise longer than an 1hr at a time without overheating and shutting down.has ne1 else experienced this problem? any feed back would be appreciated.thanks

[Motorcycle Forum]

[omegajim]

not the most familiar with this bike, but if it is air cooled and overheating.......

The bike might be running lean - some schmutz (varnish) built up in the carburetor and now it runs a smidge lean.

Would start with using some sea foam in the gas - something along the lines of going with the simplest/cheapest fix first.

[Easy Rider]

hey everyone i seem to be having an overheating issue with my bike

I dare say it's not common at all.
It's air cooled so you need to be careful not to block the airflow around the header pipes and cylinders.
Have you checked the oil ?? Should be using an oil with a top number of at least 40......10W40 or 20W50.
Has anybody screwed with the pipes or air box ??
Is there a proper, stock air filter in place ??

[Easy Rider]

Would start with using some sea foam in the gas - something along the lines of going with the simplest/cheapest fix first.

While I agree with your idea, I don't agree with the fix.

Seafoam is none of the above. It's neither the best cleaner available nor is it the cheapest.
Get a can of Berrymans B12 Chemtool from Walmart or your favorite auto parts store; about 1/3 the price.

[DrBob]

You definately have a problem- a small air cooled motor should not get so hot it shuts down even in 97 degree weather, unless of course you spend that hour in stop and go traffic. Before it shuts off does the motor start to ping when you give it gas? If so, you are overheating. Pull a plug- if you are running lean, the spark plug will be dry and light gray. Or your ignition timing could be off due to to 31 years or worn parts. Or your charging system could have a problem, causing the stator to get hot and overheat the engine oil it lives in.

Or if the motor does not ping and it just shuts off, you may not be overheating, you may be getting vapor lock from overheating a fuel line. Make sure the fuel line does not touch the engine or exhaust, and that it is routed properly without kinks.

[rarod23]

You definately have a problem- a small air cooled motor should not get so hot it shuts down even in 97 degree weather, unless of course you spend that hour in stop and go traffic. Before it shuts off does the motor start to ping when you give it gas? If so, you are overheating. Pull a plug- if you are running lean, the spark plug will be dry and light gray. Or your ignition timing could be off due to to 31 years or worn parts. Or your charging system could have a problem, causing the stator to get hot and overheat the engine oil it lives in.

Or if the motor does not ping and it just shuts off, you may not be overheating, you may be getting vapor lock from overheating a fuel line. Make sure the fuel line does not touch the engine or exhaust, and that it is routed properly without kinks.

OK so this sounds like the charging system could be the problem cause just recently my bike doesn't want to hold a charge does anyone know how much this would cost at a shop to fix??

[DrBob]

You should be more worried with having a shop diagnose the problem with your charging system. What do you mean by "recently does not hold a charge?" If the battery does not HOLD a charge, then the battery is the problem. If the battery is not GETTING charged then it could be the stator, or the regulator, or a simple bad connection or burnt wire. With a bike that is 30 years old it would not be surprising to have two unrelated problems, so please do not assume that the two are caused by the same thing.
If it is indeed the stator, you can get a cheap aftermarket one for about $120, and figure about the same in labor. Call around though- many shops will simply not work on a Japanese bike that is as old as yours (out of fear they will break something they can not get a replacement for, or the repair bill will rapidly exceed the value of the bike and they will get stiffed when you never pick the bike up) or they will only quote you an hourly rate for diagnostic work and repairs. See if you can find one that will test your charging system (figure a half hour labor charge) and then give you a firm price on replacing whatever is bad with it. That way there are no surprises.