[Deacon1969]

Ok guys..... You are going to love this. Finally got the bike back together. installed a new (used) fan patched the hole in the Radiator, and then took the bike out for a ride. Well here is where the weird part starts. The Temp gauge didn't budge not one bit at all, all the way to the freeway (About 6 miles intown roads) Got it out on the freeway and rapped it up to around 80 miles an hour. Temp started to go up. Leveled out to around a little higher then midway. Stop for fuel and then ran on some highways for about another 6 to 7 @ miles @ around 55 miles an hour, until I got back to some winding streets where I dropped down to around 40 to 45 for an additional 3 miles. When I got ready to pull into a parking lot the temp shot up to almost overheating but not quite. Then as I was looking for a parking space the temp started to fall back down to a little above midway. Got off the bike for about an 40 minutes or so. Got back on road at about 40 to 45 miles an hour for an additional 5 miles temp shot up again to almost overheating. Came to a stop light while I was at the stop light them started to fall to around a little of midway and stayed right there until I returned home an additional 5 miles. WHAT GIVES. I have never seen a temp gauge swing like that before.





Deacon

 

[Blindstitch]

I have.





When I got my brothers bike it would show it was overheating every trip I made. I was going nuts. Bought a few 7 volt regulators thinking it was that and lost a decent amount of money swapping thermostats and coolant.



One thing I learned was every time I turned right the damn thing shot up again and left it went down. Turned out to be a ground issue. The best thing to do is to follow back the wires from the tach to the 7 volt regulator near the speedometer and clean the connections. Make sure the ground is actually grounding.

 

[marshallf3]

Have to agree, we've had problems with the regulator, the gauge and rarely the sender but a lot have turned out to be a connection somewhere. As old as these bikes are all the connections ned a good cleaning and a light coat of silicone grease, especially the ones that carry a fair amount of current such as the stator and all the grounds.



Not to say I was helping the problem by occasionally taking an old Kawasaki through a foot or two of water on occasion but it would get bad frame grounds from time to time. Finally broke down and got new ring terminals, exposed new wiring I had to sand a bit to make shiny then crimped them on with a bed of silicone grease inside the terminals. Used the good crimpers that make a true M crimp too, not the ones that just smash the wire. Sanded the frame areas, new bolts and hit the areas with a couple of coats of black Testors oil base model paint top and bottom. Never had a probem again but the bike didn't last but a year or so longer. I've got an old 2-stroke 350 engine out in my garage with a fresh top and bottom, frame and such didn't make it back when I moved. Still make a nice go-cart engine if someone were inclined but, with a chamber, you're talking about nearly 40 HP and 5 gears.

 

[Deacon1969]

Have to agree, we've had problems with the regulator, the gauge and rarely the sender but a lot have turned out to be a connection somewhere. As old as these bikes are all the connections ned a good cleaning and a light coat of silicone grease, especially the ones that carry a fair amount of current such as the stator and all the grounds.



Not to say I was helping the problem by occasionally taking an old Kawasaki through a foot or two of water on occasion but it would get bad frame grounds from time to time. Finally broke down and got new ring terminals, exposed new wiring I had to sand a bit to make shiny then crimped them on with a bed of silicone grease inside the terminals. Used the good crimpers that make a true M crimp too, not the ones that just smash the wire. Sanded the frame areas, new bolts and hit the areas with a couple of coats of black Testors oil base model paint top and bottom. Never had a probem again but the bike didn't last but a year or so longer. I've got an old 2-stroke 350 engine out in my garage with a fresh top and bottom, frame and such didn't make it back when I moved. Still make a nice go-cart engine if someone were inclined but, with a chamber, you're talking about nearly 40 HP and 5 gears.

Thanks for the Help guys I will check all those connections and see.



Deacon