Rear drive running hot?

[Journeyman]

Yeah, I was looking at it like the end of an axle of a car. Having to pull it out to access the inner bearings. Guess we have a short cut to them. Thanks.

I get it. When I first went to pull the wheel I started to unbolt the rear brake assembly, cause that's what you do, but something told me to check the manual. Then I realized how the wheel went together. It's one (the only?) thing easier about working on the 2.5 compared to the 2.3s.

 

[Jagster]

Until stumbling across this thread just now, the subject of a hot seat and rear drive unit wasn't on my radar.
I'm out for a few hours on the Rocket today so i'll take note and report back what I find.

 

[Jagster]

......so......My experience during todays ride was interesting.
The roads I was riding were very winding and hilly, so, basically my speed was relatively low and the gearbox was being worked constantly throughout the day.
I wasn't caning it, just cruising along with an occasional spurt of acceleration whenever I felt in the mood.
The swing arm did feel noticeably warm and so did the bevel box. It wasn't any where near too hot to touch, but it was warm.

It was a warm sunny day, but the average ambient temperature wasn't particularly high. ....say, 60 degrees F.

I'm wondering if perhaps the surface temperature of the whole swing arm assembly could be affected significantly by energy absorption from the sun? I mean, there is a really big surface area in satin black, soaking up the heat of the sun......Just a thought.

 

[stingray]

My IR temp gun will be here today. I'll start at the engine and work back to the bevel box with temp readings before and after a brisk ride.

 

[TURBO200R4]

My IR temp gun will be here today. I'll start at the engine and work back to the bevel box with temp readings before and after a brisk ride.

don't forget the pipes/muffler

 

[stingray]

don't forget the pipes/muffler

and the seat.

 

[Journeyman]

Just back from an overnight ride/camp. After unloading gear (~ about 7 - 8 minutes) I remembered this post and touched the final drive- hot! Got my heat gun and here's what I found:

• 130F rear brake caliper and final drive
• Moving up the swing arm it got hotter and hotter - finally 180
• The starter was 224
• Most of the exhaust was 300ish to 335
• The heat shield protecting the tire was 220- I added a layer of Heat Wrap material between there a while back, as the Exedra Max is closer to the shield and glad that I did
• Sorry, I didn't think to measure the seat, but under the seat I know it gets very hot.

Keep in mind that this is all nearly 10 minutes after shutting off the bike.

I think it's the cat box that's responsible for this. The big question, that someone else has asked is, how these temps differ with those running aftermarket exhaust minus the cat box? I had the Werkes pipes, but couldn't take the noise on long distance rides, but interested to see the difference.

If I could find something less loud without the cat box I would definitely consider going that route, although with more free flowing exhaust I think you lose some torque, which is what I value most, not HP.

This can't be good for anything that is heated up more than necessary for long periods of time.

 

[stingray]

Just back from an overnight ride/camp. After unloading gear (~ about 7 - 8 minutes) I remembered this post and touched the final drive- hot! Got my heat gun and here's what I found:

• 130F rear brake caliper and final drive
• Moving up the swing arm it got hotter and hotter - finally 180
• The starter was 224
• Most of the exhaust was 300ish to 335
• The heat shield protecting the tire was 220- I added a layer of Heat Wrap material between there a while back, as the Exedra Max is closer to the shield and glad that I did
• Sorry, I didn't think to measure the seat, but under the seat I know it gets very hot.

Keep in mind that this is all nearly 10 minutes after shutting off the bike.

I think it's the cat box that's responsible for this. The big question, that someone else has asked is, how these temps differ with those running aftermarket exhaust minus the cat box? I had the Werkes pipes, but couldn't take the noise on long distance rides, but interested to see the difference.

If I could find something less loud without the cat box I would definitely consider going that route, although with more free flowing exhaust I think you lose some torque, which is what I value most, not HP.

This can't be good for anything that is heated up more than necessary for long periods of time.

Crikey! Sounds like you could fry an egg on the swingarm.

 

[Jagster]

One solution you could opt for is to measure the temperature in celsius scale........doesn't look such a big number.


On a more serious note.... I would perhaps take consideration somewhat about measuring temperatures of components close to a significant heat source (i.e. headers, CATs etc...) when the bike has been standing still for a short period of time. Normally there would be air flowing past these various components that have now been heated up much higher than under normal use when air flow would be cooling them naturally......just saying.

 

[Journeyman]

One solution you could opt for is to measure the temperature in celsius scale........doesn't look such a big number.

Reminds me of when you car makes a strange noise- just turn up the music. Fixed it!