What does this do and why don't all bike's fans come on sooner?

From personal experience my 14r turned the fans on @205 stock according to the gauge. After the flash they turn on @195 engine temp. Does not sound like much but when you are sitting in traffic, its the difference between legs/thighs/other things getting warm at 195 and being on fire @205. Why did Kawi choose 205 vs 195 I cant really say. I am sure it has to do with optimal operating temps for something.

However, I dont think you could convince me that this change will hurt my bike in any way. 99% of the time when I am cruising at highway speeds my bike is well below the 195 mark even in summer time so how could it be a problem at idle? Thermostat is still working because when the fans come on even at idle bike can drop as much as 7 degrees. That would not happen if the thermostat was not working normally. So I say this is an amazing mod with no downside.

Basically its because Kawi knows whats best for the motor. Could be due to the temps needed for the cats to warm up properly and quickly. Or also maybe to avoid the higher drain in the electrical system. Fans running sooner and longer = higher electrical drain. maybe to shorten the time it takes to come up to optimum operating temp for efficiency. Or maybe even at 205 wherever the bike reads its temp its actually only just starting to be warm in certain other parts of the motor. In other words, by keeping it closer to 200 at the sensor location, the rest of the engine is "just right". It does have oil jets to keep the underside of the pistons cool.

A lot of cars run 220ish thermostats because that's the temp they run the best (not necessarily for the most power).

When I flashed my VFR, Mr. Guhl did not seem to understand why I didn't want to lower the fan temp. He didn't want to argue but I got the impression he thought I didn't know what I was talking about when I said if Honda wanted it to come on sooner it would have.

On my first 14R I had Ivan lower the fan temp and they were on constantly. Never really rode it before the flash but I'm thinking of leaving it stock when I get another 14.

All i can say is that when the weather is in the 50s even low 60s outside my bike barely gets to 180 most the time. So all that talk about the motor demanding a certain temp just doesnt seem right to me. Now that theory about the cats needing a certain temp for emissions makes perfect sense, but i dont have cats anymore so...

When making your decision Auron consider this. Those fans do not regulate engine temp. That is the thermostats job. The fans simply facilitate the cooling of the liquid. Guhl is not changing thermostat logic (nor coud he as its mechanical) he is simply helping the thermostat do its job more efficiently. You might argue that kawasaki knows best, but most folks dont get a fan flash only right? I have more power, different timing, my bike is lowered, all things that build additional heat not considered by the original design. So basically, you need it IMO if you are going to unleash the beast.

* Last updated by: darkarcher on 6/29/2016 @ 11:25 AM *

Darkarcher, I would agree in most cases that it is the thermostat to regulate temp IF the cooling capacity was large enough to prevent overheating. In this case, I think that since the cooling capacity is small because its a bike it is possible to get it hot enough that the stat cant do enough to keep it cool.

For example, my second fan comes on and runs full tilt at about 203-205 degrees as indicated on the dash. and normally in even slow but occasionally moving traffic it will start the fans on high and then cool off to 199 or so and then shut back off in a very short time. BUT I was in 95+ degree temps and stuck in a traffic jam and not moving a couple of weeks ago and the bike got so hot with the fans running on "high" that the bike got up to 218-220 indicated. It has NEVER been that hot before. But in this case there was no air movement and even with the fans running the temps kept climbing. Luckily I was able to take the next exit and start riding again before I felt the need to shut it off. The hottest I had ever seen before that was 208-210. I don't know how warm it would have gotten.

I've been thinking about this lately and watching very closely.

The last couple of weeks I been riding in 110 up to 120 degree weather.

My fans come on at 204 and shut off at 194

Of coarse at any light it jumps fast up to like 207 and fans come on
and goes right back down.

Bike handles the high temps pretty good. I thought for sure would
give me problems with how hot it typically runs to start with.

I find anything above 110 degrees and in the 50-60mph range the bike
runs in the high 190's and stays there.

Bike has had no issues with engine temps even in the high temps we've been hitting.

So KHI did good at selecting 204 for the fans to come on.
pretty close to as low as possible temp without running constantly.
Doubt if many are going to ride in anything above 120-125 degrees.

So if bike was flashed my fans pretty much would be on constantly when
ever temps are 110 or greater.

The only reason I see for setting lower is to get it to cool off sooner
and get a head of the heat curve, like at the drag strip, etc. Messing around
in the staging lanes, slow return lane speeds etc, hard to cool bikes down.
But a manual switch probably better at that point.

And if you are constantly running this bike in city rush hour traffic,
I think you bought the wrong bike to start with but starting fans earlier
would help to get ahead of the heat curve in traffic.

Didn't the Gen 1's have a little more issues with heating up fast with only a single fan?

"So if bike was flashed my fans pretty much would be on constantly whenever temps are 110 or greater."

Dear God as they should be lol. How do you ride when its that hot? Me and my leathers/ATGATT are under the shade tree if it gets that hot out.

* Last updated by: darkarcher on 6/29/2016 @ 10:18 AM *

HaHa...

I wear full leathers and it's really not that bad, it's any "exposed skin" that gets hot
and hotter at speed, like a blast furnace. ie. visor down is cooler then visor up.

Keep in mind morning temps are great...70's ~ 80's then again I'm definitely a desert rat!

Don's argument was that it makes the bike more efficient, much like changing the fueling to shitcan the EPA mandated garbage.

it's any "exposed skin" that gets hot and hotter at speed, like a blast furnace.

* Last updated by: extrapolator on 6/29/2016 @ 12:37 PM *

Roll that chart on a little....

100 = 105
105 = 113
110 = 121
115 = 129
120 = 137

Resurrecting this old thread as it came up in a search. My ECU is on its way to Ivan right now. I expect it back this Friday or Saturday.

I too don't understand why all re-flashing tuners insist on turning down the kick-on temp for the fans. I intend to keep my bike for life so I feel that any avoidable wear on the electro-mechanical components is in my long term best interest. Besides, I understand why bike engineers program features like fuel cut and other fuel-saving parameters into the ECU (the only reason I am getting mine flashed) but if early cooling is better, why don't they allow it from factory?

My bike is usually at 196 degrees or thereabout when riding in the summer, even though I am never in stop-n-go traffic and rarely ride in >85F temps, so my fans would kick on way too often if Ivan lowers the programmed threshold. I will be asking him to leave that as-is. I am having him do the same with the factory low gear traction-control settings (another feature I don't expect to ever need to change).

Cooler= more power and LESS engine wear.
The oil temp will be cooler as well as the coolant, the factory needs a certain temp for the emmissions and evap systems to work most efficiently, most of which we as a group care less about.
Replacing a fan motor if needed would be negligible compared to engine damage caused by heat and excessive wear.
My 2012 as well as my wifes 06 have been flashed and with a lower fan temp, my 2012 has been this way for 5 years now and never any issue other than 206hp at the wheel............lol
Cooler=BETTER