Red calves, literally.

[Requin]

I'm not a fan of protection gear and in summer I usually ride in jorts and a tshirt but this frikin bike insists on messing with me.
My calves look like they were sunburned, left one especially. And no, it's not the sun as they are red on side close to the bike.
I can feel the frikin heat radiating into my skin like it's Chernobyl on explosion day.
I'm not touching the bike with my calves, I'm not knee-hugging the tank, my legs are relaxed on the pegs.
I keep looking for what exactly is slow cooking my skin but I can't be sure if it's that damn cat, the engine itself + the fan or the aluminium frame that acts like a heatsink.
Coolant temp is normal, 3 lines in the gauge while moving, 4 while standing still.
Did anyone find a solution to the furnace issue, assuming it's not just my bike?

 

[grahammarsden]

You do you, but I just remember that sweat rash hurts less than gravel rash.

 

[Requin]

You do you, but I just remember that sweat rash hurts less than gravel rash.

You are not wrong but I can't solve my heat issue by becoming more hot
It's 37-39⁰ outside, that's fever temp.

 

[tuning-forks]

Odd that your left side is worse as the clutch side always throws more heat. Once the outdoor temp hits 28 or 29C I'm already sticking out my right leg to get it away from the engine heat. I won't even ride if temp is above 30C so I can't imagine 37, but I suppose you get used to it.
Have you ridden other bikes at this temp and NOT had the problem?

 

[Requin]

Odd that your left side is worse as the clutch side always throws more heat. Once the outdoor temp hits 28 or 29C I'm already sticking out my right leg to get it away from the engine heat. I won't even ride if temp is above 30C so I can't imagine 37, but I suppose you get used to it.
Have you ridden other bikes at this temp and NOT had the problem?

I have my whole life but I only liked/had cruisers. This would be my first non-cruiser bike. And on cruisers I always had more than one place to keep my feet so I never cared how hot the bike got.

 

[Requin]

Left the bike on for 20 mins of so, to get the fan going.
It seems the fan heat hits the left leg way more than the right.
Somehow the hot air is pushed under the frame and hits about where the left calf is. You get the fan heat and the frame also gets hotter.
On the right, it hits the engine and is pushed more to the outside.
The fact that the fat hose is also to the left, EXACTLY in the way of the air blown by the fan is also genius...
Solved.

 

[tuning-forks]

Ok, my fan is rarely on so that's why I get more heat on the right side I guess. Both my bikes the same, so I assume it's because the clutch side runs hotter than the stator side.
Were any of your cruisers liquid cooled?
Unfortunately for you, the fan is designed only to cool the rad, so you will have to figure out a way to direct airflow or shield your legs.

 

[Requin]

Ok, my fan is rarely on so that's why I get more heat on the right side I guess. Both my bikes the same, so I assume it's because the clutch side runs hotter than the stator side.
Were any of your cruisers liquid cooled?
Unfortunately for you, the fan is designed only to cool the rad, so you will have to figure out a way to direct airflow or shield your legs.

All of them were/are liquid cooled.
But none have aluminium frames(huge frikin heatsinks) and none blew the hot air on my legs.
I'm thinking that whoever created this bike never sat on it and clearly never rode it.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

You must remember the FZ is a wide inline 4 cylinder, NOT V twin, or twin , which is much narrower an engine.
You have a performance bike so your going to have some trade off's, IE higher RPMs, wider engine, more heat
from the engine area...

As for the frame, not being a thinner steel tube frame (like most cruisers) being aluminum and lighter, will pick up heat
after extended riding. Wrapping the header couldn't hurt, but I don't see the need-Something to consider

The FZ does what it was designed to do. A semi sport bike with upright seating with a detuned race engine.
With likely twice the HP of most cruisers, heat comes along with it....

I always wear blue jeans when riding and never had an issue with heat on my legs (in SW Florida)...
You may want to try that, or sell the bike and get back on a cruiser / different machine..

.

 

[Gary in NJ]

Engines produce a lot of heat that has to go somewhere. Fluid dynamics suggests that the heat will be dissipated behind and to the sides; especially if the bike is moving forward. I don’t see anything unusual here…with the exception of not wearing proper protective gear. Not judging…it’s your skin.

 

[grahammarsden]

I'm thinking that whoever created this bike never sat on it and clearly never rode it.

I'm thinking that whoever created the bike wore protective gear and didn't ride it in 37 degree heat.

 

[Requin]

You must remember the FZ is a wide inline 4 cylinder, NOT V twin, or twin , which is much narrower an engine.
You have a performance bike so your going to have some trade off's, IE higher RPMs, wider engine, more heat
from the engine area...

As for the frame, not being a thinner steel tube frame (like most cruisers) being aluminum and lighter, will pick up heat
after extended riding. Wrapping the header couldn't hurt, but I don't see the need-Something to consider

The FZ does what it was designed to do. A semi sport bike with upright seating with a detuned race engine.
With likely twice the HP of most cruisers, heat comes along with it....

I always wear blue jeans when riding and never had an issue with heat on my legs (in SW Florida)...
You may want to try that, or sell the bike and get back on a cruiser / different machine..

.

I know. But the heat is sent more to the left where it goes exactly on the leg. While to the right it hits the clutch cover and is sent away from the leg.
Not really twice the hp, my current cruiser has 90hp, the fz has 98.

 

[Requin]

Engines produce a lot of heat that has to go somewhere. Fluid dynamics suggests that the heat will be dissipated behind and to the sides; especially if the bike is moving forward. I don’t see anything unusual here…with the exception of not wearing proper protective gear. Not judging…it’s your skin.

True. But as I stated on the right the heat hits the clutch cover and is diverted away, as much as it is, while on the left it hits directly into the leg.
Free to judge, if I cared about being judged I would wear gear

 

[Requin]

I'm thinking that whoever created the bike wore protective gear and didn't ride it in 37 degree heat.

Lucky him, on the weather part. I can't change summer, sadly. If I could, I would drop it a few degrees, just nuff to not melt in normal gear. But I can't. What I can do is not wear the gear. Maybe I'll move to Japan.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Just an FYI, I had a Gen 1 FJR (2004) when they were available.

That bike WAS A HEATER, BIG TIME...Piss poor resign (later re-designed).
Especially being fully faired , I could really only ride it in the winter.

The FZ is cool compared to the FJR, (which was a blast, 145 HP low, easily power wheelie).
I did many "heat mods" at the time, wrapped header, blocking / changing air flow, etc.
It got sold as it was just way too hot, at least for Florida weather..

The FZ was bought used, as a "beater" in 2009. I sold the FJR, a Goldwing and KLR250 and kept
the FZ as my ONLY ride..

 

[Requin]

Just an FYI, I had a Gen 1 FJR (2004) when they were available.

That bike WAS A HEATER, BIG TIME...Piss poor resign (later re-designed).
Especially being fully faired , I could really only ride it in the winter.

The FZ is cool compared to the FJR, (which was a blast, 145 HP low, easily power wheelie).
I did many "heat mods" at the time, wrapped header, blocking / changing air flow, etc.
It got sold as it was just way too hot, at least for Florida weather..

The FZ was bought used, as a "beater" in 2009. I sold the FJR, a Goldwing and KLR250 and kept
the FZ as my ONLY ride..

I do not doubt that there are bikes way hotter than the fz6. I was just pointing out a flaw it has, after finding out what was turning my leg into brisket.

 

[tuning-forks]

On the flip side, you should be able to ride later into the winter (and earlier in spring) than you can on your cruiser.
There are places in the US where they can ride in December, but can't ride at all in the summer because of the heat. In a colder climate you might be pissed off about the design of the cruiser.

 

[Requin]

On the flip side, you should be able to ride later into the winter (and earlier in spring) than you can on your cruiser.
There are places in the US where they can ride in December, but can't ride at all in the summer because of the heat. In a colder climate you might be pissed off about the design of the cruiser.

Well, there is always someone who sees the good part.