ST1300 heat - problem SOLVED.

[T_C]

I'll be trying this shortly. Taking the bike and trailer for a run to Wisconsin over Labor day. My '04 did not have heat issues, the '05 definitely does. I've been putting up with it, but it's not getting any easier or better. So what have I too lose. I need to go under the tank and re-work the cruise control for a 2:1 lever assembly. Good time to try this.

Do you have pictures of deflection behind the radiator?

 

[cjames431]

I have considered doing this for a while. When I did the 1000mi on Jul30 I new when the radiator kicked on because I received a blast of hot air to the body. The blast would rise up into the helmet. I have a 2Bro's exhaust and the do not dissipate the heat. Never really noticed the heat on my short commute.
How does adding the foil effect maintenance under the cowls or tank?

 

[number1barber]

Number1: Good tip on sealing below the flap.

There is a lot of discussion here and elsewhere about the foil panels around the throttle body area. Maybe that's my fault because thats where my photo instructions start. Please understand that while sealing the throttle body area is important, that is a secondary area. The primary source of heat is the radiator. The process includes foil panels behind the radiator which deflect the heat out to the sides. My instructions are a layering process. The outermost layer is the most important, and that is behind the radiator. If all you do is seal the engine to the frame around the throttle bodies, you will be disappointed.

Whatever you do, don't seal the area at the back of the gas tank to the top of the engine. Thats how the heat gets out. From there seal the panels below the seat so the heat can escape underneath. Its gotta go somewhere.

Opps yep i sealed that area to prevent heat going under the seat

 

[Tom s]

just performed the heat solve , now I have no spark , checked all connectors , HELP

 

[Igofar]

I have considered doing this for a while. When I did the 1000mi on Jul30 I new when the radiator kicked on because I received a blast of hot air to the body. The blast would rise up into the helmet. I have a 2Bro's exhaust and the do not dissipate the heat. Never really noticed the heat on my short commute.
How does adding the foil effect maintenance under the cowls or tank?

As far as the effect on maintenance under the cowls or tank, I would not worry about this as much as, you'll need to do more annually due to the heat your trapping in that area
I've had several folks who either purchased their bikes used, that already had the foil treatment done, or read car salesman's write up then did it themselves, only to ask me to remove it all after a while.
What I found was a major concern, toasty wire harnesses, rubber bits, and dried out and cracked rubber lines.
IMHO save the foil for cooking potato's.
If Honda thought it needed to be there, they would have put it there at the factory.
.02

 

[SupraSabre]

As far as the effect on maintenance under the cowls or tank, I would not worry about this as much as, you'll need to do more annually due to the heat your trapping in that area
I've had several folks who either purchased their bikes used, that already had the foil treatment done, or read car salesman's write up then did it themselves, only to ask me to remove it all after a while.
What I found was a major concern, toasty wire harnesses, rubber bits, and dried out and cracked rubber lines.
IMHO save the foil for cooking potato's.
If Honda thought it needed to be there, they would have put it there at the factory.
.02

Like what they did with the '08s and later. Those two lower side panels were not put there for looks, they were put there to help divert the extra heat the '08 & later mufflers create!

 

[SupraSabre]

I ride my ST roughly 120 miles a day, 4 days a week. On a 90+ day in Atlanta stop and go traffic, the heat can be brutal. I've found pulling off my shirt, and just running a sleevless t under my mesh helps quite a bit. For the boys, I just spread my knees out past the fairings for a mile or so and get some air flow they cool down rather quickly. LOL I ride year around, so I dont want to take away my winter heat! LOL I rode last year down to 16*F with no electric gear.

As you get older, you also get wiser and realize electric gear is great! I didn't have electrics until 2007. Once I discovered them, I was in heaven during those cold winter day commutes...

Of course, electrics have come a long ways. And usually out of my reach, dollar wise! 4:

 

[Trapperdog]

As you get older, you also get wiser and realize electric gear is great! I didn't have electrics until 2007. Once I discovered them, I was in heaven during those cold winter day commutes...

Of course, electrics have come a long ways. And usually out of my reach, dollar wise! 4:

myself as well. My riding buddies teased me about it back then. They all have one now.

 

[ST Gui]

Once I discovered them, I was in heaven during those cold winter day commutes...

I think it was Jim (fnmag) who said something like '...you'll wonder why you didn't get them sooner'.

And that's exactly what I thought after getting a WnS liner and some H-D heated gloves. I don't have the winter weather most of you guys get ('cold' for me is a bone-chilling 60º LOL) and the heat from my ST isn't a problem. Being comfortable is nice!

 

[SupraSabre]

...
With age comes wisdom or arthritis.

Usually, BOTH! 4:

 

[Upt' North]

Although I said that in a post I was surely not the first to utter those words.
Many many wise riders have uttered the very same.
With age comes wisdom or arthritis.

The arthritis is probably a given, wisdom? Not so sure. I know some pretty dumb old folk.
Still a good enough reason to stay comfy though.
I was going to make a comment about wise old people who run countries but decided against it, Mellow would have pulled it a flash and rightly so, now what's that House called........
Upt'North.

 

[number1barber]

Maybe something needs syncing because my seat get warm and stays warm and not a nice warm. recently my bike got hit and written off. the heat i still get is something that is putting me off getting another pan so i had looked into this again and had some intresting ideas/thoughts

somebody mentioned the staintunes exhausts are lighter and run alot colder somebody also mentioned ceramic coating them reduces the tempratures even further so would wrapping them have the same effect? when i changed the headers to new stainless they would glow red when first starting the bike so these are my crazy ideas for cooling the bike excluding the mylar foil fix already here but maybe adding to it as well


1. remove lower fairings this will mean the air might pull around the exhaust pipes removing the heat and probably sucking heat out from the main side fairings. if this works well i will cut the tabs off to make it look like its designed that way if not step 2.

2. staintunes exhausts with exhaust wrap from the headers down assuming the wrap is designed to take header heat? if still a issue
then i will move to step 3

3. the mylar fix above or lift the tank and get a thin plastic sheet like clingfilm only a little stronger. lay the sheet over the area and push the plastic down and to the edges of everything. if you spray the plastic first with water it should stick to the sides of everything. take a liquid that sets solid and resists high heat like maybe silicone or similar. it must set semi flexible. pour the liquid slowly into the plastic filling it up as high as you can if you want it more level to the frame you may be able to put the bike on a block on the centre stand and jack the back up to tilt it forward be very careful and have people nearby if you try that to prevent it coming off the stand. wait for the liquid to set and carefully lift it out. remove the plastic and maybe put some rope through it to make it easy to put in and remove.

do not use a liquid that sets hard as if it fill a space around a pipe you will never get the block back out.
if anyone has a idea of what liquid i could use please let me know.

i think the exhaust and lower fairing might cure it without the rest

 

[number1barber]

I ended up getting another pan and had the same problem this week.
When i did the foil wrap last time this made my tank stone cold but i only did under the tank.
This is what i have learned this year.....

Changing the exhaust does not give a noticeable heat reduction.
wrapping behind the rad is not required as the hheat you feel is from the tank
having changed the alternator and seen where the wiring is its highly doubtul foil heats the wiring too much as itis already seriously hot

first solution would be to force heat out from under the tank. My first crazy idea is remove the airbox remount the air tubes and cut them shorter and install pod filters
mount tubes in the front holes left and right out to the fairing and cut a hole in the fairing and put a vent cover over the top to hide it. the idea was the aire would come in from the front scoop and be forced out with the heat out the side of the fairings. However their is a air sensor in the air box rremove that and the bike runs like ***** apparently

second crazy idea mount a air scoop under the headlight feeeding back through a tube into the space under the tank. seal the space at the back of the tank so air does not excape under your seat. install a hose on the other side either out the side of the fairing or down and out the side vent. if need be install a pc fan under the tank to help pull the hot air out

 

[Andrew Shadow]

How about another crazy idea- Redneck Nut Cooler.

 

[Igofar]

What your looking at is Heat Damage that melted not only the inside of the body panels, but also melted the knock sensor switch like candle wax
I've only seen this type of damage on bikes that had the foil treatment done

 

[beemerphile]

What I found was a major concern, toasty wire harnesses, rubber bits, and dried out and cracked rubber lines.

I've seen many more heat mitigation jobs done poorly than done well, but that does not mean that it cannot be done properly. When I have done heat mitigation on BMW K1100's I use hose and harness wrap to protect these items. Also important on the K1100 is to completely insulate the fuel pressure regulator and fuel piping. The fuel return loop acts like a heater loop by running gasoline through the hot engine area and then returning it to the tank. Eventually the gas in the tank is boiling. I am happy that my old timey ST11 does not have this to contend with since it is carbureted.

heat shield example product

In mapping out my heat mitigation plans for the ST11, the heat introduced by having the exhaust headers completely contained under plastic seems important. I plan to ceramic coat those inside and outside and wrap them with header wrap. The ceramic coating keeps more of the heat inside the pipe and protects against rust and corrosion on the outside. Wrapping the headers also improves exhaust scavaging.

 

[Oldbikefixr]

What your looking at is Heat Damage that melted not only the inside of the body panels, but also melted the knock sensor switch like candle wax
I've only seen this type of damage on bikes that had the foil treatment done

I found that condition on the two belly panels on my ST1100 while disassembled for it initial inspection. Cleaned up the area and sprayed several coats of silver header paint over those areas. I have no idea how long the PO idled in order to accomplish that but I haven't had a repeat. No new damage.

 

[bstig60]

I have noticed recently been doing some experimenting with the seat position, I have found that with the seat in the lowest position there is a lot more heat that comes out between the seat and the tank. With the seat in the highest position, I find very little heat coming out, not enough to make it uncomfortable even riding in the Florida summer heat.

 

[Upt' North]

I've seen many more heat mitigation jobs done poorly than done well, but that does not mean that it cannot be done properly. When I have done heat mitigation on BMW K1100's I use hose and harness wrap to protect these items. Also important on the K1100 is to completely insulate the fuel pressure regulator and fuel piping. The fuel return loop acts like a heater loop by running gasoline through the hot engine area and then returning it to the tank. Eventually the gas in the tank is boiling. I am happy that my old timey ST11 does not have this to contend with since it is carbureted.

heat shield example product

In mapping out my heat mitigation plans for the ST11, the heat introduced by having the exhaust headers completely contained under plastic seems important. I plan to ceramic coat those inside and outside and wrap them with header wrap. The ceramic coating keeps more of the heat inside the pipe and protects against rust and corrosion on the outside. Wrapping the headers also improves exhaust scavaging.

K1100LT must be one of the hottest bikes on the planet.
I remember the petrol boiling merrily away on a summers day, slowly poaching your doo dahs. Way, way hotter than an ST11. I always thought it was the Germans revenge for losing two ww's.
Upt'North.

 

[Igofar]

I have noticed recently been doing some experimenting with the seat position, I have found that with the seat in the lowest position there is a lot more heat that comes out between the seat and the tank. With the seat in the highest position, I find very little heat coming out, not enough to make it uncomfortable even riding in the Florida summer heat.

Different Take On Heat Issues - ST1300 check out this old post on your findings.