ST1300 heat - problem SOLVED.

[Paladin33rus]

Hello folks and @PanRider1300 particularly!
I've returned with intermediate results. This weekend permits me to commence 2025 riding season: +8+14°C air temperature and no precipitation, no ice. I've covered about 530 km, both interstate and city riding. Wanna report how thigs going so far.

Motor operating just fine - as previously. Dashboard coolant temp readings - 3 of 6 bars, no boiling or any other bad signs, revealing something wrong under fairing.
Pilot experience: heat is not bothering, I've even turned on my newly installed Corbin.

 

[gunsmoker]

I thought that I was getting a lot of heat out of the under-tank / scalloped areas of my tank
on that 2007 ST-1300 that I got back on Thanksgiving day 2024, but until now I've only ridden it on cool days and didn't mind a little warmth on my thighs and blowing up to my groin area. And on REALLY COLD days (I rode when it was 16 Fahrenheit one morning!) I wear 2-3 layers of pants / sweats, so I didn't feel heat or cold. Felt nothing.

TUES and WED of this week, I rode thru south Georgia down to central Florida.
Temps were in the 90's both days. 96 F. for an hour in Florida, above the pavement.
Well, guess what? NOW I really FEEL THE HEAT. Like a hair dryer turned to max heat at the 1500 watt setting.
This was my first riding on this bike in SUMMER weather conditions.
So now I'm going to research this phenomenon more and see if there's anything I can do about it.

(Other than ride standing up on the foot pegs, which I did for 1 minute at a time during several points during my 1000 miles of riding in those two days.)

 

[dduelin]

Most effective efforts might be investing in mid - calf boots and solid textile riding gear. Converting gasoline to horsepower creates heat. It's just physics. The coolest bikes keep that heat away from the rider. That said I got used to it and rode the wheels off my 2005 ST1300 12 months out of the year.

 

[Chris09]

I would take a hard look at the crossover gasket and clamp and both of the muffler gaskets and clamps and determine whether or not exhaust gas is leaking. Every time a tire is changed the mufflers are at the very least, rotated, and if they're anything like my mufflers, rotated in an alreardy ovaled / distorted clamp since I distorted them myself trying to remove the bolts.
Not sure why I fell into that problem; exhaust school 101, cut the clamps, maybe because it's been fifty years since I've done my own thrush hush with cross over exhaust system.
One can forget.

 

[Larry Fine]

TUES and WED of this week, I rode thru south Georgia down to central Florida.
Temps were in the 90's both days. 96 F. for an hour in Florida, above the pavement.
Well, guess what? NOW I really FEEL THE HEAT. Like a hair dryer turned to max heat at the 1500 watt setting.

Where on your body do you feel it?

 

[gunsmoker]

inner thighs.
More generally, my upper legs seem to be getting the heat directly even moving at speed and then when I stop the heat rolls up across my torso but I feel warmer in the crotch area than the rest of my upper body possibly because I usually have more protective gear on the upper part of my body and if I'm wearing my biker chaps that still leaves the crotch area exposed.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Check the position of your seat. Make sure that the seal at the front of the seat is in good shape and as close to being in contact with the tank as you can have it.
Try wearing a proper riding suit with full pants, not chaps. It find it cooler than riding with jeans. What insulates from the cold also insulates from the heat.

 

[MidLife]

inner thighs.
More generally, my upper legs seem to be getting the heat directly even moving at speed and then when I stop the heat rolls up across my torso but I feel warmer in the crotch area than the rest of my upper body possibly because I usually have more protective gear on the upper part of my body and if I'm wearing my biker chaps that still leaves the crotch area exposed.

Sometimes, leaving a gap between your knees and the tank can help. Experiment with windshield heights also (or even different windshields), it creates different turbulences.

Try synching the starter valves if you haven't done it yet. It has helped some.

Oil also contributes to cooling. Synthetics generally having a higher specific heat capacity may be the better choice. Some have felt a difference using Shell Rotella for instance.....just not sure their latest iteration is still MC compatible. Would have to check with the oil wizards here.

 

[Sadlsor]

Would have to check with the oil wizards here.

Oh boy!
A new Spring oil thread!
I thought these disappeared when winter left...
Wait! I'm KIDDING!