[wolf]

Hey guys and gals,
I was driving my brand new 02 636 home from the dealer yesterday and it was a pretty hot day ( 37 C ) and I had to ride through the city which meant a lot of stop, start riding for about half an hour. Within 5 minutes of riding, my temp gauge hit 100 C and to my great fear, continued to climb up to 112 C. At this time i decidied that I must do one of two things. Get out of the traffic and get up to a speed that would allow the radiator to work efficiently, or stop riding the bike. The choice was clear, so off I went down the emergency lane of the motorway, cruising at 100kph. The temp gauge dropped back down to about 90 C. as i rode into the suburbs, however, where u have to slow down, up she went again to 100 Celcius. Is this normal?? My baby is brand new and I don't want to burn out the motor, but I have to ride to work in this weather. Also, in regards to running the bike in, did anyone actually stick to the 4000rpm limit for 800miles. I mean, c'mon, that's a bit of an ask. On the ride home yesterday i didn't take the tacho past 5000rpms. But how long does this have to go on. For those of you who bought your 6R new, how did you run yours in. Opinions appreciated. thanks. Safe riding.

 

[mfzx6r]

I too bought mine new.
The temp seems about right for the hot days.
On cool days it runs around 69-71deg C
When it gets too hot[the motor] I think the temp gauge
flashes or a warning flashes if I read the manual right.
Just dont over rev it for the first 1000-1500 k's,red line,
On the Hi-way just doing 100k's is more than the 4000rpm that the
manuals says so its just not practical to stay under that rev limit.
And try not to keep it on the same revs for too long while
running it in.


mfzx6r

 

[joep411]

I bought my 2001 6R new and I was worried the first couple of times my temp went up. I don't know the conversion from C to F but even on warm nights in traffic my temp goes up to 224F and then the fan comes on. As soon as I start moving it goes right down. I asked the dealer and was told that these bikes run hot it's fine don't worry about it. Also the temp light will flash if it gets to hot. As for the break in I followed it to about 800 miles going like 500 rpm higher and lower just like mfzx said don't stay a one steady rpm for a long period of time. Hope this helps ya.

 

[02kwaker]

i did the conversion and 112C works to 233F. did your fan kick on at around 107C?? if it did, than your bike is fine. as for break in, try to stick to the manual the best you can, but its also good for the bike if you umm..."air it out" a little bit, if you know what i mean. after around 500 miles (800km) go ahead and start running semi-normal. say up your RPM limit up 3K every 200KM. it will get your engine parts used to higher RPMS relaxed, but nicely.

have fun man, wanna trade engines? i wouldn't mind having that extra 37cc's

 

[dj dunzie]

I've posted in this forum somewhere else on this, but the gist of it is that I've talked to a mechanic who used to tune superbikes in Canada, and his advice was to run a wide range on the tach right outta the crate without completely redlining it. He says to never hold a constant rev (ie/ driving down a major freeway stuck in 5th and holding)... but rather to "dance the needle" and shift constantly... it makes for a lot of work but helps everything to seat properly throughout the rev range.

Having said all that, if the manual says (I can't believe it btw) to stay below 4,000 rpm, I guess Kawasaki would know a thing or two about proper break-in.

All I know is I broke my 96 6R in right by the book, very careful to never rev the thing excessively, and my cousin (identical bike identical shipment to dealer) drove the piss outta his from day one. Two things pissed me off:

1) Once fully broken in, his bike was stronger than mine every time we dragged, even if we switched riders...

2) At the service where they checked valve clearances, my bike was more outta whack than his, and subsequently cost me more for shims and labor.

Anyway, not recommending you peak the thing out every gear every time, but when I get the new bike in March I'm not gonna be afraid to rev it out just a little bit during the breakin...

 

[-gary]

My '02 always ran hot when I first got it, but that seems to have gone away with time.

-gary
'02 6R

 

[GreenEnvy]

New engines always do run hotter then broken in ones.
New engines have more friction from the new pieces slightly rubbing eachother.
Temps should drop within a few hundred kilo's.
The temp will still sit at 105-110C on hot days in traffic though, wont hurt the engine, don't worry.

PS - Damn you and your 37C! here it's -4C!!!



-=Welcome To Canada=-
2002 Green 6R
1986 Gixxer 7/11

 

[wolf]

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll keep it below 6000rpms for these first couple of weeks, then slowly start to open her up a bit at a time. Just got my rims polished and I'm putting a Powerbronze undertray on this weekend. I'll post the pics when I'm done. one other thing thats bugging me....There is a clicking noise coming from somewhere- gets faster as the bike speeds up and slows when the bike slows- seems to be coming from the front, can't work out what's causing it. My bike is brand new. Maybe the guys at the dealer didn't re assemble the wheel properly, cause they took them off to polish the rims. Hell, maybe this sounds is normal for this bike, i dunno cause this is my first ninja. sorry about the long post.
P.S. I guess 37C is better than -4C for riding, but its still friggin hot in jeans/jacket/helmet/boots.

 

[magoo]

My 02 636 has 4000 kms on it now and when I asked the dealer about running it it he said to bouce between 100 and 140 km/h because I am in the bush and only have long open roads. Once I had done 500km I told him I was sick of people asking me how fast she would go. His reply was "there's nothing wrong with doing a couple hundred km/h ,just don't keep it there."
After that I rode it like it was run in and have no probs with her at all. Iv'e had 272 km/h out of her and she's still pulling.

Wolf, my frontend clicks somewhere as well but the mechanic said it is normal, he reckons they are fairly noisy engines anyway.

2002 Green 636 ..Beep,Beep..

 

[BigDawg]

I have a 99 ZX-6R and it get hots in traffic especially during bike week. I have an extra fan installed with a switch mounted to the inner fairing that I can flip on in heavy traffic. Works like a charm. I can sit in traffic for as long as I want and the bike dosent get close to overheating.

quote:
Hey guys and gals,
I was driving my brand new 02 636 home from the dealer yesterday and it was a pretty hot day ( 37 C ) and I had to ride through the city which meant a lot of stop, start riding for about half an hour. Within 5 minutes of riding, my temp gauge hit 100 C and to my great fear, continued to climb up to 112 C. At this time i decidied that I must do one of two things. Get out of the traffic and get up to a speed that would allow the radiator to work efficiently, or stop riding the bike. The choice was clear, so off I went down the emergency lane of the motorway, cruising at 100kph. The temp gauge dropped back down to about 90 C. as i rode into the suburbs, however, where u have to slow down, up she went again to 100 Celcius. Is this normal?? My baby is brand new and I don't want to burn out the motor, but I have to ride to work in this weather. Also, in regards to running the bike in, did anyone actually stick to the 4000rpm limit for 800miles. I mean, c'mon, that's a bit of an ask. On the ride home yesterday i didn't take the tacho past 5000rpms. But how long does this have to go on. For those of you who bought your 6R new, how did you run yours in. Opinions appreciated. thanks. Safe riding.