Re: New ST - Questions

[Eric Sheley <eric@xxxxxxxxxx>]

At 10:31 PM 09/23/1999 -0400, Rick Young wrote:
 >Just traded my '98 BMW Cruiser in on a '99 ST, black.  Have about 300 miles
 >on it and have already ordered the high performance exhaust.

Good move - both on the trade and the new pipe.

 >Went for another short ride today and again the needle would creep into the
 >red, especially when I was stopped or going slow, but most of the short
 >ride was in the proper operating zone.  It would not take but a few seconds
 >for the needle to move from mid-range to the red or from the red to the
 >mid-range.
 >Any idea's what the problem may be?  Bad gauge?  Defective cooling system?
 >Normal for an ST?

It doesn't sound "normal". If you are in a high temp area moving slow then 
it will get up into the hot, but after you get moving again it should go 
back down. Usually (even in the summer) normal riding will cause my needle 
to just come off of the lower line. If it gets warm in slower 35-40mph 
traffic I might make it to the halfway point. The only time I have seen 
mine go hot was in a long traffic jam with lots of stop and go with temps 
on the road easily over 115 degrees.

 >Oh, by the way, coolant in the overflow is higher than the max line.  And
 >the cooling fan runs for about 4 minutes after the engine is turned off.

If its showing hot when you shut off the key, the fan will run. I would 
assume one sensor runs both the gauge and the fan, so that would make sense.

I personally would be inclined to talk to your dealer about it and see what 
they say.

 >2. One of the mechanics at my dealer suggested that the factory breakin
 >recommendations are a little conservative.  As a matter of fact, he
 >suggested that, after 250 miles, I could run the bike up to 8 grand and not
 >inflict any damage.

Well, I believe as well that the numbers are conservative. But having said 
that I wouldn't do 8k at 250 miles. I don't see a problem with exceeding 
the numbers by a small margins, but 8k would be too much for me. As several 
people have said during previous discussions of this same topic, someone 
with a lot more knowledge of this engine came up with those numbers.... 
(someone that gets paid to do this for a living).

Hope that helped a little

- - Eric


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