Temperature Readout

[caspar]

Really? Having an air temp readout bothers some of you that much? Add an oil temperature reading dipstick and be done with it already. No muss, no fuss.

YMMV,

Mark

How does reading that while riding go for you?

 

[Phang]

How does reading that while riding go for you?

A camera aiming at the dipstick thermometer feeding video signal to a small handle bar mounted LCD screen will allow you to read the temperature while riding :mrgreen:

Phang

 

[Chicago Mark]

PART A = Tongue NOT in Cheek
I use AGIP 10w-60 full synthetic oil and don't worry too much about my oil temperature while under way. Why, because I know my speed, load and the good folks in the Piaggio engineering department saw fit to give me a readout so I also know the ambient temperature. When stopped or stuck in traffic and concerned, I guess I could simply look down at the temperature dipstick. The temperature dipstick I have on my Honda Valkyrie Interstate is fairy easy to see and read while under way so no camera installation is needed. The Mobil 15w-50 I run in the big Valkyrie tends to run between 200 to 225 degrees F depending upon ambient temperature, speed and load.

PART B = Tongue IN Cheek
Then again, Phang's video camera idea has me thinking. A concerned Griso rider could also install strobe lights along with video cameras to monitor the front and rear tire wear. Add another camera to see the rear suspension settings. Maybe another one to monitor the safety wire on the rear tire hugger mounting bolts. Need to ensure they haven't come loose. Maybe a few more to monitor brake pad wear. The possibilities seem endless but the real estate available on the display is limited. Then again, while adding the cameras, maybe a handlebar mount could be fastened for an iPad. How about an LED light in the air box along with the camera to monitor the condition of the air filter. Hmmmm

All the best,

Mark

 

[Mi_ka]

With all these cameras a chasing OB mixing van with a video mixing desk & crew is in order....

However, oil temp has been very useful for my aircooled NX650: I was backing down my throttle opening when it was going higher than 140 degrees C - given the hot and loaded summer conditions, if I insisted, I could fry the oil at more than 150 C. Sold it before I installed some oil cooler.

 

[Phang]

That's a good one Mark :lol:

On a serious note, the dipstick of Griso is located at the base of the left cylinder. It is quite challenging to read the dipstick thermometer while one is sitting on the bike

Phang

 

[GTM®]

I believe the ECU gets the intake air temperature feedback from the sensor located at the air box lid. IMHO, the air temperature sensor in the instrument panel is irrelevant to the fuel trimming.

Phang is correct. The air temp displayed on the dash is not fed by the air box sensor used to control the fuel mixture. The display has it's own thermometer to display OAT.

 

[caspar]

Hmm...no effect to the ECU then...interesting. There could be something in this.

Although Mark's camera idea is pretty cool...it could give the left testicle monitoring capabilities I've dreamed of.

 

[Carl Allison]

I like your thinking Phang. I did think of something similar, but I worry about how it may mess with the ECU if it does use the signal for other things...that's why I was hoping for a way to program it to pick up a different signal, then the change will only be to what is displayed not the actual signals being sent into the ECU.

Erice, I'm aware of those, but knowing the oil temperature isn't something I'm desperate for it just rates a LOT higher on the 'wants' list than ambient temperature. Hence why I think it would be a better use of space than what is currently there. Also those aren't the safest things to be checking while riding, if they're the same ones I'm thinking of.

I suspect Mark is probably closest to the logic of Mandello, knowing the air temperature wont send anyone into a panic...but that logic doesn't explain the inclusion of battery voltage as a read out (no, I wont start a thread about this, I'll just flick past it in my menu).

Cars do have a temperature gauge, it isn't numeric, it is an indicator that has a 'safe' region and 'too hot/cold' regions; if they're going to show any sort of temperature this is the sort of thing they should be showing.

The Dash Ambient Air Temperature Sensor (#10 on https://www.guzzitech.com/guzzi007/schematics/2006_Griso_1100.gif is independent of the ECU Intake Air Temperature Sensor (#36) on the diagram. You could probably use a thermistor of the same type stuck in the oil someplace and swap the wiring to it from the air sensor - but - I seriously doubt that the dash program can handle the digits of temperatures in excess of 140˚F (that's a wild ass guess, but if it's that hot out, you shouldn't be riding - that's for sure). Without trying it, there isn't any way to determine how the dash readout will behave. Should you give it the 'ole college try', do let us know what happened. Before I'd chop into the wiring on my bike though, I would just opt for one of the other options for oil temp monitoring. Personally, I think the LCD dash on my Norge and probably all of the other LCD dashes on the B1100's and so forth are a load of poorly engineered displays from the human aspect. They're so damn hard to read in daylight that having the dash report oil temperature might not mean anything because it might not be legible. I'm thinking of finding the daylight sensor and blacking it out so the backlighting is on the day. That might help. Or not.

 

[Phang]

I think we can replace the OAT sensor with a suitable potentiometer/variable resistor/rheostat and simulate the resistance of the OAT thermistor. By decreasing the resistance from 32.5kΩ, the temperature displayed should increase from 0°C (32°F) .

If the dash allow the temperature to display up to 150°C (302°F) then this modification is possible.

Phang

 

[kampe]

Maybe there are thermistors for sale with the right resistance but what's the best spot on the engine to place such a device?

 

[caspar]

By gosh, this could actually work...now all I need to do is convert everyone to Celcius, so freezing and boiling point are at numbers that make sense....Seriously, what the F were people thinking when farentheigthte...however you spell it, was invented.

 

[Series4]

But why? High end synthetics (like the recommended oil) will take up to 300Cº. What problem are you trying to solve?

 

[Mi_ka]

I think that top oils can work in the region of 150-160 C for the length of a race.
Even they decompose pretty fast in such an enviroment.
As I have experienced in hot loaded conditions with my NX650, it was not difficult to have this bike in this extreme region for prolonged time if no oil temp was added by a wary owner.
And the oil may already have some thousand of kms/miles of road use along with some fuel contamination degrading its performance.
Given the temperature provision of the dash it is a nice option to add without adding some ugly addon display.
Why not?

Maybe there are thermistors for sale with the right resistance but what's the best spot on the engine to place such a device?

Even if no proper thermistors can be found some small digital circuit can do the job and can even translate the measured range into what the dashboard can display if it cannot get up to 150 Celsius....

 

[tone]

Really? Having an air temp readout bothers some of you that much? Add an oil temperature reading dipstick and be done with it already. No muss, no fuss.

YMMV,

Mark

The Rev counter came with Temp readouts anyway.So it was a case of find a place that they my be usefull.
Airbox to see the ambiant air temp going in the engine,And the head to see what the temp goes up to.
Just a bit of fun really.

 

[caspar]

But why? High end synthetics (like the recommended oil) will take up to 300Cº. What problem are you trying to solve?

I'm not concerned about the oil lasting at high temperatures, I know it can.

I like to know what my engine is doing, and there is gallons of information to be had from knowing the temperature the engine is running at, even if it is only a relative temperature from normal operating.
Information like this will also help me figure out how long my bike takes to warm up properly. Particularly since I live close to some nice roads, having the piece of mind that it is properly warmed when I reach them will give me to confidence to hit the corners hard straight away.

Basically knowing the oil temperature is infinity more useful to me while I'm on the bike than knowing what the ambient temperature is, so far in my riding career I have never felt the need to know exactly what temperature the air is...but I have had many instances (read: daily) where knowing the relative temperature of the engine has influenced the way I ride the bike.

 

[Chicago Mark]

I don't have a thermostat dipstick on my G but if I did, I bet I could lean over and read it stop lights, red lights, when stuck in traffic or any other time I wanted to stop and check it out.

Sure do like reading how ingenious you guys are to solve the companies omission though.

All the best,

Mark

 

[Mi_ka]

My air cooled NX650 Dominator was constantly in the 140-145 C region when traveling two-up in hot Summer highway conditions ...

Well, maybe not an issue if never leaving the city as some traffic light did supply the chance to look down on the fancy dip thermometer.
Good thing some people try to evolve mechanical stuff beyond their original configuration, at whatever extend one can under own ability limitations. If not, we would still ride horses.

 

[ghezzi]

I had experience with a Ducati Hypermotard and oil temp guage. Hit a shower of rain and temp would plummet off the scale, flashing "Cold" on the dash. Duct tape worked wonders in cold wet weather. Traffic was a concern as it would get very hot, quickly. Worst I saw was on a 40*c day and a short race had oil temp climbing rapidly to 120*c. I backed off.

Contemplated a larger oil cooler with thermo bypass, I also hear dirt bike boys in Aust are using brushless 12V computer fans on their twin rads. Mud, water, dust, vibration, heat and regulay crashing doesn't hurt them.

But I suppose, what you don't know won't hurt you.

 

[Mi_ka]

From my experience, 120 C or even 130 C is not a problem for a properly lubricated air/air-oil cooled engine.
It can considered the upper continuous limit though.
An oil cooler works wonders as always.