Not really hoping for much performance but wouldn't the bike run a lot cooler with the pipes wraped? Also does anyone make a lighter fan blade? Muzzy has theirs but not for our bike, I think. Any suggestions?

This has been covered in the past.
Wrapping the header certainly won't hurt anything. Some will argue that the wrap will cause the header to rust from the inside out. That is true on carbon steel headers, but I have yet to see a stainless one do it.

While wrapping a header's purpose is to keep the heat in the tubes, helping with the scavanging, the problem is that if you are running stock canisters, the heat will simply be transfered back to them, causing them to be even hotter.

Is your bike running hot, or is it that the heat from the engine is uncomfortable?


As for the fan blade, I think someone here has experimented with a Muzzy fan for another application, but I don't recall them reporting back any results.
It's my opinion that Honda did a find job in it's cooling system. Most that report overheating either have a problem with the cooling system (i.e. not enough coolant, or a bubble in the system) or they are freaking because their gauge is reading higher than what they are accustomed to seeing when at a standstill and it's not actually overheating. If it's not boiling over, it's probably not running too hot. If it is boiling over, you need to look further into your stock system to find what's wrong.
Additives like Waterwetter will also help drop temps a few degrees.

Funny the gauge on my 98 has never been above ~1/4 since I have had it and I have ridden on a few 38C (100F) days including one day where it would have been ~42-43C although these have all been away from stop start traffic so good airflow

My '97 is the same way. I've never seen it too much above half way and that was after sitting still in a traffic jam in 100+ degree temps. Once underway, it immediately went back down to it's usual 1/4 mark.

Most overheating reports come from owners of FI bikes. I'm not sure if it's because of the oilcooler being in a different spot, or if it's the difference in gauges. The digital dash shows the temp in numbers where the analog gauge simply has a bar.

It would be interesting to hear from owners of '99 and '00 bikes to see where their temp gauge is usually at on a hot day while sitting still for awhile.

My '02 has only overheated once, a bare flashed on the temp gage. I was waiting in line to enter West Yellowstone on my way to Jackson. I moved over to the shade and shut her down and waited for awhile. She cooled down and I rode till she was at a normal operating temp. She never overheated since and I've ridden in temps of 30-35+ C. Normal operating temp is 83-85 C although she's fine at 90-95 C. I use Motul coolant.

My bird has gone up to 232 in city traffic. I've read that the 97-98 birds with carburetors run cooler.
This is what i've found, the radiator core is 8mm thinner on the FI bikes that's like taking a 3 core radiator & reducing it to a 2 core, & the radiator is lower so it's closer to the exhaust.

3rd picture isn't very good.

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Yea, a month or so ago in Motorcyclist magazine in the smart money section, it said that carbed Birds run cooler than FI ones.

[quote name='JasonW' date='Jan 1 2007, 03:54 PM' post='481890']


While wrapping a header's purpose is to keep the heat in the tubes, helping with the scavanging, the problem is that if you are running stock canisters, the heat will simply be transfered back to them, causing them to be even hotter.

Will any aftermarket exhaust do? I'm thinking about getting the jardine street pipes. They arn't very loud but they don't have the EPA garbage inside.

Just don`t heat wrap titanium pipes ( they run cool anyway), or they will turn into yellow powder.

This subject ( overheating) has been covered to the death,just do the search.

Basically the worst offenders are stock F.I. bikes,digital or analog gauges,it does not matter.Some owners reported coolant boiling and dripping.I don`t think Honda did "fine" job with cooling system.It is bearly adequate,and sometimes not, in stop and go urban traffic in the middle of summer.

Bikes with full system and rejetted/mapped run cooler for two reasons.

One- ritcher mixture at small throttle

Two- with less restrictive exhaust less heat is being transfered to the cylinder head thru exhaust ports.

I don`t see heat wrap helping much with coolant temperature.

One more thing,XX has one ( not two ) radiator fan stupidly placed in the middle.The hot air pulled by the fan has nowhere to go .It is not rocket science,really,just look at some other bikes.

Normally, with 2 fan system when they kick in temps drop really fast.

I don`t know,maybe Honda figured out bike did not have enough juice to run two fan system on 98-97 bikes( low alternator output) and it just stayed that way.

BTW I think someone on this forum installed two radiator fans,but I don`t remember details.

If reducing exhaust temps is what you're after (or the radiant heat from the exhaust, anyway), then either ceramic coat the factory header & install a set of aluminum, titanium or cf slip-ons (stay away from stainless), or install a full aftermarket system.

I burned my ankle on the right pipe the first day I had the bike because the factory cans got incredibly hot with very little use. Installing slip-ons resulted in being able to put my hand on them, even after a very hard ride. Much less radiant heat.

Ceramic coating the header in conjunction with the slip-ons will help dissipate the header heat, as well as give you a minimum of 0.001% increase in performance

No problems with my 99 FI. Normaly runs 1/4 up the guage. Slow speed or stopping causes the temp to rise almost to the red. Fan comes on.......cools down. No problem.

With a 16 lb cap and a 50/50 coolant mixture boiling won't occur until 262 F.

Look for a defective cap if it's boiling over under that. Sometimes some debris gets under the seal and then won't let the system pressurize. Then the coolant will boil before the fan comes on.