Something Larry Taught Me ....

[jodog]

I was just reading yet another thread on ST heat. No one ever complains of a lack of heat do they? I hadn't had this problem across three STs and figured every one is a big ol' whiney butt until I bought my '12. It was a blast furnace between my legs. After one 1,000 mile day I discovered I was burned on my inner thigh from touching the gas tank (through my 'stich). Ouch. Anyway, one day while Larry was strumming, rattlesnake herding, and helping me with a maintenance issue he suggested that I change oil to address the heat problem. I thought this might be some sort of Arizona joke/start of a new oil thread. But I changed the oil with his suggested type and brand and voila! My bike temp decreased dramatically. How much? Heck I don't know as I don't have a candy thermometer taped to my gas tank. But I was able to leave my bare hand on the tank just fine after that.

I'm wondering if other people have gotten great tips like that from Larry. Maybe we could amplify his impact on our community by sharing "Larry's Greatest Hits" here?

 

[jodog]

Oh, he had some great tips on the best car tire to run too

 

[ST Pili]

jodog, will you tell us the brand and weight? I don't have a great Larry story other than the fact that he sold me a brand new Snap On torque wrench for $135 shipped. I couldn't find a non flex 1/4 " drive one on their website but I'm guessing it's worth about $500.

 

[aniwack]

It's amazing what 15W-40 will do for an aluminum engine block. The light weight 0w's and 5w's don't do jack for heat mitigation.

 

[jodog]

 

[OldMcClelland]

careful, or this will degenerate into an oil thread...

 

[jodog]

careful, or this will degenerate into an oil thread...

A very serious risk. But we can all agree on the pretty blue jug. Back to talking about Larry ....

 

[Savago]

I have one tip to share that Larry taught me.

You can drain a few more of the old oil from the engine while performing an oil change if you keep the clutch lever engaged for a little while (as that should squeeze the plates of the wet clutch).

I personally just use a zip-tie to hold the clutch lever, but you can use whatever method/tool you prefer.

 

[Oldbikefixr]

careful, or this will degenerate into an oil thread...

Thought that dinosaurs degenerated into an oil thread?

 

[Andrew Shadow]

You can drain a few more of the old oil from the engine while performing an oil change if you keep the clutch lever engaged for a little while (as that should squeeze the plates of the wet clutch).

(as that should UN-squeeze the plates of the wet clutch).

 

[SupraSabre]

Having more than my share of different model years, one thing most are not aware of is that Honda increased the size of the Catalytic Converters in the 2008 and after. Which causes more heat.

The way I found this out was when the 2010 needed mufflers (the original were banged up pretty good) I started looking at the different years and found out that the 2008 mufflers were more expense than the 2007 and before. Also at one time, from 2008 and after, the ST1300P bikes had different mufflers than the non cop bikes. Again different costs.

I never did put later mufflers on the 2010, but on my 2012, I did notice the heat, more so than the heat from the 2005 & 2004s.

If you look up 2003-2007 and compare them with 2008-after, you'll see about $400+ difference. So, if you ever want to get new mufflers, I'd go with 2003-2007!

 

[OldMcClelland]

I have a 2017 PA and don't notice the heat. I wear Aerostich gear though...

 

[docw1]

One thing Larry taught me is that the PAIR valves can get pretty gunked up, and that cleaning them seems to help lower the heat. Not a scheduled maintenance item, but it probably should be.

 

[SupraSabre]

I have a 2017 PA and don't notice the heat. I wear Aerostich gear though...

Yeah, two things I found that helped was the lower air deflectors and the difference between wearing riding overpants and just wearing jeans. On those cool SoCal Winter nights, the heat was nice when I was just going across town and I was just wearing jeans (along with boots, riding jacket, gloves & helmet)!

 

[Art Franz]

Larry recommended dinosaur 15-40 diesel oil to me, he put in Rotella T. It’s got all the vitamins and minerals any 4 stroke will ever need ( to quote one of my fav YouTube‘ers Derrick Bieri from Vice Grip Garage.)
Larry’s fav penetrating fluid is a 50/50 mix of acetone and trans fluid. Cheap and effective.
I have put on StayInTune pipes, noticed a big decrease in heat with that change. And they sound much better too.

 

[Savago]

I just remembered another thing Larry taught me. The drain plug bolt in the engine has the same size & thread as the *magnetic* drain plug bolt in the FD (final drive) pumpkin.

You can order the FD magnetic bolt and replace the original engine drain bolt, with the advantage to be able to see metal particles in the next engine oil change if something bad is happening with your engine and also collect some additional fragments that the oil filter may let escape.

Just remember to add a washer in the magnetic drain bolt or you will have an oil leak.