Thought I'd provide my story of excessive heat and how I unintentionally corrected. Picked up my 2003 in mid june. Flew down to VA and drove it home to MA; 500 miles in 90 degree heat. Wore full riding gear including tourmaster pants and leather boots. Even through my gear the heat was so bad I thought my flesh might be burning. Right side seemed hotter than left. I had heard of the ST1300 having heat problems but never expected anything this bad. By the time I got home I was sure I had made the wrong choice, and should have searched for another ST1100. After my ride home I suffered through another week with it before getting to routine maintenance. I changed the oil and filter ONLY. I used a Bosch 3300 (I think) filter and Rotella-T synthetic 5-40. Previous filter was walmart special. Not sure what oil the PO had in there. After only that change the bike now runs at a very reasonable temp. 90 degree days moving slowly it still get's hot enough to notice, but not uncomfortable, and certainly nowhere near the flesh burning temps I experienced in the first week. Not sure if it was the cheap filter or the POs choice of oil, but I'm declaring my problems solved!