Highland Motors

The offroad adventure in Dalarna Sweden will take place 26-28 Augusti 2011. See post #726 for further info and check out and join www.soe.se. Drop me a PM if you want me to add your name to the challange partisipant list.

Dont let me be the only Highland this year too!

Thumber

Hey Guys -- Another question

Bike is running well, making more mechanical noises than I remember but so it goes. Anyway, took the bike out for a short run [40 - 50 miles so it was at operating temps] and the cooling fans were running as far as I could tell all the time. It was not that hot in DC: 27C - 80F. The fans cut off after shut down in a minute or at most two minutes with the ignition staying in the on position after shut down. The coolant level was OK, the radiator itself was warm to the touch but not hot. The rad cap was hotter but not to the point where it would burn an ungloved hand. The hose off the water pump was warm but not hot.

My question is what should I be checking?

I pulled the top hose off the radiator it was still pressurized and spitting some coolant. I figure the system was full and holding pressure. I started the bike with the top hose off and promtly pumped 1/2 L of coolant onto the front tire. Looking at my front tire soaked in anti-freeze, I figure I'm a dope and there was a better way to check if the water pump was actually pumping.

Maybe I'm overthinking this but it bugs me the fans are running non-stop. The bike is not puking coolant when I stop and as far as I can tell is not running hot. I think it's down to a bad temp sensor switch or the radiator is stuffed up. Is there anything else I need to check? Anyone got a spare temp sending unit your willing to part with? Maybe the simple answer is to get a temp guage and put a manual switch on the fans.

Any thoughts on what's next would be appreciated.

Lorretto,
my ol' 99 has a temp sensor from Magneti Marelli and has the following characteristics

Temp Resistance
10 6k
20 3.75k
25 3k

When you remove the connector verify that there is no water there.

But it the engine starts and runs normally, I doubt that it is the sensor

I think this is the sensor used: http://motorsport.magnetimarelli.com/PDF/Sensors/SF_WTS05_rev5.0.pdf

Thanks Benzok - it looks like I should be able to source a new sensor if that's the issue.

I may try a full cooling system flush and see if that does anything.

The sensor does seem to work in cutting off the fans when I park the bike using the kill switch with the ignition on.

Lorretto,
I just realised that there is a separate sensor for the fans. The one I mentioned is used by the ECU and is located on the rhs of the front cylinder , the fan sensor is located in the radiator

Sorry for the confusion

No worries, I appreciate the help.

With no idiot light I just get nervous the engine will grenade out from under me. With both fans running non-stop I just assumed it's running hot but it just doesn't seem so.

I saw the temp sensor just below the fan under the right fairing looks like a common part.

What does that second sensor do? If that is some sort of secondary safety, it would make me feel better.

The thing in the radiator is a thermo switch, should be possible to find a new one.
I can't help you with the switching temperature. If you want I can give Rollox a call next week.

You can measure the switch , should be n.c. up to ~ 87 ? (Thats' when the fans kick in on my Triumph)

Just spoke with Rollox
late 90's KTM's uses the same radiator/thermo switch

He also mentioned that there had been some problem with the cables, if you disconnect the cable and the fan stops it is probably the switch, if it keeps running I would guess there is a problem with the cabling

Benzok - Many thanks amigo.

I'll pull the wires and see what happens.

I was thinking of putting something in line like this http://www.jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Parts_Cooling_SightGlass.html for the guage sending unit if I can find a size small enough. It won't solve the fan problem but it will go a long way in letting me trust that the bike is not running hot.

Hello

I am looking for jet adjustments. Has somebody a caburator Modell?
If yes it would be helpfull to now all jet sizes.

Olli

Sorry Olli, EFI on my bike. Hopefully someone with a carbed bike will be able to chime in.

Just out of curiosity is one or two carbs, Keihin, Mikuni, CV?

One piece of info to add for the Highland collective - the Thermoswitch for the cooling fans is an exact match with a 1984 BMW 318i the only difference that I can find is it puts the opperating temp range up a bit to 90-95 vs 85-90. No re-wiring needed, clips match.

Hello Lorretto

It´s 1 Mikuni HS 40. Normaly used on Harley Davidson. It´s running good but gas consume is to high.
16 liter / 100 km or 15 miles / gallon.

Olli

Olli:

That is bad on the consumption side bump.

I'm no mechanic and stumble my way through any issues with the Highland so I'm probably no help whatsoever. My thinking is if the bike running well at all rpms and loads there is probably more than just the jetting on the rich side casuing the poor mpg. Did you try checking for vacuum leaks around the carb boot and intake? On a CV carbed bike, I found a really tiny crack in the carb boot by spraying starting fluid at it. Course I was the idiot that put the crack in the boot in the first place fighting with it trying to get the carb seated.

Hi

I am sure that there no leaks. I build up new the bike since 2 years. I hope that I can find somebody here with a carburator modell to get some expirience.
But thanks for your tips.

Olli

The lower triple clamp on my Motard is twisted and supposedly not repairable, so I'm badly in need of a replacement. The guy repairing the bike says the part # on part is 590.01.031.120. Can anyone help? John?

Thanks,

Robert

Try this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KTM-SX-EXC-models-Botom-Fork-Clamp-NEW-Triple-Tree-/160578325012

I found that in my searching, but it was sold three months ago. Thanks for trying.

Well what can I say...

My weekend started off on friday morning. Packed up my gear, meaning tent, sleepingbag, maps, camel back, clothes and some tools for roadside repair. (Surprisingly small amount of tools needed to take a highland apart)

During the week before I made and fitted a larger fairing and the 21/18" weels where equiped with Maxxis 6001:s. I also put the roadbook i place and also a simple bike computer to keep track of the track so to speek.

356 kms of tarmac and gravel roads where covered on friday afternoon and i arrived at Laxsjön at 17:30. Just in time to put the tent up, get a shower and grab a beer before dinner. After dinner the planning took place and i found a friend to do the challange with. He drove a Cagiva Elephant with a 900cc Ducati engine. Two quite exotic bikes!

Team name was decided to be Exotics and the rest of the evening whas spent planning the special stages, the checkpoints and the routes in between. We wanted to visit 6 checkpoints (minimum 5 to enter the challange) and to do 11 SS:es. All in all we planned to drive 245 kms of gravel road, paths and one small peet bog. All in all the SS:es and the CP:s would give us 265 points and we expected to get another 8 points for socializing with other drivers. (Great rule!) This would give us a total of 518p.

The team mate Sam whas a fast little devil on his Cagiva and i had trouble keeping up with him on gravel roads but as the going got tuffer the highland proved superior. The Cagiva got stuck on stones and in the bog for some 15 minutes but the highland just overtook it all! Great bike, but i would like a better skid plate that protects the oil filter and the pipes better.

Anyways the navigation whas running like clockwork and we where lost only ones for four minutes. The roads and tracks where great and this year one of the SS:s whas a 11km roadbook with 45 notes. Alot of "reset trip" button pushing! Whe hade two breaks for a snack and had lunch for half an hour. The total amout of time we where allowed to spend whas 9 hrs and our starting time whas 08:11 and we finished the challenge at 17:09, 8 hrs 58 minutes after staring! All in all we ended up at 538 points, a difference of 20 from our prediction of 518 and this landed us the first spot in the challange, same as last year.

In the evening we had a barbeque and watched movies and pics from the day. One or two beers might have been consumed.... On sunday morning we had the opportunity to run a 135km long roadbook on the very best gravel roads i have ever ridden! After lunch i headed home (on asphalt roads because of the leeky oil filter)

A great great weekend and i really think you should take the opportunity to try it. It will be back next year in a similar form.

Cheers

/TF

Does anyone have a copy of a wiring diagram they could send me? I'm assuming there is no service manual available, but if I'm wrong I would like to buy one.

Thanks for any help.

Robert