Engine Temp

[Lee]

I don't look at the break times or average speed. Ron in Colorado mentioned he looks at his break times.
I guess we all have different values that interest us on trips.

[TriangleRider]

What is surprising to me is how often the oil symbol is grayed out. Based on the conditions that need to be met to display green, it is kind of useless. I'm not sure if there is a backup pressure gauge that would let you know your bike was about to grenade itself due to a lack of oil when the oil level sensor requirements are not being met.

[TriangleRider]

I was hoping to be able to select engine temp for display on the top row of the TFT where I could glance at it occasionally while riding like you can with the gas gauge and not have to dig down into the info pages.

Agreed.  It would be interesting to know why it wasn't included as an option.

[Lee]

What is surprising to me is how often the oil symbol is grayed out.  Based on the conditions that need to be met to display green, it is kind of useless.  I'm not sure if there is a backup pressure gauge that would let you know your bike was about to grenade itself due to a lack of oil when the oil level sensor requirements are not being met.

If you use that to check the oil the bike needs to be idling in neutral.
I don't use it so I don't remember how long it has to idle.
Just checked the manual. It's 20 seconds with the oil at operating temperature.

[TriangleRider]

Mainly I was just amazed at the useless (to me) information that can be displayed in multiple ways while engine temp could not.
You can display fuel consumption in 2 ways, 2 Riding time indicators, 2 different break reminders and 2 indications of average speed. Other than one gas gauge I'll never use any of those. Why would I possibly care what my average speed was on a ride? "Next time out I need to see if I can add 2 mph average to that loop." Two different riding time indicators? Gee I think "I left at 8:00 and I stopped at 5:00" might be good enough. The break reminders, hmmmm, "I'm not sure I'm tired yet, my bike hasn't told me to take a break." To me these seem rather silly. One good thing about all this though is I have thoroughly learned all the details of the TFT.
So going forward I'll occasionally check the "My Vehicle" page just to get a sense of what is normal and otherwise just trust the technology to keep the bike running well as I enjoy the ride.

To each their own, and that is what is cool about the status line options. I think every available number should be an option, including engine temp.  Then the rider can choose what they want to show.  I always add Break Time to the status line when leading a group.  I usually have miles remaining as my permanent display, then cycle through my other choices every 15 minutes or so or when I am bored.  If you want it all without any timing, the NavVI my motorcycle screen is the only choice.

[TriangleRider]

What is surprising to me is how often the oil symbol is grayed out.  Based on the conditions that need to be met to display green, it is kind of useless.  I'm not sure if there is a backup pressure gauge that would let you know your bike was about to grenade itself due to a lack of oil when the oil level sensor requirements are not being met.

If you use that to check the oil the bike needs to be idling in neutral.
I don't use it so I don't remember how long it has to idle.
Just checked the manual. It's 20 seconds with the oil at operating temperature.

Exactly.  It would be good to have that information before you let the bike warm up or let it idle for 20 seconds (while upright, with a rider, with the proper suspension setting, etc.). If you ride off without waiting that 20 seconds while meeting the proper parameters, the symbol will be greyed out until you take the time to do that.

[Grumpy Goat]

... Then the rider can choose what they want to show.  I always add Break Time to the status line when leading a group.  I usually have miles remaining as my permanent display, then cycle through my other choices every 15 minutes or so or when I am bored.  If you want it all without any timing, the NavVI my motorcycle screen is the only choice.

One great reason for a Nav VI that most tend to forget when commenting on the lack of advantage of this dedicated GPS unit over, say, a phone or some other non-integrated GPS. With the selectable 4x4 grid display on the Nav VI favourite options can be chosen, and with that display one can augment what the TFT (or old-school display like mine) shows.

[BHF]

Unless mine is broken, I now know why the engineers chose not to have engine temp selectable for the TFT top line. I went for a ride. 55 degrees ambient temperature. 65 mph steady throttle. Flat straight road. No wind. The My Vehicle up on the TFT. The temp reading cycles every second from 178 to 194 by 2-3 degrees up to 194 then back down to 178. Unless the sensor or something is broken, the reading is useless.
I’ll ask when it goes in for its 600 mile service, but if that’s normal then I’m not going to worry about it anymore and just ride it and enjoy the ride.

[Grumpy Goat]

Unless mine is broken, I now know why the engineers chose not to have engine temp selectable for the TFT top line. I went for a ride. 55 degrees ambient temperature. 65 mph steady throttle. Flat straight road. No wind. The My Vehicle up on the TFT. The temp reading cycles every second from 178 to 194 by 2-3 degrees up to 194 then back down to 178. Unless the sensor or something is broken, the reading is useless.
I’ll ask when it goes in for its 600 mile service, but if that’s normal then I’m not going to worry about it anymore and just ride it and enjoy the ride.

That fluctuation is exactly what I was referring to in my post above. That is normal and as long as it is within normal range and there is no problem with a warning I don't need / want to know. Now if you're stuck in stop and go traffic on a 95+ degree day, you may want to pull up the My Vehicle display just to keep an eye on it, if nothing else to decide whether to pull over and shut the bike down if you are really concerned.

[Lee]

Unless mine is broken, I now know why the engineers chose not to have engine temp selectable for the TFT top line. I went for a ride. 55 degrees ambient temperature. 65 mph steady throttle. Flat straight road. No wind. The My Vehicle up on the TFT. The temp reading cycles every second from 178 to 194 by 2-3 degrees up to 194 then back down to 178. Unless the sensor or something is broken, the reading is useless.
I’ll ask when it goes in for its 600 mile service, but if that’s normal then I’m not going to worry about it anymore and just ride it and enjoy the ride.

Both of our R1200 and R1250 bikes did that in cold weather. It seems to be more constant or slower to change in warm weather.
I thought it was odd to see it change so fast up and down when it was in the 30s F.
I didn't remember our K1300S bikes changing so fast in cold weather so I asked the Master Tech when I took the R1200RS in for the break in service.
He said it was normal for all the Wethead boxers. We had known him for years and always gave us straight answers.

[MrVvrroomm]

Unless mine is broken, I now know why the engineers chose not to have engine temp selectable for the TFT top line. I went for a ride. 55 degrees ambient temperature. 65 mph steady throttle. Flat straight road. No wind. The My Vehicle up on the TFT. The temp reading cycles every second from 178 to 194 by 2-3 degrees up to 194 then back down to 178. Unless the sensor or something is broken, the reading is useless.
I’ll ask when it goes in for its 600 mile service, but if that’s normal then I’m not going to worry about it anymore and just ride it and enjoy the ride.

Both of our '16 R1200RS behaved the same.  As did my '18 R1200GSA, and presently our '19 R1250GSA and '20 R1250GS.
Eventually it will stabilize around 184ish.  Remember, this is engine coolant temp outlet.  It can/will change very quickly.

[Duckbubbles]

That temperature fluctuation is due to the thermostat cycling open and closed as it catches up to the change it is making in the system. Completely normal. You won't see the movement on a needle type gauge pointing somewhere between C and H, but it will show up on a system that is reading actual temperature in real time.

Frank

[Becksy]

I’m on,y ever curious about engine temp when I am sat stationery in hot weather, then I will have a look out of curiosity.

[Grumpy Goat]

I’m only ever curious about engine temp when I am sat stationery in hot weather, then I will have a look out of curiosity.

Me too.  

[Lee]

I googled about the fast rise and fall coolant temp fluctuation of the LC boxer and found this thread on a GS forum.

https://www.r1200gs.info/threads/ongoing...out.50163/

[BHF]

I googled about the fast rise and fall coolant temp fluctuation of the LC boxer and found this thread on a GS forum.

https://www.r1200gs.info/threads/ongoing...out.50163/

Interesting. Good to know it's normal.

Thanks!