Wilsons Sandbox

Boy I don't know about this Thermo Bob stuff. What criteria is the need for this gizmo based on ? Is it that the needle, so far to the left, doesn't seem right ? I guess it would look better closer to the middle ?  Cruiser guys like themselves and their rides to look good in a certain way. Is this the klr version ? Bogdan From: mark ward Reply-To: mark ward Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 9:15 AM To: List KLR DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Subject: [DSN_KLR650] We made it, The KLR650 IS.......   The KLR650 has hit the BIG TIME..... LOL Motorcycle Consumer News mag. Technical page is KLR650 UpGrades. Talking about the Thermo Bob, The Do and More. One I had not heard of is, a new ADD ON, face plate, that goes over the simple H/C Temp gage, with Numbers 120 to 270f  Mark (West Michigan)

Yeah, I know this is tantamount to heresy, but back in the day, when I was hot rodding Italian and English cars, the FIRST thing that I did was yank out the thermostat. I know all about cavitation and vapor entrainment and all that, but the needle went down and that's what I was looking for. I also know about "operating temperature" and design for optimum fuel vaporization and such like, but again, air gaps in high performance manifolds and inter-coolers weren't made to heat things up. So that's one I won't be doing. Cheers! Robert Wichert P.Eng. LEED AP BD&C +1 916 966 9060 FAX +1 916 966 9068 ===============================================

On 4/23/2014 8:55 AM, Bogdan Swider wrote:

Boy I don't know about this Thermo Bob stuff. What criteria is the need for this gizmo based on ? Is it that the needle, so far to the left, doesn't seem right ? I guess it would look better closer to the middle ? Cruiser guys like themselves and their rides to look good in a certain way. Is this the klr version ? Bogdan From: mark ward Reply-To: mark ward Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 9:15 AM To: List KLR DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Subject: [DSN_KLR650] We made it, The KLR650 IS....... The KLR650 has hit the BIG TIME..... LOL Motorcycle Consumer News mag. Technical page is KLR650 UpGrades. Talking about the Thermo Bob, The Do and More. One I had not heard of is, a new ADD ON, face plate, that goes over the simple H/C Temp gage, with Numbers 120 to 270f Mark (West Michigan)

I bought a new 09' KLR650 in May that year and, after reading up on general KLR stuff, decided to replace the doohickey with an Eagle Mike torsion spring kit and install the Thermo Bob remote thermostat. I did the doo during the 600 mile service(!). But, I put off the Thermo-bob installation due to time constraints. During that brief interval, I observed the temerature gauge needle "twitch" quite a bit. Literally, it would be at one position and then flick slightly (predictably by the TB's inventor) as cold blasts of coolant came and went due to the nature of the OEM setup. It did this twitch a lot and made me wonder about cylinder wear, longevity, oil consumption, etc... So, I installed the 'bob one morning at a friend's bike shop and proceeded to put 18k miles on the bike with the twitch gone forever. The coolant temp would rise steadily to a consistent point just a tad higher than it did originally and stay there. Expectedly, in long traffic stops, etc... it would go up slowly & steadily  a hair only to return to normal within 2-3 miles of continuous progress. I live in the south where year round riding is the norm for me. It did seem to warm up easily in the winter and never over heated in the Georgia summers. Your mileage may vary, as they say. But, it didn't use oil and ran great with a 22 cent carb mod, UNI foam filter and tweety-ectomy on the stock exhaust. -eddie in Columbus

----- Original Message ----- [b]From:[/b] robert@... [b]To:[/b] bSwider@... ; nomad59@... ; DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [b]Sent:[/b] Wednesday, April 23, 2014 12:09 PM [b]Subject:[/b] Re: [DSN_KLR650] We made it, The KLR650 IS.......  

Yeah, I know this is tantamount to heresy, but back in the day, when I was hot rodding Italian and English cars, the FIRST thing that I did was yank out the thermostat.  I know all about cavitation and vapor entrainment and all that, but the needle went down and that's what I was looking for.  I also know about "operating temperature" and design for optimum fuel vaporization and such like, but again, air gaps in high performance manifolds and inter-coolers weren't made to heat things up. So that's one I won't be doing. Cheers! Robert Wichert P.Eng. LEED AP BD&C +1 916 966 9060 FAX +1 916 966 9068

#ygrps-yiv-1961538745 .ygrps-yiv-1961538745ygrp-photo-title { TEXT-ALIGN:center;WIDTH:75px;HEIGHT:15px;CLEAR:both;FONT-SIZE:smaller;OVERFLOW:hidden;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745ygrp-photo { BORDER-BOTTOM:black 1px solid;BORDER-LEFT:black 1px solid;BACKGROUND-COLOR:white;WIDTH:62px;BACKGROUND-REPEAT:no-repeat;BACKGROUND-POSITION:center 50%;HEIGHT:62px;BORDER-TOP:black 1px solid;BORDER-RIGHT:black 1px solid;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745photo-title A { TEXT-DECORATION:none;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745photo-title A:active { TEXT-DECORATION:none;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745photo-title A:hover { TEXT-DECORATION:none;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745photo-title A:visited { TEXT-DECORATION:none;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745attach-table DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745attach-row { CLEAR:both;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745attach-table DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745attach-row DIV { FLOAT:left;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 P { PADDING-BOTTOM:3px;PADDING-LEFT:0px;PADDING-RIGHT:0px;CLEAR:both;OVERFLOW:hidden;PADDING-TOP:15px;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745ygrp-file { WIDTH:30px;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745attach-table DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745attach-row DIV DIV A { TEXT-DECORATION:none;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745attach-table DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745attach-row DIV DIV SPAN { FONT-WEIGHT:normal;} #ygrps-yiv-1961538745 DIV.ygrps-yiv-1961538745ygrp-file-title { FONT-WEIGHT:bold;} On Wed, 23 Apr 2014 15:55:19 +0000 Bogdan Swider bSwider@...> writes:   Boy I don't know about this Thermo Bob stuff. What criteria is the need for this gizmo based on ? Is it that the needle, so far to the left, doesn't seem right ? I guess it would look better closer to the middle ?  Cruiser guys like themselves and their rides to look good in a certain way. Is this the klr version ? Bogdan <><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><>   Bogdan the Curious,   The T-Bob was designed/invented for the KLR in the summer/fall/winter of 2005 just getting into 2006.  Wattman was an active member of this group at the time.  I've got over 200 e-mails saved from the discussions both on and off list about the T-Bob.  He also designed the temperature overlay for the KLR temp gauge and made them available to members of this list for $5.  I've got one of the first ones he sent out installed in my instrument cluster.   For guys that don't know anything about Wattman he is an engineer by training and profession and also one heck of a high level gear head.  He is also a very nice guy that values constructive input to discussions.  He mentored me when over the school holiday break 2005/6 I made a head mounted stat housing with by-pass for my KLR.  We had a few discussions about orifice sizes and flow rates.  And some of the testing I did in South Dakota helped to validate the data he had already collected.  Of course my data was collected looking at a watch and temp gauge and later using an infrared temperature sensor.  He collects data using a computer and fancy instrumentation.  He's now got well over 100,000 miles on his KLR and I think the only stuff he has changed/added are an EagleMike doohickey and torsion spring (he did much of the testing of the torsion spring too) and a T-Bob.  I think he might also run a 16 tooth front sprocket.  He rides it like he owns it.  : )   The stock KLR cooling system has two issues.  First the stat temp is too low so the engine never gets to what many consider an appropriate operating temperature except in warm/hot temperatures.  The second issue is the radiator is too small to shed all the heat the engine makes in warm/hot temperatures.  The Gen II KLRs have a slightly larger radiator which I'm told helps in this area a bit.   The T-Bob addresses the first issue of too cold and lots of hot/cold cycling of coolant around the cylinder.  The stock system has almost no coolant flow when the stat is closed and when it opens cool/cold coolant from the radiator is sent to the cylinder.  As soon as it gets to the stat the stat closes and the engine coolant movement slows until the stat opens again.  Then the cool/cold coolant floods the cylinder until it gets to the stat and the stat closes again.  If I recall correctly the cycling is something around 80 degrees F and happens every 20 seconds or so.  With the T-Bob there is always a bit of coolant flowing around the cylinder but by-passing the radiator when the stat is closed.  When the stat opens coolant from the radiator is added to the mix.  Even when the coolant lowers the temp enough for the stat to close, coolant still is flowing around the stat and cylinder.  I think the delta for the T-Bob is about 12-15 degrees F.  That is a much better condition for engine operation.   Now some folks are gonna say that the higher temp stat will cause the engine to get too hot in warm/hot conditions.  Might help to know that Wattman lives in Phoenix, AZ and rides in triple digit temps with his T-Bob'd KLR.  With the stock cooling system or the T-Bob'd system, once the stat is open it is no longer controlling how hot the coolant will get.  That is now the job of the radiator, to shed excess heat.  And if the stock radiator can't shed the heat the temperature of the coolant will continue to rise.  Doesn't matter, stock or T-Bob'd, or no stat at all, the radiator is the limiting factor in warm/hot conditions.  The fix for that is to look at Wattman's website (google it) at his article about some tests he did to increase/improve air flow over/through the radiator and then take action as you feel is appropriate for you and your bike.  Another option is to add a second radiator which is what I did in Feb of 2008.   Hope this is helpful at shedding some light on the T-Bob.   Best, Jeff Saline The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650 . . . . . . .   ____________________________________________________________ [b]The #1 Worst Carb Ever?[/b] Click to Learn #1 Carb that Kills Your Blood Sugar (Don't Eat This!) 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