2000 ZX7R temperature problems

[Duckman]

Hello all, i've just bought a 2000 zx7r and am EXTREMLY happy with it(after over 2 years on a FZR250 this thing is heaven!)

However, the other day i took a friend for a ride as she'd never been on a bike before, coming back i was stuck in bumper to bumper peak hour traffic. Long story short the bike started overheating. It got into the red on the temp gauge and the thermofan did not kick in. This is bad i assumed so i rang up a friend who used to own a 7r and asked him what it was like. He said his zx7r NEVER ran into the red no matter what conditions he was riding in.

On the left side(looking toward the front of the bike) there what i'm thinking a thermo switch for the fan(has two wires coming out of it) so i turned the bike on and bridged these out to see if the fan would run. It didnt, so i'm thinking that i have a faulty fan. Would i be right in thinking this? Are there further tests i could do to make sure this is my problem?
Second question, how hot should these bikes get? I was going for a ride down the freeway today and it overheated again, no traffic, just me and the freeway, air temp maybe around 25 degrees. I pulled over, let it cool down and rode home, whilst on the way home i kept my eye on the gauge and within 2 minutes it went almost all the way to red, but in the 25km's home it stayed around 4\5's of the way up. Thermostat problem maybe? Or does the thermo fan usually kick in even under normal riding conditions?

Sorry for all the rambling\first post being a tech question and not a general greetings.

[Aussie Ninja]

If you short the harness connector then yes the fan should come on. When I got my 6 the sensor was stuffed. Had a switch ever since. If this doesn't work and you have a meter check weather there is voltage getting to the fan. If there is, fan cactus, if not fuse mabye.

[Zteven]

At this site:
http://www.ronayers.com/fiche/400_0461/ ... rent=13460
It shows thermo fan switch on left of radiator, if it was the correct plug you were testing have you tried to see if there is power to it with a test light?
Bike should not overheat in low traffic times, make sure you have a full radiator rather than just checking the overflow bottle.
Also check the actual fins of the radiator to make sure there is sufficient airflow through it.

[Duckman]

*slaps head*
Noob mistake. Ddint check the coolant level after it overheated in traffic the other day, was quite low
Topped it up, went for a test ride, no more temp issues.

Still suspect the thermo fan is fubar. Will borrow a multi-meter and meter the mofo out and see what i find. Its definitely not jammed, so might be burnt out or a bad connection.

Cheers for the replies

[FrogZ]

Well I reckon the 7 does got hot quicker than most in traffic. Briz traffic would do it on a hot Qld day (which it has been lately). Fan should have kicked in but

[Slow and wobbly]

Sounds simple, but check the fuse to the fan.

[Neka79]

yea i was gunna suggest the coolant level and to check theres no leak in the radiator, tho when the bike gets hot it will expand & sum coolant will dribble out the over flow...

as for the fan..i reckon ull need it in Qld..have a look at it...

[Frank]

Check the coolant bottle, after time they get brittle and crack, happened to mine, so as the bike heats up the coolant expands into the coolant bottle and because it has a leak it is unable to draw the coolant back in when the bike cools, eventally you end up with no coolant. I know cause it happened to me when I was in the city once.
BTW a new bottle is about $60 from Kawasaki, dont bother with a second hand one from a wreckers as they are most prob in the same shape as yours, plus the fact they wanted $50 for it.

Cheers