Oil Temp...WTF?

[lawbreaker]

So..... I'm riding home last night from work ( here in socal). It's cool but by no means cold. I fire up the monster, let her warm up ( about 2 min) and cruise off towards the freeway for my jaunt home. Im half way home when I glance down at the instrument cluster... to see my oil temp at 200!!!. HOLY SHIT......

Very weird considering at night I never see temps over 160. When I exit the freeway and pull to the red light, I look down and see the temp drop to 130..... then 120-ish and then to about 160. When I take off, the temp jumps to 202.... then 180.....170+......up to 190.....!

I know that wont overheat her but the erratic jumps had me worried. I'm thinking a temp sensor is bad? and ideas?

BIKE: 2006 Monster S2R1K, oil changed every 3k, due in about 100mi for the 12k service. Minor (very) mods, cored pipes, emissions can junked- thats it save for cosmetic bits.
 

[redial]

i hit 218 .. all the time...

how hot is too hot?

[Mr Earl]

My M800 wants to run above 200, even in cool weather.  It'll go to 230-240 at the height of the summer in residential traffic situations.  160 isn't even warmed up for my bike...  I've always wondered about these temperature disparities among Monsters.

[stopintime]

I'm by no means the expert - just thinking out loud: If the sensor is in the cylinder head and it gets much warmer when you "take off" by opening the throttle - could that mean the valves are too open, to let out more heat towards the sensor?

Anyway - I hope you get good answers and find out if anything is wrong

[BK_856er]

If the temp reading changes abruptly up or down I would suspect the sensor or its connection.

BK

[Slide Panda]

If the temp reading changes abruptly up or down I would suspect the sensor or its connection.

BK

i agree.  If the temps jump up and down really suddenly I'd first be checking the sensor connections.  Just like a flickering light bulb w/ a loose wire, a loose or poor connection will make for variations in the signal to the computer.  Also a poor connection might lead to a low reading - 160 seems low to me.  My 620 always ran up in the mid 200s and only ever really saw +/- 15 degrees F on either side of it's mid point temp


Obviously an engines temp will vary - but it's a big lump of metal and liquid and the temp of the system just cant change that fast.

[teddy037.2]

+2 on a wonky sensor

and my 620 tends to run in the 220-230 range.  it's pretty consistant once it gets up to temp

[Mash]

I have an '06 s2r1k, and the temp moves around, but much more gradually.  Sitting in traffic in 90 degree weather, It'll climb up to the high 250's.  On a cooler day, with not too much sitting in traffic, around 200-210 is normal.  I've never seen it hit 260. 

I agree with previous posters about a loose wire, or a faulty temp sensor.  Especially if you've never seen that type of activity before.

[corndog67]

I test rode an MS1100 at Pro Italia, and going through the traffic in Glendale, no more than 3 or 4 minutes, it went up to 242 F.   I could smell the oil burning off of the outside of  the engine.  It was about 95 degrees, but still, it was only a couple of minutes. 

[RBX QB]

Read a post on TOB that the danger zone on my S2R800 was somewhere closer to 300. Hottest I've seen my bike was 240 in summer stop and go.

No worries about 200... I can hit that on my 15 minute commute to the office.

[dezoe]

Read a post on TOB that the danger zone on my S2R800 was somewhere closer to 300. Hottest I've seen my bike was 240 in summer stop and go.

I'm guessing that the 'danger zone' would be after it starts showing HI instead of temp?
My S2R1K 08 manual says thats above 338F (170c) - that's pretty hot 

[Turf]

above 320f they say HI

and it could be water on your sensor

[NorDog]

i hit 218 .. all the time...

how hot is too hot?

It should be fine as long as your sensor is not calibrated for degrees Celsius.

[He Man]

ive hit 310 plenty of times. in the summer time its pretty daily thing ill break 300 at some point in the day.

Once when it was raining ~60 i couldnt get it off LO/130.

[scott_araujo]

Wonky sensor maybe.  Or the connection.  If you've got the sensor like mine it's on the right lower part of the engine covering the oil screen.  The lead may just need to be cleaned, greased to prevent corrosion, and crimped up tight.  You may also just be low on oil.  There's a remote chance your oil pump is flaky but I doubt that.  Look for the easy stuff first.

Scott