Motorcycle engine heating is a common issue, but sometimes, the motorcycle engine overheats in the middle of its journey. Have you ever wondered why motorcycle engines overheat?
Although there are many reasons why your motorcycle engine overheats, and reasons such as lack of oil, coolant failure are still the most predominant ones.
How does the lack of fuel, coolant failure overheat your engine? And what are some measures that you can take to avoid this condition? Worry not! In this post, we’ve discussed all the answers to your question that you might have.
Why Do Motorcycle Engines Overheat?
As mentioned above, there could be many reasons why your motorcycle overheats. But here we’re going to discuss some most predominant issues which riders usually see on the motorbike.
| Why Do Motorcycle Engines Overheat? |
| Engine Oil. |
| High REV. |
| Water Coolant. |
| Blocked Pipes. |
| Radiator core. |
Engine Oil
Undoubtedly engine oil is the vital component of a motorcycle that you can’t afford to miss out on. But how can a lack of motorcycle oil make your engine overheat?
Before understanding, you must know the functioning of motorcycle oil. There is a piston in the cylinder in the engine, which is solely responsible for running your motorcycle.
Engine oil acts as a lubricant between the cylinder and piston, and in the absence of enough oil, there could be a friction problem. This friction produced heat, which could be the reason for your motorcycle’s overheating problem.
Overall, the lack of enough oil in the motorcycle would hamper your motorcycle health. Additionally, the lack of oil also severely affects the lubrication in the clutch and brakes.
We highly recommend constantly checking the amount of oil in your motorcycle engine before going on a long drive. The ideal thumb rule is checking the oil in the engine every six months and every 4000 miles.
High REV:
REV of an engine is defined as the revolution of the engine per minute. As you keep increasing the race, the REV is increasing, thus increasing the RPM of your motorcycle.
In easy words, the more race you give, the more will be REV and RPM, which increases the friction between the engine piston and cylinder. This friction produces heat which could be the main reason for overheating the engine.
Many manufacturers have already introduced high-performance oil, which could prevent this situation. Still, there are many things that even engine oils can’t control.
You can also decrease the REV and preventing friction causing overheating your engine. If you ever think the REV is the main reason behind your engine overheating, then we highly recommend taking a small break and letting your engine cool.
Additionally, we also recommend not crossing the limit of 1000 RPM; the ideal RPM shouldn’t be more than 1300 RPM below this red line; everything is good.
Water Coolant:
If you’re using a water coolant technology motorbike and still facing the overheating problem, then we’d recommend checking the coolant liquid mixture.
The ideal mixture should contain 50% water and 50% oil to prevent overheating. And try to maintain these limits to boost the engine’s overall health.
We highly recommend using the distilled water only when making the mixture. It’s because tap water contains a complex salt of sodium carbonate and calcium carbonate. These heavy salts tend to block the pipes, which ultimately disturb the coolant circulation.
Blocked Pipes:
Although the blocked pipe is the rare cause of overheating the engine, still we can’t ignore this.
Many people use wrong concentration values in the water coolant motorcycle, which could be the main reason for blocked pipes. The blocked pipes hamper the proper circulation of coolant, which ultimately causes overheating.
You can quickly check the blocked pipes problem with the infrared thermometer. It would be best if you pointed out the thermometer on the inner part of the radiator and the outer part of the radiator. In the ideal condition, the thermometer should show different readings.
Also, in many cases, the defective air filter in the motorcycle causes dust and debris to enter and mix with oil. When mixing with the oil, dust particles make Greece type material that overall blocks pipes and hampers the oil circulation.
Radiator Core:
Have you seen the soft waffle-like material around the radiator core? This waffle-like material helps to transfer the heat from the radiator to the coolant.
The sharp stream of water or bugs (stuck during riding) destroys these thin waffles in many cases. And this ultimately causes the poor functioning of the coolant system.
You can wash these waffles with warm water using a soft bristles brush, or you can use a toothbrush.
How to Prevent Motorcycle Engines Overheating?
Preventing the engine from overheating is necessary for your motorcycle’s health. So now the question is, how can you prevent the motorcycle engine from overheating.
| How to Prevent Motorcycle Engines Overheating. |
| Check Oil. |
| High RPM. |
| Coolant mixture. |
Check Oil:
As mentioned above, oil also plays a vital role in maintaining motorbike temperature. The lack of enough oil increases the friction between the piston and cylinder.
We highly recommend checking the engine oil every four weeks. And please remember that the old motorcycle oil evaporates more quickly than the new oil.
High RPM:
Riding on high RPM increases the friction between the piston and cylinder, impacting the motorcycle engine temperature. The ideal RPM shouldn’t be more than 1500 RPM at any cost.
Coolant Mixture:
The ideal coolant mixture should contain oil and water in equal amounts. And this wrong concentration could overheat your engine.
What to Do When Your Motorcycle Engine Overheats?
Before doing anything, you first need to understand the signs of motorcycle overheating.
The most predominant sign of motorcycle overheating is the smell and smoke. The smell is generally caused because of friction which results in overheating. You can easily relate the smell with the burning metal, just like in welding shops.
Fortunately enough, many motorcycles come with a temperature indicator on the dashboard indicating the motorcycle temperature.
You can’t find this indicator in the old motorcycle, but the oil indicator would indicate the same problem if the engine overheats due to a lack of enough oil.
Here’re some things you should do if your motorcycle overheats.
Stop the Motorcycle:
It’s the first thing you should do if you ever find your motorcycle overheating.
We highly recommend stopping the motorcycle for at least 15 minutes and let it cool. Or you can pour some water on the motorcycle engine to cool the engine rapidly.
Call the Towing Truck:
You shouldn’t start your motorcycle again if lack of oil is the main problem of engine overheating. Otherwise, you could destroy the engine permanently.
We highly recommend calling a towing truck or your friend in this case. After all, doing this would cost you much less than making your seized engine work again.
Is Motorcycle Overheating Dangerous?
Yes, motorcycle overheating is dangerous not only for your motorcycle but also for the rider. Here are some reasons why motorcycle engine overheating is dangerous for you.
| What would happen if your motorcycle overheated? |
| Parts of the motorcycle would start seizing slowly. |
| Your motorcycle piston will seize. |
| Connections will start to fuse together. |
Parts of Motorcycle:
Overheating due to lack of oil hugely impacts the motorcycle parts. The motorcycle parts will start to seize slowly, which may cause accidents.
Piston Will Seize:
What could be worse than suddenly stopping the motorcycle back tire?
In the case of overheating, the motorbike piston will seize anytime causing the stopping the motorcycle’s back tire which finally cause accident.
Note: We’re not including any danger of skin burn if your feet ever touch the motorcycle engine.
Connection Will Fuse:
In many cases, many riders also face connection problems because of engine overheating. You’ll lose dashboard readings if your motorbike connection fuses together.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Why motorcycle engines overheat?
Although there are many reasons why your motorcycle engine overheats, reasons such as lack of oil, coolant failure are the most predominant ones.
How lack of engine oil caused overheating?
Before understanding, you must know the functioning of motorcycle oil. There is a piston in the cylinder in the engine, which is solely responsible for running your motorcycle.
Engine oil acts as a lubricant between the cylinder and piston, and in the absence of enough oil, there could be friction. This friction produced heat which could be the reason for your motorcycle overheating problem.
Why high REV is bad?
REV of an engine is defined as the revolution of the engine per minute. As you keep increasing the race, the REV is increasing, thus increasing the RPM of your motorcycle.
In easy words, the more race you give, the more will be REV and RPM, which increases the friction between the engine piston and cylinder. This friction produces heat which could be the main reason for overheating the engine.
Final Verdict:
Why do motorcycle engines overheat? Although there are many reasons why your motorcycle engine overheats, reasons such as lack of oil, coolant failure are the most predominant ones.
You can prevent the motorcycle from overheating by checking the oil, keeping the RPM oil, and maintaining a good concentration mixture.
