Dan's Fire Blade

[danulmer18]

Hey guys,
I have been working on and off on this bike for 3 years now and she is just about done. i thought i would share some quick pics (nicer pics to come when everything is tidy)

She was a 94 blade at one point. Just a few of the bits on her:
custom subframe with r6 tail
custom machined headlight tube with HID projection
custom machined switch housing with wires thru the bars
custom machined pegs
custom machined plate holder
custom machined tripples and fork covers
megatek front guard
modified swingarm
gas flowed and ported head
dyna 2000 ignition
st machine shorty levers
alloy brake res
alloy mini dash
alloy mirrirs
one off 4 into 1 headers with micron gp can
about a million other little bit and pieces of carbon or machining.
everything is either powdercoated, black chromed, black anodised, black ceramic coated or painted.

I just got her started and holy crap is she fast! it hits a bit of a powerband around 5k and the front end comes up super easy. I thought i would have to play with the jetting as I've been told these blades don't like short exhaust but i kept the stock airfliter and she works great. i think the combo of the raised compression, exhaust and the right ignition timing has turned her into a monster! She sounds amazing too

Only thing left to do is button up some wiring and tidy some bits.

One thing I am looking for help on is:
I modified the rad so the pipe on the right (top of the rad)goes up and inside the frame to the thermostat housing instead of down and around. I got rid of the small coolant air bleed hose (before I knew what i was doing)

My question is how can I tell if there is an air bubble in the coolant somewhere?
And which way does the coolant circulate? Is the thermostat housing and the hose on the right side (to the top of the rad) the hot coolant out?

I hooked up a didital thermo guage to the stock sensor but it only reads 50 to 150c and it goes past that pretty quick even with the fan on. I'm told the fan should come on at 104c(this is what I programmed but it uses the info the digital guage provides for the fan relay). Its possible i programmed the guage wrong but I need to find if I have an air bubble in the cooling system.

Any ideas or comments??

Cheers Dan

[Yella]

Nice bike

I would have a guess and say the stock sender and the digital gauge are not compatable you should not see anything near 150c, 104c for the fan cutting in is probably close to the money maybe a little high but not that much. Not sure with the Blade but my 96 zx7 has a seperate switch in the radiator for the fan (looking at the pic's bottom left front of your radiator maybe) and a sender in the thermosate housing for the gauge

[BANDITROD]

I'm going with Yella on this one .......Bike looks shit hot too well done mate

[danulmer18]

Thanks for your input guys
It is possible that I have calibrated the guage wrong for the type of sensor but the instructions say that VDO type sensors only read from 50 to 150c and this seems to be what the guage shows.(I don't even know if it is a vdo type sensor) Im pulling the reading from the sensor above the thermostat housing. Can I also pull a reading from the one in the rad?

Is there any way of knowing if there is an air bubble in the system? Or a way of ensuring there isn't?
If the coolant flows out of the head, through the thermostat and into the right top of the rad, then the only possible air bubble is inbetween the thermostat and the rad on this return leg. It seems unlikly that there is an air bubble before the thermostat where the temp sensor is located.

[danulmer18]

wait..could it also be a faulty thermostat? Not opening and letting coolant in the head get too hot?
Another question then...how hot is doing damage? How will I know if I have cooked something? Will the coolant overflow bottle fill and blow steam if it is overheating? Just want to ensure I haven't damaged anything.

[BANDITROD]

Is it still possible for you to wire your stock dash to the bike and as for damaging temp I would be getting worried if I saw 115 plus

[danulmer18]

Is it still possible for you to wire your stock dash to the bike and as for damaging temp I would be getting worried if I saw 115 plus

Don't even have the stock dash anymore.
Lets say there was an air gap around the sensor and it really was 150c plus in that area, what would be potentially damaged? There would have been over 2 litres of coolant in the system somewhere. What should I be worried about?
During my test rides (usually 5 mins or so)
There was no detonation or pre ignition. that would be the first sign of dangerously hot wouldn't it??
What should I check??
I'm all worried now

[BANDITROD]

Do you know anyone with one of those laser thermometer's if the bike isn't showing any signs of being fucking Hot then its prob just the gauge reading the wrong temp and yeah if it was as hot as you think it's getting all sorts of shit would start to go wrong

[Yella]

Thanks for your input guys
It is possible that I have calibrated the guage wrong for the type of sensor but the instructions say that VDO type sensors only read from 50 to 150c and this seems to be what the guage shows.(I don't even know if it is a vdo type sensor) Im pulling the reading from the sensor above the thermostat housing. Can I also pull a reading from the one in the rad?

Is there any way of knowing if there is an air bubble in the system? Or a way of ensuring there isn't?
If the coolant flows out of the head, through the thermostat and into the right top of the rad, then the only possible air bubble is inbetween the thermostat and the rad on this return leg. It seems unlikly that there is an air bubble before the thermostat where the temp sensor is located.

I would say it is calibrated wrong or the sensor and the gauge are not compatable.
I would use the sensor in the thermostate housing for the display.Do you have a wiring diagram?
Looks like the sensor in the rad is a switch for the fan that probably needs to get wired in for it to work
Any air in the system will find its way to the highest point if you can set the bike up so the cap is at the highest point when filling that should do the trick or bleed it in sections i.e take a hose off the radiator and makes sure it is fullwhen you put it on if you are worried

If you has been 150c plus you would have known.



Do you know anyone with one of those laser thermometer's if the bike isn't showing any signs of being fucking Hot then its prob just the gauge reading the wrong temp and yeah if it was as hot as you think it's getting all sorts of shit would start to go wrong

+1 on the thermo gun or if not have you got a thermo fitting for a multi meter you can stick in the tank and compair the display to the meter.

[danulmer18]

I have a k type thermo sensor on my multimeter so I'll do a rough test but i think I'll go back to a stock thermostat housing with air bleed as I need to know the system is air free.
Im just curious..you say if it had been 150c I would know...how would I know exactly?

[Nudie]

You'd probably hear a rattle rattle rattle KABOOM sort of sound

[BANDITROD]

Yeah I would say the same as nudie mate but it's hard to pinpoint what would let go first

[danulmer18]

thanks guys, none of that stuff happened and last time I rolled her into the garage she was purring so it must be the sensor. I've ordered the stock thermostat housing and will route the hose so I can bleed the air.
I'll post some better pics when she is all tidy:)

[BANDITROD]

Good tuff mate