Scrambler The Much Reported Heat Issue (1200)

Don’t worry
Winters coming

 

The heat has only registered in my brain on a couple of occasions; once whilst stationary at traffic lights during the recent heatwave and whilst waiting at border control at the channel tunnel.

Apart from that not had a massive problem, during normal riding don't notice any extra heat.

 

The heat from the pipes is less than that on the street scrambler, I had a ss and did 12500 miles on.
I now have nearly 4k on the 1200 XE and the only time I notice the heat is stationary in traffic, I have started putting my left leg down instead of the right. Don`t get hot leg that way.
You definitly would not ride this bike in shorts, but then I always wear proper motorcycle clothing, as I am not a tit!

 

had my xe since april and put 3k on it in all weather conditions and only noticed the hot pipe when stopped and as others have said, i not put my left foot down. i have had bikes with under seat exhausts that produce more heat.

 

I live in California. I don't notice it much unless I am stopped in traffic or riding off road and standing with only jeans on. It does get very hot, however, if you have ridden dirt or dual sport bikes, you will have learned to stand with your buttocks off the bike's seat, with your right leg down and away from the dirt bike, especially in awkward situation (like on a steep hill) , or if the bike is very tall. Since I am used to that, it is easy to stand with the bike under my left thigh, and my right leg straight and away from the bike.

If you decide to sit with both feet on the ground when at a standstill - and you don't have heat resistant layers - you will need to have the catalytic converter removed in order to make the heat bearable in hot weather. This is a standard procedure ("decat") out here and reduces the heat by about 40%, making it bearable. Hiflow make a replacement pipe header that is an easy swap.

 

Has anyone tried: 1) taking the heat shield off, 2) wrapping the pipe/catalyzer in asbestos header tape, and 3) reinstalling the heat shield? I love the scrambler but I'm put off by reports of heat ... a problem that dates back to the 60s on scrambler style bikes. And yes, I was riding back then.

 

I’ve thought about wrapping the catalytic converter with exhaust wrap until I read recently if you wrap the cat it will over time breakdown so I’ve not bothered but I am looking into putting insulation on the back of the shields ,to be honest the heat isn’t that bad apart from stood in traffic which I rarely do, if I were you I’d test ride one so your sure it’s fine for you.

 

Thanks. I read somewhere that the cat was designed to work at extremely high temps. Maybe too high with the wrap. It's very warm in the summer here in the central valley of Northern California.

 

I have coated the 3 heat shields with self adhesive heat mat from heat protection products. I can keep my bare hands on the rear and middle shields with out any problems. The front shield I can place a bare hand on briefly.

About 1kg lighter now after a visit to Meerkat Mufflers. 20 minute reset idle and all done. Fan only came on twice for short periods.

 

I recently discovered that after doing the 12 min engine run until fan comes on then let it run for a further 12 mins which clears the ecu and also switch to sport mode my bike runs noticeably cooler.

 

That's known as the 'reset adaption' (or possibly 'adaptations') - you're resetting all of the learned 'adaptations' that the ECU has stored. There are many posts about this, with slightly different descriptions of how to do it (yours is correct) - I wrote it down like this, which I think is about right

From cold, start without touching the throttle or any controls.
Run for a minimum of 12 minutes after the fan comes on, and the ECU will adapt to the engine.

 

Huge difference in how the motor runs now. You can easily pull a higher gear through corners etc, acceleration is smoother as is deceleration, sound is actually a bit quieter and deeper sitting at 80 and 100kph. You can ride along with your hand on the front heat shield and leave it there without getting burnt. 4.3 litres per 100 KLM.

 

I live in Southern California and the heat problem is real, if you get stuck in traffic or have to stop for an extended period of time that bitch gets hot, as long as you’re moving it’s tolerable but the exhaust pipe is right next to your leg no surprise he gets warm. I have removed the catalytic converter and installed the Zard de-cat that has solve the problem 100%. But The exhaust is still next to your leg if you think you’re not gonna feel some heat from it you’re smoking crack.

 

18 months and approaching 6,000 miles on the xc. i do notice the heat from the pipe when sitting still for a while, but not so much that it bothers me. On a 98 degree day, my body heat being trapped by my helmet and other gear is more of a problem than the heat from the cat is. That said, where I live there is basically no traffic so the worst i have to deal with is sitting at a light for a while or at a construction zone. If had to ride in heavy stop and go traffic it might bother me more.

 

Hi! Can you tell me what type of tape you used on your heat shield? Does it make a big difference? Here in Canada it’s completely illigal to remove the catalyticconverter.

 

It is called Heat Protection Products heatshield. Several variations of it available. I bought the rolled up sheet with a self adhesive backing. I will get a photo of it later. You can use multiple layers if you want to. I have 2 layers on the front shield simply to use up all the sheet. It moulds to the shapes of the shields too, great stuff to work with. And yes, it has definitely made a difference.

 

Thank you very much!!!!