Cold weather ride

[Waynebang i]

I ride a 2013R TS and when I pull it out in cold weather and warm it up the temp gauge comes right to the center of the dial, but is soon as I start down the road it dropped almost all the way to cold. is this normal or is there something wrong with the thermostat or do I need to block off part of the radiator in cold weather

 

[ARtraveler]

All the spyders I have had seemed to have "cold weather" issues. For me, the engine temp gauge will always hang low for way beyond what I consider normal.

I do not warm mine up. Just start em, let em boot up, and drive off.

I have had the gauge go down when hitting a cold air pocket.

 

[Waynebang i]

Is this bad for the motor or should I not worry about it

 

[ARtraveler]

Is this bad for the motor or should I not worry about it

I would say "normal."

Maybe a few others will chime in and help.

 

[Sarge707]

My 2012 RT would run 2 bars in cold weather and a few times to one bar.

 

[d.o.spyder-rts]

Add me to the normal list. While "warming" up the engine, there is no cool/cold air circulating around the motor or radiator. When you "hit" the road, the cold air circulates around the motor and radiator, the temp guage should drop. Dale

 

[Chupaca]

Hard to say....

as I have seen so many here remove the dial gauges and go with the digital bars on screen. The dial guages seem to be unreliable. Starting up and moving on is not bad for your engine unless you burn rubber and redline the engine out the driveway. Takes 10 or 15 minutes of normal ryding to get to operating temperature I would wait and then to read the guage...:thumbup:

 

[UtahPete]

I ride a 2013R TS and when I pull it out in cold weather and warm it up the temp gauge comes right to the center of the dial, but is soon as I start down the road it dropped almost all the way to cold. is this normal or is there something wrong with the thermostat or do I need to block off part of the radiator in cold weather

What do you mean by 'cold'?

 

[Pallidus Aranea]

Cold today was 38F. My 2018 RTL sat in the driveway for about 15 minutes 'warming'. Engine temp gauge moved towards mid-range. Took off and it dropped like a rock. I'd have to say that seems to be a "normal" response. However .... the ambient temp indicator .. lies. It went from 38F to 47F while sitting in the shade of the driveway. Thumbs up on the engine temp gauge - I think it works like it is supposed to.
Side note - the 1330 loves the cool air.

 

[UtahPete]

Cold today was 38F. My 2018 RTL sat in the driveway for about 15 minutes 'warming'. Engine temp gauge moved towards mid-range. Took off and it dropped like a rock. I'd have to say that seems to be a "normal" response. However .... the ambient temp indicator .. lies. It went from 38F to 47F while sitting in the shade of the driveway. Thumbs up on the engine temp gauge - I think it works like it is supposed to.
Side note - the 1330 loves the cool air.

I don't know if it makes any difference, but I think he has the V-twin

 

[Docster]

My 2012 RT would run 2 bars in cold weather and a few times to one bar.

Mine as well. If its 20° outside and I'm up on the highway;

1. I'm glad for heated gear
2 The heat gauge bars don't get up past 2 bars
3. Bike runs fine then and gauges show normal temps when not so insanely cold