Two questions which are loosely connected if anyone would care to comment on their experience please! I don't have an issue, just wanting to get a bit of perspective.

1. How many bars does your temperature gauge normally display on normal road riding? Mine shows 3 on the open road and 4 in heavy traffic or town which seems fine. Ambient air temperature is in the mid-20's C at present where I'm riding.

2. Has anyone noticed whether a radiator guard causes their motor to run any hotter? The only reason I ask is that the brand I had on my Blackbird definitely made the fans come on earlier but I noticed no difference on my Street Triple. Didn't have one on my GSX-S 1000. Haven't got one on the 790 at present, but do have a front guard extension.

mine runs the same with a radiator guard on, fan also comes on when stood in traffic with 4 bars showing.

Thanks for the response - pretty much the same then.

General running with the radiator guard on is 3 bars, city traffic 4 bars then sometimes the fans kick in, prob went its climbing in temp in the over 4 bar range but not 5 bar. Theres a good make from China, good 1mm thick aloy, sits off the radiator and lets plenty of air circulate.

Thanks for that Dave - eBay for the guard, approx NZ$70? Have seen them and wondered what they are like. Incidentally, what oil are you using? Mine is Motorex 10W-60 full synthetic. Expensive stuff but just like tyres, I've never worried about cost of key components. In my past few bikes, I've always used Motul 5100 semi-synthetic.

Haven’t seen more than 4 bars through summer in Sydney - even in heavy traffic. Never below 3 after warming up. That fan pushes out a lot of heat though.

Tom in Sydney

Thanks Tom,
That pretty much confirms that 3-4bars is standard irrespective of ambient air temperature. Got to agree with you about the fan pushing out real heat though!

I did an oil and filter change after the track day and put in 10W50 Motorex, Multistrada its 10W50 5100, and the 1290GT its 10W60 (red Motul) forget its grade name but its fully Synthetic. Im taking the GT up to Boyds on Wednesday for its 30K service. My guard i git off Ebay wes $72 delivered, its the one that comes with little orange stickers to fit in the side panels (but they don't stick, through away) its a very good quality and fit Rad guard, 1mm aloy.

I'm not as far away as you but David who runs the workshop always goes out of his way to make sure they start on the bike as soon as I arrive as it's a 320 km round trip.

Thanks for the heads up about the rad guard. Have found one that sounds the same and ordered it this afternoon. Cheers!

Mine runs the same now but they had to replace the thermostat 6 months ago. Wasn't running hot but I took to long for it to open.