No Engine Temp Gauge on the 2018 Star Venture?

I just traded my 2015 Goldwing in for a new 2018 Star Venture TC. The GW engine was water cooled and had an engine temp gauge which I keep my eye on quite a bit while riding here in the desert of SoCal. During my ride home on the Venture from the dealership, I was stressed to find that the Yamaha had no such gauge. This is my first big air cooled V Twin. Do air cooled bikes not have engine temp gauges?

Temperature gauges are coolant temperature. No coolant = no gauge.

Yep,, times have changed... Use to be that grease monkeys depended on a full set of gauges to keep an eye on things.. Then times went to idiot lights (really,, what check engine lite used to be called) and nowadays it seems like even idiot lights are of no concern,,, much more worry about whether or not your scoot has blue teeth...

Of course,, being the guru he is,, MiCarl is spot on IMHO... On the other hand Lawman,, before switching over to water cooled scoots for my desert riding needs, I spent a fair amount of time soaking up the GLOREOUS sun out there aboard air cooled scoots and ALWAYS monitored engine oil temps with a thermometer on the oil cap of the oil bag. I used em on my HD's and SOHC 750 Honda Chops back then and they worked AWESOME as those bikes were all "dry sump",, which I believe your scoot is.. I also did run one on a couple unit metric Yam 650's too that worked well but not as good, IMHO, as my dry sump scoots.. Still nice to monitor oil temps in some way though if riding air cooled in that region back then.. ,,,, perhaps oil blends have changed enough thru the years that oil turning into water by touring Death Valley in the summer is no longer a problem:missingtooth:

I also used to plumb in an oil pressure gauge on my dry sumps.. Even my 1942 HD WLA had an oil light as did my later shovels,, I was one of those greasy little monkeys that never trusted those lights,,, I LOVED gauges..

Yep,, times have changed... Use to be that grease monkeys depended on a full set of gauges to keep an eye on things.. Then times went to idiot lights (really,, what check engine lite used to be called) and nowadays it seems like even idiot lights are of no concern,,, much more worry about whether or not your scoot has blue teeth...

 

Of course,, being the guru he is,, MiCarl is spot on IMHO... On the other hand Lawman,, before switching over to water cooled scoots for my desert riding needs, I spent a fair amount of time soaking up the GLOREOUS sun out there aboard air cooled scoots and ALWAYS monitored engine oil temps with a thermometer on the oil cap of the oil bag. I used em on my HD's and SOHC 750 Honda Chops back then and they worked AWESOME as those bikes were all "dry sump",, which I believe your scoot is.. I also did run one on a couple unit metric Yam 650's too that worked well but not as good, IMHO, as my dry sump scoots.. Still nice to monitor oil temps in some way though if riding air cooled in that region back then.. ,,,, perhaps oil blends have changed enough thru the years that oil turning into water by touring Death Valley in the summer is no longer a problem:missingtooth:

 

I also used to plumb in an oil pressure gauge on my dry sumps.. Even my 1942 HD WLA had an oil light as did my later shovels,, I was one of those greasy little monkeys that never trusted those lights,,, I LOVED gauges..

Maybe Puc we can talk into installing one in the sump? That would be fun hmm brother!

Maybe Puc we can talk into installing one in the sump? That would be fun hmm brother!

Dry sump systems on air cooled engines like the one that, I am almost positive, the SVTC encorporates normally have oil gallery lugs in them that you bleed from any time you do an oil change to make sure the oil pump is functioning and not air locked. Usually its a screw (or two) that you loosen to bleed from.. Many wet sump scoots do too = look above the spark plug on an xr80/x100 = 10mm bolt in the head right above the plug is for exactly that.. Some people have used these bleed points in oil gallerys for oil pressure gauge apps on unit bikes but I never really found them useful/consistent.. The bleed points on a non-unit/pre-unit type of scoot that incorporates an oil pressure sending unit (I am POSITIVE the SVTC has one as this is one thing those reps out at Sturgis did let me check on) like even all big twin HD's after the F heads had should ONLY be used with each oil change to check the pump,,, the best place I found (and this is where I would look on the SVTC if I had one and was going to ride that hot puppy out in the desert) to "T" in a pressure gauge line is where ever the sending unit is located... This is customarily on the high/hot side of either the oil bag or the oil cooler if the bike has one...

Dry sump systems on air cooled engines like the one that, I am almost positive, the SVTC encorporates normally have oil gallery lugs in them that you bleed from any time you do an oil change to make sure the oil pump is functioning and not air locked. Usually its a screw (or two) that you loosen to bleed from.. Many wet sump scoots do too = look above the spark plug on an xr80/x100 = 10mm bolt in the head right above the plug is for exactly that.. Some people have used these bleed points in oil gallerys for oil pressure gauge apps on unit bikes but I never really found them useful/consistent.. The bleed points on a non-unit/pre-unit type of scoot that incorporates an oil pressure sending unit (I am POSITIVE the SVTC has one as this is one thing those reps out at Sturgis did let me check on) like even all big twin HD's after the F heads had should ONLY be used with each oil change to check the pump,,, the best place I found (and this is where I would look on the SVTC if I had one and was going to ride that hot puppy out in the desert) to "T" in a pressure gauge line is where ever the sending unit is located... This is customarily on the high/hot side of either the oil bag or the oil cooler if the bike has one...

Ok I follow, somewhat and agree somewhat, I think:think:

Like I agree that from a bleed port that there could in fact be an air pocket form after/previous cycles making that reading predictably unpredictable!

Agree too that an inline tap would be better as we would be sure the brass thingy would be wet therefore predictably predictable! But,, it could spring a leak and that would be predictably bad for an otherwise predictable touring bike!

So now that we agree can you please educate me on xr80/x100 = 10mm?

Is it that xr/80 (100)/x = 10

Sure Patch,, gladly try to clarify.. I was speaking of the little Honda XR's and the 10mm oil gallery bolt you remove to check the oil pump status at each oil change or whenever the bike might be inverted,,,, this little bolt is located right above the spark plug = easily seen in the first pic in this ad I just pulled up on ebay = https://www.ebay.com/itm/1982-82-Honda-XR100-XR-100-Motorcycle-Body-Motor-Cylinder-Head-Valves-Guard/164046041794?hash=item2631e7f2c2:g:SfAAAOSwP2ddRFkt

new

I never owned or worked on one of the new Ventures that the OP asked about but my point in all that is/was that in pretty much most of the dry sump bikes (which I am almost sure the new Venture is being air cooled = gets the oil out of the engine to cool it) there is always a similar oil pump test bleed for the same purpose as on the unit constructed little XR Honda and I personally would not use a similar bleeder for an oil pressure line...

That help?

Yep it does. Guess I'm the "grasshopper" tonight;)

With all due respect, I don’t see the importance and significance of having a temperature gauge on the air cooled SVTC. I am not an engineer nor have any clear knowledge of the Yamaha engine and intricacies of its technology. FWIW, LongHaulPaul has rode 100K miles with no major engine issues in less than 2 years - so no worries. Yamaha engine is tough and can withstand some abuse. IMO, if the SVTC engine will ever overheat - your legs will be over cooked long before you realize it is already overheating. [emoji4][emoji2][emoji4]

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From what I read a while ago about a police motorcycle test, the Harleys were deemed okay if the oil did not exceed 400 degrees F which is astounding to me. But today's oils can take a lot of heat I presume. The NOAC test is performed at 450 degrees F if I remember correctly. Evidently, Yammy knew what they were doing when they built the new Venture.

... Many wet sump scoots do too ...

Like our beloved V-4's.

Although... I have been too lazy to actually use it.

I just traded my 2015 Goldwing in for a new 2018 Star Venture TC. The GW engine was water cooled and had an engine temp gauge which I keep my eye on quite a bit while riding here in the desert of SoCal. During my ride home on the Venture from the dealership, I was stressed to find that the Yamaha had no such gauge. This is my first big air cooled V Twin. Do air cooled bikes not have engine temp gauges?

I am pretty sure the bike knows how hot it is running... just doesn't want you to know.

Since it has rear cylinder deactivation, I bet it can also dial out timing when it thinks it is hot, and maybe even rich-en fuel mixture...

I am pretty sure the bike knows how hot it is running... just doesn't want you to know.

Since it has rear cylinder deactivation, I bet it can also dial out timing when it thinks it is hot, and maybe even rich-en fuel mixture...

I wasn't aware that the Venture TC has rear cylinder deactivation, like the new Indian Roadmaster. Are you sure?

I wasn't aware that the Venture TC has rear cylinder deactivation, like the new Indian Roadmaster. Are you sure?

You're right. I was completely guessing on the rear cylinder deactivation part on the Yamaha. But, I'm sure it can retard timing and richen fuel even if it is not specifically mentioned.

You're right. I was completely guessing on the rear cylinder deactivation part on the Yamaha. But, I'm sure it can retard timing and richen fuel even if it is not specifically mentioned.

100% and is the point of injection adaptive mapping.