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2012 RT, Curious Temp Reading Observation

liv2ride

liv2ride

New member
I am the original owner of this camhead, still loving the bike more everyday with 24k miles and counting.

The temps have been a bit cooler the last week or two and I noticed when leaving work in the afternoon on at least two occasions that the temp gauge registered the cooler a.m. temp for approximately 1/4 mile of the ride then it started to increase to what I believe was the current temp e.g. 69 in the a.m. and 83 in the afternoon.

Unfortunately I don't have a GS-911...yet. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Scot
 
Scot, long time no post. Based on your description I can't see any problem with your bike temp. Any positive indication below the half way mark is good. Short trips don't always get the temp to full operational temps. The RT also has that oil check feature when it gets to full operational temp it'll give you that check mark. If you took a pic of the temp gauge and posted it, maybe that would help.
 
Wait a minute, your talking about the free air temperature gauge, not the oil gauge. Sorry, reread your post. My temp gauge has always been about 4*F off I was under the impression it had to do with the metric to standard conversion on the RT not quite right.

If your keeping your RT in the garage, the FAT gauge will display the garage temp for a while, maybe a quarter mile. With temps in the 20's here I've been eyeballing that temp gauge in the mornings.
 
rangerreece said:
Wait a minute, your talking about the free air temperature gauge, not the oil gauge. Sorry, reread your post. My temp gauge has always been about 4*F off I was under the impression it had to do with the metric to standard conversion on the RT not quite right.

If your keeping your RT in the garage, the FAT gauge will display the garage temp for a while, maybe a quarter mile. With temps in the 20's here I've been eyeballing that temp gauge in the mornings.
Click to expand...

My 2005 RT consistently reads 7 degrees high. Its a bit annoying, but I just do the conversion.
 
Having the bike nearly four years I am quite familiar with the ambient temp reading "norms", I am not referring to the accuracy of what is reported.

The recent observation is the delayed reaction of the ambient temp reading. This has only recently been observed and after the bike sat out in the sun under a bike cover while at the office. As explained, on one day the ride to work in the morning was approximately 69 degrees and that was the ambient temp reading when I parked the bike at work that day. Throughout the day the temp had risen to approximately 83 degrees. After work when I started the bike it was still reporting 69 degrees and continued to display the temp for about 1/4 mile at which point I watched the ambient temp slowly rise to what I believe was the current temp of 83.

This could possibly be related to the delay I have experienced a handful of times with the fuel gauge reporting full after a fill up. The gauge has never failed but at times it will take up to 30-45 seconds to react to the tank being filled.
 
My new fuel strip does the same thing. As far as your fat gauge goes, I think it's a totally separate issue. If you still got Honolulu BMW over there by Nimitz as I recall, this might be something for them to look at. It sounds like you have a loose wire, bad connection to your sensor.
 
liv2ride said:
Having the bike nearly four years I am quite familiar with the ambient temp reading "norms", I am not referring to the accuracy of what is reported.

The recent observation is the delayed reaction of the ambient temp reading. This has only recently been observed and after the bike sat out in the sun under a bike cover while at the office. As explained, on one day the ride to work in the morning was approximately 69 degrees and that was the ambient temp reading when I parked the bike at work that day. Throughout the day the temp had risen to approximately 83 degrees. After work when I started the bike it was still reporting 69 degrees and continued to display the temp for about 1/4 mile at which point I watched the ambient temp slowly rise to what I believe was the current temp of 83.

This could possibly be related to the delay I have experienced a handful of times with the fuel gauge reporting full after a fill up. The gauge has never failed but at times it will take up to 30-45 seconds to react to the tank being filled.
Click to expand...

my 13 does the same thing with regard to the ambient temp reading....i think the computer "remembers" the last reading and then re-initiates the sensor on the next start-up....

as for the fuel gauge (we have floats, not strips), mine can take anywhere from mere seconds to as much as yours, never figured that out and sometimes i seem to be "making fuel" as the miles to empty continues to rise over several miles...
 
liv2ride said:
This could possibly be related to the delay I have experienced a handful of times with the fuel gauge reporting full after a fill up. The gauge has never failed but at times it will take up to 30-45 seconds to react to the tank being filled.
Click to expand...
This delay is designed into the fuel measurement system. There was a chap on some forum (maybe here) who worked for a company that designed and sold fuel sensing devices. It was absolutely normal for a 30-60 second delay in reading the level after startup. The delay is built into the readout to prevent rapid fluctuations from sloshing gasoline while you're riding (or in his case - the ones he manufactured were for cars). If you filled up, waited for the delay time to run out (which also includes some level averaging) then emptied the tank, it would take an equal delay to for the readout to display empty.

It's not an issue or problem - it's an actual feature, just never explained by BMW.
 
wyman.winn said:
my 13 does the same thing with regard to the ambient temp reading....i think the computer "remembers" the last reading and then re-initiates the sensor on the next start-up....

as for the fuel gauge (we have floats, not strips), mine can take anywhere from mere seconds to as much as yours, never figured that out and sometimes i seem to be "making fuel" as the miles to empty continues to rise over several miles...
Click to expand...

The computer remembering the temp makes sense; however, I thought it was interested how I don't recall this occurring prior to the last few weeks. Either way, I am not concerned but instead curious as to what it may be attributed to.

Making fuel, that's an interesting concept.:thumb
 
deilenberger said:
This delay is designed into the fuel measurement system. There was a chap on some forum (maybe here) who worked for a company that designed and sold fuel sensing devices. It was absolutely normal for a 30-60 second delay in reading the level after startup. The delay is built into the readout to prevent rapid fluctuations from sloshing gasoline while you're riding (or in his case - the ones he manufactured were for cars). If you filled up, waited for the delay time to run out (which also includes some level averaging) then emptied the tank, it would take an equal delay to for the readout to display empty.

It's not an issue or problem - it's an actual feature, just never explained by BMW.
Click to expand...

That sounds logical; however, just like the temp observation the fuel gauge delay does not always occur...it's actually infrequent. I cannot seem to relate any set of circumstances to the random occurrence. Not concerned but again, just curious. I am happy that the gauge works and is quite consistent with tracking fuel consumption.
 
I don't like the one the bike has. I am going to install a bigger digital gauge. It also could be where the sensor is placed.

Bernie
 
liv2ride said:
I am the original owner of this camhead, still loving the bike more everyday with 24k miles and counting.

The temps have been a bit cooler the last week or two and I noticed when leaving work in the afternoon on at least two occasions that the temp gauge registered the cooler a.m. temp for approximately 1/4 mile of the ride then it started to increase to what I believe was the current temp e.g. 69 in the a.m. and 83 in the afternoon.

Unfortunately I don't have a GS-911...yet. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Scot
Click to expand...
There was for a certain amount of years and mine the first year (2005) that BMW put the outside temperature towards the back of the bike.....near the muffler I think. The gauge reads true in the beginning of your ride then goes about 10-20 degrees higher than actual since the warmth from the exhaust pipe creates additional heat. Supposedly there is a kit that you can buy from dealers (I've only known a couple of dealers to have it available,Max's BMW in Ct. has it) and run the temperature wire on a harness to the front of the bike. Problem solved
 
cant be any worse than the Harley temp gauges.. i swear everyone of my Harley that had one was 10-15 degrees off - the sensor was mounted on the side of the neck up front.
 
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