Maybe this has been beat to death but, I have a '14 SG. I want to install a cylinder head temp gauge. Is there an easy way to accomplish this?? I know I can get a gauge for the oil plug, but I would like to have something i can see on the dash. Been looking at all the bike parts places online and so far not much help..

 

First question is why? All you will do is obsess over it and constantly look at it. Can you do anything about it? no. The heads can take the heat better than you can.

I put an oil temp gauge on my first bike because I too was curious. It was softail and mounted on the oil tank and I looked at it constantly. Even tried to look at it while riding. I swore I would never do put an oil temp gauge on a bike again.

I understand the curiosity and wanting to monitor your bikes health but when you are constantly staring at the gauge because it's climbing ( your stuck in traffic on a hot day and guess what, the temps go up) It becomes unsafe because you aren't paying attention to the traffic and you don't need any added stress watching the temps rise when they are going to be normal for the situation.

That's why I love my Road King. It has the only two things I need to know. Fuel gauge and a clock to see how late to work I am. On rare occasions I might even glance at the speedometer..

 

That's true. I don't obsess of it but it's just something I want to keep track of. If it gets too hot, I can pull over and let it cool down.

 

Head fans will assist you in cooling your heads as will several other things.

 

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Something like this? https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...ges/cr-002.php
You will also need a couple of these. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...onchtcp012.php

 

Awesome!! Thank you!!!!

 

My friend has these. Said they work well.

 

Nobody can answer that but you. You present very valid reasons for not worrying about monitoring your engine's health and I get it that folks can obsess over how hot their engine is getting, but if you ever once had an engine overheat and seize up, cage or otherwise, you would probably have a different answer.

I live in metro Houston, and it is frigging hot out there and sitting in traffic will ruin your engine if you are not monitoring your engine as well as traffic. And, I think that you are partially correct with assuming nothing can be done when the oil temp gauge hits 300. You can watch the temp and oil pressure and shut it down and let it cool off before it gets damaged. Without monitoring, all you are doing is assuming, and when it gets so hot that the oil pressure light comes on, you're stranded with a ruined engine.

 

I live in Houston as well and commute on my bike 35 miles one way right through downtown traffic every day. I know exactly what you mean. I've sat in stop in go traffic in temps over 95 more times that I care too. But you're right, I've never had an engine seize due to heat. My bikes have always taken it like a champ. Part of my reason for asking why the op wants to monitor head temps. I didn't know if he had a specific reason for wanting to, like hi performance mods, tuning etc, For just general temperatures, I would think oil temp would be more important to monitor than head temp.

I should have added to my earlier response that you don't really need a gauge to tell that the engine is getting f'ing hot. I can tell by the loss of power and the way the bike runs that's getting extremely hot. Not to mention that nice scalding feeling on your inner thighs