Total Motorcycle Community Forums

i'm a total newb researching potential first bikes. My question is about engine cooling. The two bikes that i am loking at are the gs 500f and the ninja 500r. The gs is air cooled whereas the ninja is liquid cooled. What are the pros and cons of these types of engine cooling methods and is there any performance difference due to the difference in cooling?
Thanks

It all comes down to personal preference after all is said and done...

There have been quite a few topics concerning this same question but I'll take a quick stab at it.

Liquid cooled engines have more parts and are slightly more complicated to work on, with more to go wrong(albeit a rarity). Air cooled engines are a bit simpler but might not do quite as well in hot, humid regions if sitting still for long periods of time due to a lack of flowing air to cool the engine down.

I personally own an 06 GS500 and live in a humid part of Texas and I've had no issues with overheating.

But overall, just different systems, neither necessarily better than the other. Both bikes are rock solid.

-Kellan

Don't worry about it. Before I started riding, I was doing research and concerned about those kind of things too. The truth is, if you take good care of your bike and do the proper maintainance on it, the thing will run great. For the average rider (meaning 99% of us) things like air or liquid cooled won't really make any difference ... Unless you never, ever want to change engine coolant.

Ultimately it's not really much of an issue either way. The bikes with cooling systems have them because they're designed with a cooling system in mind. This *may* enable greater efficiency or power compared to a similar engine without, but that doesn't mean all engines with cooling systems are better than those without. Far from it.

Look at each bike's attributes in areas that actually matter. Power, torque, comfort, handling, fuel consumption, range, etc. Pick based on that, not based on technical details that don't directly affect anything you actually experience on the bike.

I have the same question but aimed at the used bike market.

This is where you have no idea how either driver rode his air cooled engine or how often he changed his coolant on the other type.

So if you have no honest way of telling the above, which would better short of just taking someone's word?

flw wrote:I have the same question but aimed at the used bike market.

This is where you have no idea how either driver rode his air cooled engine or how often he changed his coolant on the other type.

So if you have no honest way of telling the above, which would better short of just taking someone's word?

Well, I'd think an air-cooled engine would be difficult to overheat, whereas running a bike with low or no coolant can cause the engine to overheat.. and if the owner never changed the coolant, the system could be gunked up or need a new thermostat or the like..

(do bike cooling systems even have thermostats?)

Either way, I still don't think it'd be much of an issue. Just make sure the thing runs well.

jonnythan wrote:

flw wrote:I have the same question but aimed at the used bike market.

This is where you have no idea how either driver rode his air cooled engine or how often he changed his coolant on the other type.

So if you have no honest way of telling the above, which would better short of just taking someone's word?

Well, I'd think an air-cooled engine would be difficult to overheat, whereas running a bike with low or no coolant can cause the engine to overheat.. and if the owner never changed the coolant, the system could be gunked up or need a new thermostat or the like..

(do bike cooling systems even have thermostats?)

Either way, I still don't think it'd be much of an issue. Just make sure the thing runs well.

Yup, the thermostat kicks in the fan in the rad if the bike gets too hot.

As for which to buy used... look at the rest of the bike it'll give you a general idea of the maintenance level the bike has been seeing. If it's scuffed up and beaten down, black oil, thin brake pads and iced tea colored brake fluid there's a good be it hasn't been taken care of. Don't buy it. The opposite is also true. Short of taking the bike apart there's no way to truely tell what kind of condition it's in.

jonnythan wrote:Well, I'd think an air-cooled engine would be difficult to overheat

It can happen if you're stuck in a traffic jam on a hot summer day. But I'll agree that it's not common.

as an air cooled engine, ask any guy that owns a HD, as long as ur moving with a constant air flow the engine will stay cool, the V twin engine is a poor design to be air cooled, while ur moving, the front cyl gets the cooling air flow and the rear cyl gets none, and ask any HD Mechanic and he will tell you the rear cyl will wear and fail before the front cyl does. On a water cooled engine its two-fold, the water cooling works to warm up the engine quicker so it runs more efficient, and ALL parts of the engine are kept and controled at the same TEMP. water cooled is better!

Ask any actual Harley owner (not their whine about every bike spokemanwannabe) and you will find that they love the air cooled v twin.
While their are many wonderful engine configurations...no other has the loyalty and following that the air cooled v twin does.

NOTE: while you dont want to park and run and air cooled motor in hundred degree heat....my Road King did a 4 hour parade on a 95 degree day last summer without so much as the temp light coming on.