Water cooled Vs Air cooled

[cdav59]

just had a crazy idea but im going to ask anyways...... if my bike came stock liquid cooled would there be consequences to removing it all and going air cooled. bike is a 1985 shadow vt500c

 

[surffly]

if my bike came stock liquid cooled would there be consequences to removing it all and going air cooled.

Yes

 

[cdav59]

thanks i dont know why i had that wild idea but i was just curious how the harleys and older cafe racers can get away with it

 

[Maritime]

Yep, motor would detonate pretty much the first good run. Without the coolant circulating through the heads there is no place for the heat to go and the thick heads will crack and overheat pretty easily. An air cooled motor has less thickness in the metal and has all the fins to draw heat out to where the air can cool it. The water cooled motor has a thick metal layer with water channels in it to pass the heat and have it carried out to the rad where it transfers it to the air and so on. You could run it for short rides of a few minutes then have to shut it off and let it cool before you could run it again. Not ideal. The Shadow and any honda system is pretty easy to get working and maintain. Half the parts are used on different bikes and are all still available for the most part pretty cheap. I know the shadow has fins on the jugs but I am pretty sure they are for looks, not function. Someone else may know more than I on the particular bike but I have 2 water cooled old hondas and neither one would survive running long without the cooling system

 

[DrJ]

thanks i dont know why i had that wild idea but i was just curious how the harleys and older cafe racers can get away with it

They were designed to be air-cooled. Would you remove the radiator from your car? Same thing. Like I've always said, radiators are so not cafe, or bobber.

 

[teddpage]

Air cooled motors are designed to be air cooled, and the same applies to water cooled motors. Thats why every air cooled motor you see has fins on the cylinder head, more surface area for heat to escape.
If you dont run water thru a water cooled motor, you'd make it maybe 10-15 minutes before BANG! Seized motor.