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I’m fortunate to have been able to ride from Florida to Colorado with a friend. He’s on a Ducati ST4S. We’re heading back later this week.

I'm essentially pulling a long dead topic out of the grave! My 2005 has widened its temp range over the last couple years. Most 20C/70F days on a highway ride it sits at 78C but in traffic the temp escalates quickly and hits fan cycle much more quickly than it used to. It used to sit at 82C and the fan hardly ever came on unless it was bloody hot out or super heat soaked. So, this spring I changed out the coolant for OEM and its still doing it, and now I've been thinking about starting to replace parts. It's tough to get unique parts like this particular thermostat around me however and the OEM stock is pricey to buy, plus shipping. As well, prices aren't coming down with parts for these bikes anytime soon, or ever. I've done some digging through this old topic Automotive thermostat replacement for VFR800??? and saw someone said a thermostat out of a "mid-90's Cavalier" worked in his. Well, I just happened to choose 1990 on rockauto.com and came across one for $4 US that has the right look from pictures (haven't opened mine up yet and probably won't until end of the season if I can avoid it). I also looked at the 1995 and its totally different with different P/N. The 1990 selection is HERE but there's only a couple that have a 80C/180F rated opening as a possibility. The one that is "Fail Safe" would be a bad idea because if it triggers then it has to be replaced yet again. Anyway, the MOTORAD 243180 might fit the bill or provide a cross-reference to still another manufacturer. The one issue seems to be that there is no jiggle pin/ weeping hole in that one. My understanding is the pin/hole is to let any air build up escape through the system but I'm not sure on that. However, a small drilled hole could serve the purpose while avoiding much coolant circulation or alternatively it wouldn't likely be too hard to fab up a small bolt to act as the jiggle pin equivalent. I'm just throwing this out there to see if anyone has any thoughts on 1) the cooling/heating issue I'm seeing 2) interest in discussing feasibility of this alternative and 3) if someone has the inclination to investigate this possibility because they're also in the same pickle.