Not to start a flaming war, but you state "Very few folks are having any problems" and then "A quick search will cover this topic ad nauseam." Clearly, there is a problem or it would not be discussed in "ad nauseam"....
People are very quiet when something is right but when something is wrong they are very loud.
This has been discussed ad nauseam on multiple threads, and a lot of members have measured temperature in many different spots with fairly even consistency, and it always pops back up in the spring as soon as the temp gets over @70degrees. After Takeover I will see if there is a way to make them all in one group or cluster or something that is easy to find. You will notice it is a small minority that is the most vocal in the individual threads. There has been a lot of help and the same suggestions have fixed a large majority of the issues. Mainly burping the cooling system, sometimes it took 3-4 times to get the air out. 2nd would be cleaning the radiator since some folks like to play in the mud and creeks and a lot of junk gets in between the fins and prevents airflow (this is use outside of the intended design and most mudders relocate their radiators anyway), 3rd I would say ECU in the 17-18 models I believe there IS a service bulletin for that, then 4th swap the cap which is what in the old days you used to do first after making sure there was no leak or blocked fins.
This is not the first time Honda has designed, produced and sold a product without considering how the "end user" will be using the machine. For example, in the California Central Valley, the Farmers have purchased tens-of-thousands of Honda ATV Recon TRX250R used in the fields and orchards. The machines are air cooled and are the toughest, almost bullet proof, beat-the-hell-out-of-it product that Honda has ever built. However, run it in muddy field, jump off, leave it running to fix a water line, and the machine will overheat due to no air flow. Honda did not consider the workers would leave the machines idling for long periods of time.
Now thats not exactly Hondas fault, thats dumb to leave it running if you're going to be spending a long time repairing something. I would think in California if you weren't sitting on it it wouldn't run like a lawn mower. You can't engineer things for stupid people, they will find a way to out stupid you no matter how hard you try.
Short answer NO. Honda has not issued a formal recall or acceptable fix to my knowledge. Sure, there have been proposed work-a-rounds (i.e. reprogramming the ECM, burping the air from the radiator, turning off the key and resetting the ECM, making sure the radiator is clean and free of mud, snow, dirt, installing a bilge pump as a fan) but the results have been inconsistent. Some guys claim it fixes their problems; other guys say it did not help.
The issue becomes when you are requiring heavy torque, high RPMs at low speeds i.e. :"rock crawling, snow tracks, climbing from 4000' to 8500' FT in 12 miles etc", the small volume radiator, combined with no fan shroud and fan controlled ECM will produce overheating issues. To further compound the problem, you are sitting on top of the motor, which is essentially in a closed box (see other threads on how to install a Wallmart bilge pump to vent out the air). My unit gets so hot you can blow dry your hair with heat coming out of the shifter panel.....
ECM Service Bulletin for 17-18 and Cab Heat Update is available for all models if not installed from the factory
I don't know what the issue is for every instance and I don't deny people are having an issue BUT...there is a group of us that do in fact load them up with 300-500lbs of gear and rock crawl and climb 2000-3000 feet in 5-8 miles then rock crawl and go down, then go back up another 2000-3000 feet again. We are doing it for 2-3 days, and only one of us has had to stop and cool the machine off (repeatedly) and refill the radiator, which ended up being a bad radiator cap. No denying there is an issue but with a group of 10-15 and 40-50k miles between them with only one having a bad radiator cap. I don't think its EVERY machine. Mine has never gotten above 2 bars on they dash, I watch it because the clutch is Oil to water cooled which leads to the next part and crawling over rocky steep terrain can heat the clutch up.
There is a group who ride the ever loving crap out of the clutch and the clutch is oil to water cooled...
These are also some of the same people that had clutch issues, since they were riding it and getting it hot.
The cooling update increases oil flow and therefor transfers heat better to the coolant. If you ride it long enough and hard enough the clutch WILL heat the coolant to the point that the idiot light on the dash will come on but you still won't overheat the clutch. You'll burn the motor up first and sooner rather than later you will wear the clutch friction material out. There are a few that have overheated the motor on a regular basis because of how they ride and they have also had a clutch fail previous to the update.
Some folks are not used to heat, it doesn't bother others so cab comfort is somewhat of a relative discussion.
Yes it gets hot and like you said you're sitting on 999cc of internal combustion, I take my windshield off in the summer and have the front seat somewhat insulated and a fan,
@Montana has a cover for the shifter which is great in the warmer months and I am going to remove it in the winter. I really only use the fan in the winter to keep steam off the windshield. I also have a full skid plate which traps even more heat. For under @$100 you can remedy 95% of the heat in the cab area, and there is an update that all new machines should have the helps limit the heat in the cab and that all old machines can get. There are also a lot of people who complain about the heat in the cab that have a full windshield installed and will NOT take it off to allow airflow. My wife does much better in the winter than she does in the summer. Unless she is near water in the summer she hates being outside in the middle of the day in 100+ heat index, ironically we were in AZ and it was 110 and she was happy because heat index was 93. She does not like to ride in the summer even without the windshield. I wont ride in the summer with a windshield it feels like you're getting baked. Otherwise the heat doesn't really bother me.
PS you will find me very vocal when it comes to the downfalls and shortcomings of General Motors. No one is perfect but how a manufacturer handles issues is the deciding factor for me.
