water temperature gauge ?

[punchy]

 anyone know why there is no water temperature gauge on my 96 magna ?
how do you know when its running too hot ?
any ideas please........punchy

[hop along]

I believe it is instead the red 'OIL' indicator light in the Tach housing that is your temperature gauge
It usually blinks on when the cooling fan comes on
If it stays on... then you can start to worry
Hop Along

[punchy]

that was a super fast reply hop along ..thanks.
helps me a lot, always wondered why there wasnt one..ill keep my eye on it, thanks again,punchy.

[Magnum Magna]

MY temp light has an intermittent problem.  It will come on for a seconds or two then off. It may not come on again for days. It does not stay on more than a few seconds so I have not tried to find it just yet.  The first night it happened I knew it was OK because the engine was not even hot and Greg told me it was not over heating just an intermittent problem.  I have never noticed a light flash as the fan comes on.  My fan rarely comes on only when close to 100 F or at red lights.

[lragan]

My experience with the fan is like Robert's -- the only time I notice it come on is when the bike is sitting still, in which case I can hear it.  I have never noticed the "oil" light flash.  It comes on with the ignition switch on and the engine not running, but no other time that I have observed.

I would like more instrumentation as well -- a temp gauge, maybe a voltmeter, oil pressure, whatever; however, the bike has run great for 30K miles without any of this stuff.  After riding it for some time, you develop a sense of speed from the gear and the sound that is pretty accurate, so I don't even look at the instruments I have very often.  Check the odometer from time to time to assure myself that I am not going to run out of gas anytime soon...