Motorcycle Repair: 1985 VT 500 C Honda Shadow Thermostat, vt 500 c, head gaskets

Question
On the above mentioned bike I have had the bike over heat on two separate occasions due to a faulty thermostat. I had the rear and front head gaskets done the first time, by a mechanic, this time I am going to do the repairs myself (no time for the first repairs). Can I remove the thermostat entirely and run the bike without it, or will it cause damage to the motor? Other than make the bike run allot cooler all the time? Will I have to change the plugs to hotter or colder plugs? What other setup mods would have to be done to get the bike to run without the thermostat in? Thanks for the help

Answer
Allan, the thermostat does two things.  It opens to allow flow through the radiator and it shuts off the flow to the by-pass. If you just pull the stat out, it will by-pass a significant amount of coolant around the radiator and the bike could still overheat on hot days.  There's a hose coming off the bottom of the thermostat housing.  That's the by-pass line.  You'll have to plug that hose if you want to run without a thermostat.  

The next problem you will have is that the engine will run too cool most of the time.  If you live down south, it may not be too much of a problem.  But if it's below 65 deg outside, you may get a lot of moisture build up in the oil because it doesn't get hot enough to boil off the normal water that builds up.   You can change oil more frequently and address that issue.  You shouldn't need to make any other modifications.

Regards
Rich