Motorcycle Repair: 1982 Honda Magna v750 v45, 1982 honda magna, cold line

Question
I recently bought this bike and it sat for a few years. Me and a buddy have been fixing it up and making it run like new. We have bled the clutch line, replace the air filter, sprayed carb cleaner on the carbs, and changed the oil. We are having a problem with the bike overheating. At highway speed the the gauge stay down closer to the cold line but when we get into town driving after 5-10 minutes it gradually inches its way to the red line. The fan doesn't come on when it is starting to get hot. We have tested the fan to see if it was faulty but when hooked up to a battery it runs with no problems. There is coolant in the radiator and the overflow. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you
Scott

Answer
Sounds like the fan switch is bad.  There's a switch on the radiator that closes the circuit when the coolant reached the set temperature. Try jumping the two wires in that connector to see if the fan comes on.  The engine doesn't have to be running for this test.  Just take a short piece of electrical wire and put in into the back side of the stitch connector and with the ignition switch on the fan should start.  If that works, you probably have a bad switch.

Good luck
Rich