I have a 2004 Outlander 400, just got it running after the mechanic replaced the timing belt and valve... I was having a problem with the battery not charging, thought it might be because the fan was draining it but it turned out being the charging fuse, sometimes it's the simple things thank goodness !!

Anyways, it seems like the previous owner hot wired the radiator fan because the fuse for it is bypassed so that it turns on whenever the key is turned on... I cut the wire and took it riding, only to have it overheat a little... I stopped and let it cool down and came on back home. I'm thinking I'll need to rewire the fan back through the fuse like it should be.

Question: Is the fan supposed to always run as soon as the key is turned on, or should it only kick in after the bike reaches a certain temperature ?

 

If I was a betting man , the guy was to cheap to buy a new thermal Switch/Sensor and rigged the fan to stay on all the time.
The only down side is the constant fan noise would drive me nuts and the fan will be turning even under water or mud which can't be good and a longer motor warm up time especially on cold days.

 

You won't hurt anything letting it run all the time. When I got my AC 500, the fan was wired that way. I have a water temp gauge and when the weather gets colder, I cut a piece of plastic to block off part of the radiator. Close to 2,500 miles since I got it, hasn't been a problem. Yes, someday I'll fix it, but it's pretty quiet, and I might put a self resetting fuse for the fan, like my AC 400 has. BTW, it seems to run around 150-170F, might take a mile or so to get up to temp.