Questions....Several of them :)

[clayton]

Hi all
I know some of this is covered in other posts but...
(2008 1600 Nomad with 6500 miles and Synthetic Oil.)

**1st: How HOT is TOO hot for the Nomads?
Yesterday it was about 85 and I damn near was sweating from the heat coming off the engine.
I do hear the fan kick in and the coolant level is where it needs to be.
**2nd: Not very long ago I made myself some larger lowers (yea they look nice) since then the engine noise has increased 3 fold for obvious reasons. Now I am hearing things I never heard before. At around 60 to 70 mph I hear a odd rattle when I accelerate, not so much like pinging. It is almost like something is loose. So today I am going to look over the entire front end and head light bucket to see if something has come loose in the meantime other suggestions would be great. Can or will the Reed valves cause this as well?
**3rd: As per the Reed valves, if I remove these what would I loose? What would I gain? Will I have to use a after market fuel processor?
**4th: As per pinging, the only MODS I have done to the bike is the removal of the baffles (BD's Removal), a few weeks ago I ran 3 tank fulls of Sea Foam through the system after which it was an obvious day and nite difference but since I installed the larger lowers I obviously hear more noises. So back to the point..."sometimes" I get pinging when getting on it or accelerating at high speeds.
I use 91 and above octane...is it time for a fuel processor? Is there another route I can take? Is it time to change the plugs?
I appreciate your responses since in the next few weeks I will be going over the Nomad and changing all of the fluids (except coolant and hydraulic) and checking the nuts and bolts prior to my trip to Deals Gap.
Any other pre-check advise would be great as well.
Thanks VERY much ahead of time