Went for a 30mile cruise after the big snow Saturday and my temp. dummy light came on. Shut it down, checked everything out, full coolant(cracked the cap and it gave a big burp). Don't know why it happened. Ran fine on the way home with no problems. I had the top end redone at the end of last season and it has hardly been ridden since, saturday being the farthest. Anyone have any ideas? Should i put in a new thermostat just as cheap insurance? What are some possible causes? Thanks in advance.

Two things you may consider, one, look at the overflow bottle opening, I just replaced the one on my 01 XCSP 600, they will get an oval shape after awhile and won't hold the proper pressure. Somewhat common on 01's and 02's. If you have not done this yet, do it soon. Two, I have heard (not happened to me yet) that there were some bad temp sensors that would give a false hi temp reading and put the ignition in a lower performance mode. Use that screw on the top of that hose fitting going into the head to release any air in the system, burping the radiator cap on a hot engine could get painful.

On your temp sensor you should have a little yellow tracer, if so this is the newer temp sensor.

Thanks guys, i check it out tonight!

my 02 500 did that saturday after a refill of coolant.once it burp the air the light stayed out.hth