What coolant do you use?

I am about to undertake the coolant change on my '02. It appears to have not ever been done by the PO. I am having no problems but felt like it is time at 24,000 miles. My question: What coolant do you all like to use? Is there a special brand or type for the VFR or will standard types work and be safe for the motor, say, Prestone for instance? Thanks in advance for the input....

Whats up Pacificman...been to any trackdays lately?
Anyway theres been several posts on this lately, try this

http://www.vfrdiscus...ot-climate-vfr/

Prestone 50/50 made for all makes and all types (silicate free) from Wally World $9.94 per gallon.

Prestone (because it's silicate free). I buy the concentrated stuff and then get a gallon of purified water (purified by distillation, reverse osmosis, and deionization) and mix 50/50. Nets me 2 gallons for a dollar more than the premixed stuff.

-Jake

Honda premix :fing02:

[image: View Post]dude, on 08 June 2011 - 05:50 PM, said:

Honda premix :fing02:
From the car dealer.

Have used the following:
1. VFR - flushed out orig coolant after purchase and refreshed with the Supertech stuff - no issues with 9k miles
2. Used also on bikes other than VFR -
   a) Pentosin (Audi VW stuff pinkish-orange) just b/c I had extra and didnt want to let it go to waste
   b) BMW coolant (greenish) for same reason as a)
   c) Prestone - b/c it was in my father's garage at the time
   d) water - b/c I had no money for proper coolant.

Honda longlife type 2. It is silicate, phospate, borate free. The best deal is to stop by a honda car dealer and pick up a gallon. It is exactly what our bikes need. It is pre-mixed and last a really long time.

Whatever you choose. Do not use the orange, dexcool, GM, crap.

I use Dexcool with water wetter

Does anyone know what silicates are used for?

They were originally installed as a cleaning agent, so you dont end up with gunk clogging your system, I say a little silicate isnt bad, especially watching Honda coolant interact with the VFR;s thermos. :beatdeadhorse:

Toyota, by all Rights Has the Best coolant Bar none, that stuff really holds up and NO negative impacts like GM's fluid eating gaskets and copper.

But I've used prestone in all my watercooled bikes, silicate and non silicate, all worked outstanding. But Im not a 50 50 guy, so I like a bottle of undiluted with a bootle of distilled water to get the true amount of cold and heat protection.

but for the easy guys, 50 50 will work for a quick fix

[image: View Post]Jakobi, on 08 June 2011 - 05:47 PM, said:

Prestone (because it's silicate free). I buy the concentrated stuff and then get a gallon of purified water (purified by distillation, reverse osmosis, and deionization) and mix 50/50. Nets me 2 gallons for a dollar more than the premixed stuff.

-Jake
:fing02:   Same here.  Have used it in Honda bikes since 2001.

Silicates were added to coolant to help remove scale buildup due to impurities in water and dissimilar metals causing galvanic corrosion. Silicates = sand = abrasive. On more modern cooling systems this may not be an issue but my CX water pump is bolted to one end of my cam shaft and uses a mechanical seal. Abrasives and mechanical seals don't get along. The truth is, in a properly maintained system, you don't need that abrasive property to keep everything clean.

-Jake

Prestone 50/50 here.     I live in an area that see's 100F during the summer and freezing temps during the winter.   So I just leave it at 50/50.

first time honda premix this time toyota red and distilled water mixed 50/50 couse i allready had three gallons of the stuff.

Used genuine and never had any problems. Gets warm in stop go traffic but not hot enough to cause an issue, fan comes on and she cools back down.
Would continue to use genuine but I need to get a 5th Gen radiator (smaller) for the RHS to fit my torocharger so thought Id try Engine Ice.

Do inline 4s have as much of a variation between stop go traffic and cruising as VFRs do?

Thanks Everyone! I will look into the Honda Pre-mix but probably use the Prestone.  Westn, my previous bike was a Kawasaki  ZR-7S, 750 inline 4 and it did come on smoother. However, it had a lot less grunt down low and was less powerful overall by 35-ish horsepower. My friend's CBR 954 spools up Very quickly, albeit, smoothly. I think it is a question of "taste".

+1 on the Honda Car premix. It's the same price as prestone so why not?

Prestone 50/50.  Just changed it.  Ran it in my 85 Maxim X, but it appears that bike liked Engine Ice better.  I've had Prestone in a few bikes and have had 0 issues.  Nice to see a wide variety of coolants.  The probelem with Engine Ice?  It's EXPENSIVE

Prestone Extended Life, the Dex-Cool stuff. 10 years, 75K miles and it's been working fine.

Sorry Pacificman I meant temperature wise (re-read my post and should have specified).
My 6th Gen is my first bike so I dont have any comparison but there seems to be a lot of temperature difference for riding in stop go traffic vs cruising.

Ahhh, can't speak to that, my old bike did not have a temp gauge...