Well this past week I did a apparently over due maintenance. This consisted of a radiator flush, New front tire (pilot road 3), oil change, and clutch bleed. I have had this bike for two years and according to the PO the radiator was flushed before selling it to me. but judging from what came out ether i have a serious problem or he lied and maybe they used orange coolant. I dont know but the color was not what i am use to. i used some aluminum safe fluid and DI water from my lab and flushed it out with tap then DI before putting in the new fluid.
[image: IMG_20130630_140013.jpg]
The over flow tank was also filled with a bit of sediment.
[image: IMG_20130630_135948.jpg]
[image: IMG_20130630_135955.jpg]
oil I've changed before but used the rotella t6 this time i used the rotella t. Hopefully the BS about switching synthetic to dino is false. LOL and the clutch fluid was a amber color with a bunch of nice gunk at the bottom of the reservoir. i change that with dot 4 and used my vacuum pump toke maybe 15 minutes. everything went smooth and the bike seems to stay cool and have good clutch action.
I think I'm ready for a summer and fall of hopefully trouble free riding.
That 'coolant' looks more like Rustoleum primer than coolant . . . I've never seen anything like that. I can't tell from the jug of Super Tech you've got - but be sure it's silicate free or your water pump seal won't have long to live. Good thing you got to this when you did - your bike will love you for it.
That radiator fluid looks very bad. A failing head gasket can do that although in Honda engines it is exceedingly rare so I would guess it is simply radiator rust from the fluid never being changed. I hope your water pump seals aren't damaged.
I can tell you that even five year old fluid doesn't look like that. The coolant that came out of my bikes was still bright green even after tens of thousands of miles of riding and then five years of sitting.
I guess it's theoretically possible that someone mixed different color coolants that resulted in that brown color, but it really just looks like rust.
Like veefer noted, the radiators are aluminum but does anyone know about the thermostat? Could it be rusting away?
I swear when I did my flush, it was the OEM coolant. It still didn't look like that. I would be running several gallons of distilled water through there until it ran clear!
I swear when I did my flush, it was the OEM coolant. It still didn't look like that. I would be running several gallons of distilled water through there until it ran clear!
Add a bit of Dawn to that to help get the crud out. Just a few drops'll do ya. Never seen coolant that bad from a bike.
I change my glycol-based fluids once a year due to the heat. I also add some water wetter to the coolant. It brings the temps down about 10°.
Im not sure what is going on. i can say when i was checking the fill cap on the radiator before i changed it. it was green but then when i went to change it came out brown than a i dont know what. but the bike seems to get to temp and stays cool at around 170 on a warm day. it would be interesting to know what the water pump is made out of. long story short it seems to running good.
So where would it be coming from?
Good work though.
C
That comes from using tap water instead of distilled water...it is probably true that the previous owner changed the coolant recently and the bike would have been better served leaving the original coolant and distilled water in place of the heavily mineralized tap water and new coolant.
That comes from using tap water instead of distilled water
Holy shit! Thats what happens when you use tap water?! I thought it was more along the lines of a silent killer over a long period of time. HispanicSlammer should amend his maintenance guide to include that picture to show what happens when you don't listen and put the right stuff in the cooling system.
Bear in mind that "tap" water varies wildly from season to season and even block to block within a city as well as the obvious changes geographically.
It is my guess, from looking at that picture only, that the tap water was also a bit alkaline in addition to the iron/mineral content. This would contribute to the muddy rust appearance
Wow thats good to know. the funny thing is before i purchased it i had him send me the repair bills. he paid good money for Cycle therapy (if i remember corretly that were he did it) in NYC to do the tune up and flush. Its a shame if thats what they did seeing that their one of the only motorcycle shops in manhattan.
Bike seems fine ill have to maybe change my chain next.
Wow thats good to know. the funny thing is before i purchased it i had him send me the repair bills. he paid good money for Cycle therapy (if i remember corretly that were he did it) in NYC to do the tune up and flush. Its a shame if thats what they did seeing that their one of the only motorcycle shops in manhattan.
With things like that happening, it's no wonder so many perform maintenance or do repairs themselves rather than take it to a shop.
Wow thats good to know. the funny thing is before i purchased it i had him send me the repair bills. he paid good money for Cycle therapy (if i remember corretly that were he did it) in NYC to do the tune up and flush. Its a shame if thats what they did seeing that their one of the only motorcycle shops in manhattan.
Bike seems fine ill have to maybe change my chain next.
mdange
I just flushed my 01's radiator last week, and the stuff that was in there looked exactly like yours. ( I was horrified when I saw the color ) Also, the sediment had clogged the overflow bottle. Now, are you ready for this? I bought mine from a guy who lived in Manhattan. Coincidence? Who knows? I filled it with regular tap water and brought it up to operating temperature 4 times to try and get all the rust color out. ( on the third one it was running clear ) On the fifth, I filled it with distilled water and coolant 50/50, and have been running it like that all week. ( with both side fairings off to save unneeded agravation ) Within the next couple of days, I'll flush it once more, using distilled water, then a final 50/50 mix. Although it never seemed to run any hotter than it should have, I suspect my water pump's integrity has been compromised. Time will tell. Another example of why I try to maintain my bikes myself.
Wow thats good to know. the funny thing is before i purchased it i had him send me the repair bills. he paid good money for Cycle therapy (if i remember corretly that were he did it) in NYC to do the tune up and flush. Its a shame if thats what they did seeing that their one of the only motorcycle shops in manhattan.
With things like that happening, it's no wonder so many perform maintenance or do repairs themselves rather than take it to a shop.
+1 If I DIY I know it's done right. It's not rocket surgery yet so many seem to screw it up.
End of thread · 20 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 16 Jul 2013