workpeter

Bike is 2006. Only cost me £1500 so im not super precious with it. Having radweld in there seems better than nothing. Without it the system leaked the entire 2 litres within a day. My gut tells me its 95% fixed. Was thinking i might put a high temp sealant/putty on the outside of the radiator on the area of the leak.

so the history behind this is quite interesting. The K-seal partially worked but then soon as i drained it from the system, the huge leak came back. Which was strange since they advertise once the leak is stopped you can drain. i just suspect the leak hole is just to big of a job for k-seal to handle. So i decided to put RADWELD in side and it seems to be holding up for now. i was warned not to use radweld in a motorbike by this forum so it might bite me in the butt, however im theorising its thicker and more upto the job. if it fails im gonna cut the radiators pipes as Bob suggested before buying new radiator.

Right, here we go . This might seem a little drastic but if the radiator is knackered anyway what have you got to lose ? I initially did this as a temporary repair but that was two years ago and I've never had any cooling issues. All you do is find exactly where the leak is , snip out the cooling veins surrounding the area , fold over the ends of the crossflow pipe and crimp , then fold over and crimp again for good measure. It doesn't look very nice but if you have a radiator guard you can't see it. It won't significantly effect radiator performance because it's a crossflow design and most importantly, it costs bugger all . I think i may have to give this solution a go. I drained the K- Seal from my system. I still think there is a leak.

Well after doing a test ride it seems like I fixed it, but will have a better idea tomorrow after my usual commute. I drained the existing coolant via the drain nut and there was only around 300ml in the system. I then removed the fairing to get access to the radiator cap, removed the cap and filled the system with 50/50 mix of deironised water and anti-freeze. i filled it right up to the radiator cap neck, which was around 2 litres. I also added a small bottle of k seal into the mix (which was around 200ml) . Oh and i also drained the expansion tank (via the syphoning tube), and refilled that too. The engine/coolant temp gauge is now indicating optimal midpoint temperature, whereas before it was overheating way past the red. The radiator no longer seems to be leaking. Hopefully, the above 2 assertions are true after a full 60miles riding tmr. I did also replace all the fuses in the fuse box, but not sure yet if that fixed the radiator fan. if i have time next weekend i will put a voltmeter on the circuit. If it is buggered hopefully its just a loose connection or worn out motor fan switch. Anything beyond that would be too expensive to fix.

The law is planning to change so you have to do theory before CBT. Really good idea in my opinion https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-views/news/2017/december/motorcycle_training_changes_consultation

Hi All, Do any of you know of a good simulation program where you can practice taking bikes apart etc? I know there is the game "Motorbike Garage Mechanic Simulator" but it doesn't look great honestly. The simulation doesn't have to be a game, it could just be learning software.

Well i suppose the colour scheme would need to match the car registration documents so DVLA update required and an insurance company would neee to know about any modifications. Which usually end up with a premium increase :/

by theory, I mean the following (please confirm) So within the radiator are a series of small parallel pipes which the water flows from one direction to the other, and one of these pipes was damaged, so you cut it out and crimped both ends to form a seal? The overall effectiveness of the radiator is reduced, but not by an appreciable amount as the remaining pipes do a sufficient job.

I used to ride on back of my dads back aged 10. No issues. I remember holding on very tightly, kids have natural survival instinct.

thanks Bob, this looks like really sound advise, and will defiantly try this if its turns out the radiator is knackered. great stuff. there has been a development since my last post. So i rode the bike about 30miles and once again it overheated, but this time there was no leak. I then looked behind the radiator whilst the engine was running and hot, and the fan isnt spinning :/ . So i think for sure thats one issue confirmed, would you agree? Well possibly, maybe it's stopped leaking because it's empty . Probably a good idea to check that the fan works at all , just stick 12 volts through it . If it does work then I would also check the sensor that triggers it . So how did you know that it had overheated today? If the high temperature warning light was on or the needle was in the red ( don't know what you particular bike has ) then I would expect the fan to have come on as well . Also worth noting that cooling systems should generally be filled by the radiator and not the expansion tank/ reservoir. If the expansion tank / reservoir is a long way away from the radiator it's a very good idea to make sure the pipes aren't blocked or kinked. Do this by blowing through it and listening for the bubbles. And lastly, if you have a cat or a dog ,never leave coolant lying about in open containers. Animals find it drinkable because it has a sweet taste but it will kill them slowly and horribly. Thanks Bob My plan this Sunday is to first triage the fan and then drain/refill the coolant system as per the manual. Each step seems very clear, just waiting for amazon delivery for some bits and bobs before i begin . I'm hoping the fan is just a blown fuse or loose connection and doesn't need a replacement switch or fan. The leak did eventually come back in the same place. Id like to understand the theory behind how/why your solution worked if you could explain that to me, please? I'm in two minds about how to resolve it, i could go for the quick solution and put some K Seal in with the coolant, or try your solution.

Found some good advise in the service manual (attached). . Basically, it described how to triage a fan that is not starting.

Right, here we go . This might seem a little drastic but if the radiator is knackered anyway what have you got to lose ? I initially did this as a temporary repair but that was two years ago and I've never had any cooling issues. All you do is find exactly where the leak is , snip out the cooling veins surrounding the area , fold over the ends of the crossflow pipe and crimp , then fold over and crimp again for good measure. It doesn't look very nice but if you have a radiator guard you can't see it. It won't significantly effect radiator performance because it's a crossflow design and most importantly, it costs bugger all . thanks Bob, this looks like really sound advise, and will defiantly try this if its turns out the radiator is knackered. great stuff. there has been a development since my last post. So i rode the bike about 30miles and once again it overheated, but this time there was no leak. I then looked behind the radiator whilst the engine was running and hot, and the fan isnt spinning :/ . So i think for sure thats one issue confirmed, would you agree?

I returned the radweld and replaced it with K Seal , however wont use just yet, will wait on bob. Out of curiosity. Is it better to put the k Seal into the coolant reservoir tank or directly into the radiator through the radiator cap? I did overfill the reservoir tank so im guessing I should let it drain off first..

Alright thank you, ill wait. For now i just put filtered water in and reseviour tank is full. I didnt see any leaks when i turned bike on but im guess thats because the water inside isnt hot enough yet so isnt pressurised. I take pictures after my 30mile ride later

Mechanic suggested i put water directly through the radiator cap rather than the expansion tank, and if its still leaking try putting in some Holts Radweld

actually on seconds thoughts im probably wrong. Looking at the picture from last night, the leak was coming from the radiator, not the pipe. So maybe what i saw this morning was it leaking from the radiator onto the pipe.

So interesting development. Was riding to work this morning and the engine heat indicator was off the charts! I highly suspect the coolant has leaked away, which I think was that stuff coming out of the radiator last night and maybe why the engine cut out if an onboard CPU detected serious overheating?! We did an experiment today where we put fresh water into the coolant system, and then we immediately notice it leaking from the inlet tube seal. Its this rubber tube which feeds the coolant into the radiator and the tube is fastened on with a PVC clip. So I'm gonna buy a replacement clip today and retighten it. https://cpc.farnell.com/domus/125-4/4-round-pvc-hose-clip/dp/HG00438?st=pvc%20clip

i notice the water coolant is just hovering over the low line. is it worth doing a flush and top up? My bike engine heat indictor is often in the red.

Do you think it's related to the bike cutting out and not starting up until later in the day?

Ah ok. I've ridden it about 60miles since the oil change then it cut out. Its got Castrol Power 1 Engine Oil 10w-40 4T inside

A 250CC doing high RPMs hours a day cant be good for the engine long term.

i suspect it was slightly overfilled. The manual says 3.5 litre capacity dry fil, but judging by the oil left in the 4litre bottle which the mechanic gave back suggests maybe around 3.8 litres was put in. However i do trust my mechanic. Do you think that could cause the chain of events I described?

After 40 minutes of riding, my bike engine cut out whilst I was slowing down and coming to the end of my journey. I notice all this oily substance (see pictures). If it is oil, why is it coming out of there? Not sure why the engine cut out, low oil pressure? I couldnt restart the bike (played around with kill switch, clutch etc). The engine just wouldn't even make a sound (as if the kill switch was on). Here is the interesting thing, I walked home and came back with only a tiny cupful of oil and put it in the bike. And then the bike starts.... i doubt that was the solution. When i checked the oil levels there was lots of oil in the bike. Any ideas? I recently had an oil change.

lol i literally did the same thing last week. I turned it clockwise thinking i was turning if anticlockwise. The bolt came loose and wouldn't tighten again. The fix was to rethread the hole (my mechanic charged me £40). i also ordered a new bolt and washer, which was around £5.

Wow 60miles each way!! I do 30miles each way and thought that was bad. I was in the exact same situation; painful on 125cc. I ended up buying Honda 600cc. My advice is to buy a fuel efficient big bike since youll be paying a fortune in petrol. Get something with a bit of weight so youre stable in side winds. Buy Honda and you can expect 100k miles+ from youre engine. Which youll probably hit after 5 years on a new bike.