So I went to go fill up at the gas station (please note it's my first ride since last June) and by the time I was done and on my way home, the motor was blinking 254degrees with the oil light on!
My first track day is suppose to be June 16th and I want to be able to make it without my bike falling apart!
It has a fresh oil
Change, in fact that's the first ride since I changed the oil. Noticed some fluid well spread out on my lower fairing, the fairing collected the fluid. Not sure if it's coolant or oil.
What else could go wrong?! Ahh! Does anybody have any ideas?
So it's a pretty big coolant leak. But why would my oil light be on solid light no blinking, while I was riding?
And why does it only leak when The bike is on or if I'm riding
Check your coolant hose connections at the radiators...they could be expanding when the hoses heat up causing the leak. Happened to my SP1, all I did was tighten up all the connectors and problem solved. Also make sure your fuse for your fan is working, fan is kicking on right? I only mention it because I also had a blown fuse for the radiator fan.
Haven't checked to see if both radiators are on. I did hear them running though, is there a way to check and see if they work without having to leave my bike running til it gets hot?
Haven't inspected behind the radiator or any of the hoses yet. Still waiting for it to cool down.
What about my oil light being on? I have a fresh oil and an oil filter in there
^ First remove both fairings to see if you can find dried up spots of coolant residue near the radiators or at a hose connection somewhere.
If the leak spot(s) is not obvious, then add coolant, start the bike up, allow it to idle for several minutes while it gets up to temp and monitor all radiator hose connections/radiators to see if the leak point can be identified.
You can always try a cooling system pressure test kit or let a reputable shop take a look at things to sort out your bike since you will be putting it on the track pretty soon (?).
The cooling system is important, but you need to find the source of the oil light problem first. Overheating will damage your engine, but it will take a while to get that hot. A lack of oil pressure will destroy the engine in seconds.
This is where it's leaking from. This is located on the left radiator, if you face the radiator, the leak is coming from the bottom right corner of the radiator.
those rad fins look rough. its probably been laid over on that side. if you decide against getting a new one you could probably have that leak welded up
So that's the primary cause? The radiator leak? I didn't even turn the bike on, all I did was push down my drive way, parked it and boom leaking coolant.
How should (key word should) I remove the left radiator? Any fluid I need to flush out?
Do you mean if I go over 240 degrees I could potentially blow the head gasket or head war page? Or are you stating that since it went over 240 I do have a blown gasket or warpage
Well the motor only has 10k miles. Starts up fine. So I don't think either of them are correct?
And as I was getting under neath my new tank that's installed, I noticed gas was leaking!!!! Annoying! Stupid tank isn't welded correctly so I gotta throw my old one back on.
As for the radiator and removing the hose that goes into the water pump. Coolant came out, not much though. I only took the bottom hose out. Should I take the one above out too?
Well everybody here is an expert on everything so feel free to discount my thoughts. It's not like I have any experience with this topic or have actually blown a head gasket on a bike or two due to extreme engine temps and then gone on to do entire track weekends with that blown head gasket by having to refill the cooling system between sessions or anything or seen an engine hydro-locked for the same reasons. I will simply defer to the all knowing members here to sort all of this for you.
Yes in all seriousness the engine temp could have increased that quick due to a lack of coolant. That heat though in many cases leads to head gasket damage or head warpage. You may have just as well got lucky and will suffer no permanent damage and I hope that is the case, but don't automatically rule it out. Without a water jacket surrounding the cylinders the flimsy head gasket becomes very susceptible to the high combustion temps.
Okay fair enough I won't rule it out. How do I go about looking into that to make sure that's not the case? And can anybody help me with this stupid bolt. I went over to the right of the radiator and that same screw won't come out either. Is there a trick to getting this out?
Completely wrong. Doing mechanic work by internet advice is not good. I don't want to give the solution because if it isn't obvious to the OP, then he should not be working on the bike as things will get much more in-depth with his issues, and will lead to making things worse. OP, I see a lot of very limited knowledge, on top of not even doing the basics of consulting and using the service manual. The leaking rad pictures and questions were a gobsmack.
Be very careful with internet advice. I would suggest doing it right or taking it to someone to do it right. GL.
Well look, for starters the dam bolt has never been taken out. So why the hell would it be stripped? That's why I tried both radiators, got the same issue with both, so I asked on here because it's a forum with various people filled with experience and knowledge. I simply ask, and get responses, what I do with those responses is up to me. I work on my motorcycle because I want to expand my knowledge and experience. These guys have been giving very helpful responses and I appreciate them!
I'll keep everybody posted once I get the radiator off later this week!
You might want to do a compression test when you get this sorted out.
I'm with LDH in his concerns the engine took a little too much heat.
Watch out for the oil looking milky in the oil sight glass, and watch out for the smell of exhaust in the coolant.
Ram51, you really should find a buddy who lives by you to help you with some of the basic mechanical stuff. I totally appreciate that you want to learn how to work on your bike, but this particular issue is a biggie, with potential of other complicated problems.
By all means, GET A SERVICE MANUAL! You wouldn't be asking half these questions if you had one and were reading it.
You might want to do a compression test when you get this sorted out.
I'm with LDH in his concerns the engine took a little too much heat.
Watch out for the oil looking milky in the oil sight glass, and watch out for the smell of exhaust in the coolant.
Ram51, you really should find a buddy who lives by you to help you with some of the basic mechanical stuff. I totally appreciate that you want to learn how to work on your bike, but this particular issue is a biggie, with potential of other complicated problems.
By all means, GET A SERVICE MANUAL! You wouldn't be asking half these questions if you had one and were reading it.
This is the one a lot of us have downloaded, but get yourself a hardcopy too.
Awesome thanks I'll definitely use it. Now I'm kind of worried, i should ask for a compression test? Is that it? I have a very popular race shop near I can get this done at
It's not that hard to do, maybe search youtube for 'compression test motorcycle'. Or something similar to that.
It's not that different from any other vehicle, but there's a couple things to know to do a compression test correctly so your numbers are somewhat reliable.
I thought it would be a good idea before you spend a lot more time or money. That will at least tell you if you have a blown head gasket or warped cylinder head.
Ram,use a pair of small channellock plyers and gently squeeze the washer looking part between the frame and rad and have the adjustable jaw point in the direction you are turning or in this case holding there is a right and wrong way to use these just think of a pipe wrench if used correctly the harder you turn the harder it bites then use your 8mm to do the turning and you WILL succeed.
Your rad looks like shit replace it.
When you're rad gets fixed or replaced make sure to check all of your hoseclamps and then look for milky shit on your oil fill cap.
Recheck the oil level in the glass and the wire for the oil pressure sensor.
My bike had zero coolant in it. Is that why it got so hot? Also I got the radiator out, and here's a pic of the radiator. Can you tell me if it's repairable?(bottom left corner)
My bike had zero coolant in it. Is that why it got so hot? Also I got the radiator out, and here's a pic of the radiator. Can you tell me if it's repairable?(bottom left corner)
View attachment 61161
Have you reached any conclusion as to what caused the oil pressure issue?
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