Filling up coolant

[Whitehouse]

Hi all, id really appreciate it if anybody could give me a run down on the procedure for filling up the coolant on a pointy, iv done a search on here but iv not found anythin that i can clearly understand. Im not a mechanical novice cos i build gas turbines for a livin but i didnt wanna fill it up wrong and f*** my bike up! cheers

[yorkie_chris]

From empty system: Fill up from radiator neck, run bike for a minute or so with the cap off, top it up as it goes... put cap on. let everything cool down, top reservior up.

[Whitehouse]

Nice 1 mate, jus wat i was after!

[yorkie_chris]

Oh aye Make sure there's something in the res when you let it cool down to take up contraction of coolant volume... Check rad cap when cold make sure rad is full all the way.

[monkey]

While you're here Chris, isit important to use bike specific coolant or will generic car anti-freeze do?

[embee]

There's not an equivalent car/bike spec difference for coolant as there is for oil.

I'd always recommend a silicate free coolant, or an organic acid technology [OAT] spec {see here (http://wiki.seloc.org/a/Coolant)} to ensure the best protection and avoid pump seal wear etc.

Personally I use Toyota Red coolant which is silicate free and affordable, their OAT pink stuff isn't.

VW/Audi do a good coolant {G12+ in their parlance}, and Texaco Havoline XLC can be recommended too, both of which I've had some direct technical experience with.