K3 radiator (help?)

[muffles]

Hi everyone - new member & biker, passed test on 25th April (bought bike 27th April :P )...

Problem I've got is, the bike had been over before - we checked it out but one thing we didn't notice was that the radiator was damaged. It doesn't leak but it's moved position, and as a result when I fitted the lower fairing we had to bodge the mount to the fairing somewhat :x

It's secure, but I'm pedantic, so I'm investigating replacing the rad - so can anyone answer the following?

- How much is a new one from the dealers (I can't find any pattern part places that have radiators)?
- How much would I be looking to pay for one second hand?
- If I got a K4+ radiator, which I've read are slightly smaller (not as wide), would it fit correctly? I would need to get the brackets for the fairing, I may have thrown them away, so is it possible to get just the brackets separately from the dealer? How much £ roughly?

Other than that, hi....

[muffles]

help? anyone? :D

[Carsick]

I don't know any details on replacing the rad, but I've heard that you can get a decent replacement custom made for less than the OE part.
It's the k5+ rad that is narrower, the k4 is the same as the k3.

[muffles]

is a custom made one cheaper because it's damn expensive anyway? :D i really just have no guide price to the cost of a rad, that's why all the questions :)

[Valman]

- How much is a new one from the dealers (I can't find any pattern part places that have radiators)?
- How much would I be looking to pay for one second hand?
- If I got a K4+ radiator, which I've read are slightly smaller (not as wide), would it fit correctly? I would need to get the brackets for the fairing, I may have thrown them away, so is it possible to get just the brackets separately from the dealer? How much £ roughly?

Other than that, hi....

Hi there.
A new radiator is roughly £400 from a dealer.
They don't often come up on the second hand market and when they do you're looking at spending roughly £150 for one in very good condition, less if your lucky.
As far as I know the radiators are the same for the K3 and K4 and so it all fits in the same way, you just use the spacer between the bolt on the fairing and the radiator.

Remember that the radiator doesn't have anything bolted to the side as standard anyway so I wouldn't worry about it too much, mine was damaged and the bolt holding the fairing to the radiator was pulled out as well. 5000 miles on and it's all holding up and I've not had any problems. What you could do is carefully bend the mounts back on the radiator if it's pushed to one side so that it sits properly on the bike.

[muffles]

Ah, a price! I think i probably wouldn't stretch as far as £400, but £150 probably. I'm kicking myself that I missed an SV being broken on ebay a week or so before I got my one... :(

The radiator won't bend back into it's original position - it's wayyy off :wink:

I'm happy to wait until i see a good 2nd hand deal and change it over then...

[Mr Toad]

I've just been quoted £340 for a new radiator by my dealer, although this is for a SV1000 so it might be different. If you need the fan assembly then that's another £207 :shock:

A good place to look for parts is the Ron Ayres fiche - see Ron Ayres (http://www.ronayers.com/fiche/getyear.cfm?man=su&groupid=11730)

Do a straight conversion of the price in $ to £, and then add some . . .

hth

[muffles]

actually i haven't checked the fan :shock:

it's behind the rad it looks like, i will see if i can check it, what with the fairing being there now...

hope it's not broken! what temperatures do your engines normally run at? mine's been in the 80-100 degrees (celsius) range. I assumed that was ok, iirc from car engines that's not particularly abnormal....!

[Valman]

actually i haven't checked the fan :shock:

it's behind the rad it looks like, i will see if i can check it, what with the fairing being there now...

hope it's not broken! what temperatures do your engines normally run at? mine's been in the 80-100 degrees (celsius) range. I assumed that was ok, iirc from car engines that's not particularly abnormal....!

Those temperatures are fine, nothing to worry about at all. The fan normally comes on when the display is showing around 105 degrees celsius, it's quite loud so you'll be able to hear it at idle at least, and if you get much higher than that and it doesn't come on then you have a problem.

[Valman]

...If you need the fan assembly then that's another £207 :shock:

hth
:shock: I did not know it was that much. I picked up a radiator last year with all the other bits attached to it including the fan assembly, hoses, horn etc. all for £120 including postage, so it looks like I could make a fair bit back on that. :lol: :D

[muffles]

...don't happen to be selling that radiator then, do you? :lol:

[buttmunch]

I just had a radiator made up to replace the severely smashed original from my K3. It cost £100 (plus VAT! from Express Radiators, recomended by one of my neighbours). Have not fitted it yet - it looks OK, but not exactly show quality!!!!... they used all the original brackets and made up a new core etc so fingers crossed and will let you know!

Munch...

[muffles]

soudns promising - as long as it's the same size, i'll be putting one of those stainless steel stone guards on....can you take pics when it arrives?

[buttmunch]

I'm fitting it today. will let you know how i get on. If yours isnt badly damaged, maybe they could straighten it for you.... They were going to just replace the 'core' on mine, but said they couldnt work with the alloy so made the whole thing up. Like I said, will let you know.

Munch

[muffles]

i think mine is pretty twisted tbh...but if i decide to bite the bullet and pull it out and replace, i can get it checked out first!

[seedy100]

Hi Muffels

Bent mine to Bu&&ery last year.

I got one custom made by these people, using the end tanks of the old one.

www.proalloy.co.uk

From memory it cost £250, but whatever it was a LOT cheaper than OEM.

I opted not to have mine sprayed black, it looks better in Sliver IMHO. :D

[buttmunch]

http://upload3.postimage.org/244447/P5140034.jpg (http://upload3.postimage.org/244447/photo_hosting.html)
http://upload3.postimage.org/244449/P5140033.jpg (http://upload3.postimage.org/244449/photo_hosting.html)
:?

Pics as promised!

Rad fitted straight on with no dramas, cools at least as well (maybe better) as the standard one did and the repaired fan works a treat! (they straightened that for me aswell)

The ends of the rad are not the same shape as the original, but considering the smangled mess I gave them as a template, they did a good job fit wise (all the brackets fitted correctly, and it was only £100 (plus VAT of course...). They took 3 days to do it after I dropped it round myself. My only crit would be the paint finish could have been a bit better, but for the money I dont really care! Overall I'm very pleased, but wouldnt recommend it if you are mega fussy!!!

Munch

[muffles]

i'm not fussy about it as long as it will bolt to my lowers :D it does look pretty good though!

seedy100 - have you got any pics of yours? probably unlikely i could be convinced to spend £250 when it's only going to be covered up by the fairing, but i'm open to it :lol: