New cooling hose

[johnnyrod]

Spotted a small leak from the left side of my rad today, where the hose joins. I've taken the hose off and while I can't see any splits etc., I can't find anything on the rad either - in fact the hose was fairly well stuck tight on the spigot. It's 18 years old so probably best to replace the hose - any recommendations? New one is £25 from David Silver, or you can get kits of silicone ones on ebay. Anyone used these?

[Bibio]

have you washed the bike or been out in the rain per chance?

[johnnyrod]

Nope it's been sitting in the garage waiting for me to put a new indicator on. I checked and yes, it tasted like coolant.

[Bibio]

i would dry the offending area and dust with talc and make sure no pets are allowed near the bike.

[johnnyrod]

It's in bits at the moment. Do you think it's worth another try with the same hose? I've never had a leak on it before. Must be a couple of years since I last took the rad off.

[Bibio]

i would check the rad first, bung the open end up and chuck some water in there.

if the hose is well crushed at the union and a bit brittle then yup change it. or you can bodge with a slight smear of silicone on the union before the 'olive' (just make sure that it cant get into the system) and clamp before the silicone goes off. you need to use the smelly stuff.

[johnnyrod]

Took rad off, corked it, no leaks, inspected it, nothing, put it all back together, water gushing out when the mech thermostat is open. New (old) hose on its way. While I was at it though I shorted the temperature switch and the fan came on fine, even took the switch out and did the pan of boiling water to check it works - it does. I'm not sure I've ever heard the fan run; it was always a weak point on older bikes, I remember adding a manual switch to my sister's VF400 for the fan. For the record, pouring three kettles of boiling water into the rad isn't enough to make the fan come on, even though the switch was fine!

[R1ffR4ff]

I've found the cooling system on my SV to be very efficient.I let the bike bench idle to test the fan when I first got the bike and it took a long time to kick in.The only other time it's kicked in was when I was stuck in some town traffic on a very hot day earlier this year.

Having done close the 3,000 miles on my SV on very varying roads and traffic conditions I now have absolute confidence in the cooling system.I did however put new coolant in not long after getting the bike just in case and,"Burped" the system as per the manual.

[johnnyrod]

Well a replacement (OEM) hose fixed it, still no answer to if anyone has tried the silicone ones

[Bibio]

superb result. old stuff must have gone brittle.