Radiator repair.... yes... i crashed :(

Long story short, i fitted a new set of tires , and went for a ride , push it a little to much and lost the rear tire , the bike slided for 5m , hit the road protective rail's , and got stuck under it , witch caused the most damage

On side that the bike crashed(rigth side) the only damage was , R&G crash bung a couple of cm shorter, minor scratch on the exhaust and brake lever snapped !

From hitting under the rail(sp? , don't how they are called on the UK) , the bike got most of the damage , bent radiator but water tight , bent foot rest, shifting rod and lever , broken tail and 1 indicator , and a scratch on the engine cover !
I also noted a trace of blue liquid when i picked the bike up, it looked like radiator fluid , but on my ride back home(10 min stuck on 2 gear ) i dint notice anything strange


Most of this things are easy to fix , except the tail section that can be replace with a tail tidy , and the bent radiator that i don't know if it can be repaired ...

The rad is little bent , and its touching the engine , now my question is can it be fixed? or rad's are one of those things that need to be replaced , i have no idea how much they cost but i imagine they will be around 400€ or so ,that i dont have right now !



I also like to know if anyone has any tip's on how to straight the bent shift lever and foot rest , last time i tyred to straight the shift lever it snapped off, that aluminium is to weak !


R&R crash bung did is job flawless , a scratch on the exhaust and snapped break lever was all the damage i had from the slide , the other damage was from the bike trying to squeeze under the protective rail :/


Broken tail from hitting the rail:



And the before picture , my SV is gorgeous

You can try and pull the radiator back into shape, but it will be difficult when its still on the bike... the OEM ones are expensive, as I th ought of replacing mine after I crashed my SV last year, but managed to bend it roughly back to shape..

You may also find it will be cheaper (if you do want to replace it) to get a custom one made... take along your radiator so they have somehting to copy, added bonus is they usualy make them out of far superiour materials, and cost less than half the price of the OEM one... and last much longer as well...

If your going to have a go at bending it do it on the bike, they bend quite easily and the damage was caused whilst it was mounted so the bend starts from the mounting.

I straightened mine a few times, mainly bent upwards, not tried to straighten if its bent backwards and i think it has more chance of splitting, No tools, just use both hands under the rad and gently pull just dont touch the core

New radiators are very expensive (especially if you need the fan as well - try looking on the Ron Ayres parts site), but they can usually be repaired. There are often local places that do it in most sizable towns. However if it's not leaking and not causing a problem then you could always carry on riding, and look for one on eBay

It looks so fragile that i didnt dare to try to touch it !

I has having fun taring the bike apart , i know its a shame to enjoy to fixing what you broke ... but i have fun messing with the bike :P Anyway my father told-me of a shop that builds and fix radiators , so i was trying to remove the rad but was unable to get those fluid hoses lose ...
Guess im gonna put it back together and try to straiten it on the bike , i hope it doesnt brake

If you take it off the bike, a radiator repair shop (nothing to do with bikes- just a shop that specialises in radiators) may well be able to fix it and it'll be v. cheap. Failing that, aftermarket radiators are usually cheaper/better than OE ones.

The radiators are actually surprisingly strong. In the past I have flattened a bent radiator by standing on it. Okay so I didn't use my full weight but it worked and was still water tight. The biggest problem is when it is bent upwards which is usually made worse by having the fan mounted on one side causing a more severe bend than would otherwise be the case.

Originally Posted by Ceri JC

If you take it off the bike, a radiator repair shop (nothing to do with bikes- just a shop that specialises in radiators) may well be able to fix it and it'll be v. cheap. Failing that, aftermarket radiators are usually cheaper/better than OE ones.

That's what i did , i tried to straitened it but i was afraid to brake the rad , the radiator shop prognostic wasn't to good ! they tell me that it can be straitened but , the inner channels of rad that where bent from hitting the front cylinder can't be straitened !
Im going to pick the rad tomorrow , and will see how it is ... my bike is relatively new , its a 6 months old naked SV. I cant live with an ugly bent radiator

I would like to know more about those after market rad's , are those SV ready Rad's or do i need to weld the all the fixings , and where can i look for them

Originally Posted by Mike1234

The radiators are actually surprisingly strong. In the past I have flattened a bent radiator by standing on it. Okay so I didn't use my full weight but it worked and was still water tight. The biggest problem is when it is bent upwards which is usually made worse by having the fan mounted on one side causing a more severe bend than would otherwise be the case.

My was bent back wards and upwards , and has half of the fin's bent , the guy on the radiator shop was surprised that the bike did heat to much ! but she did'nt 85º max on the 10min ride back home !