Radiator cleaning

[Phmode]

Mine had 'papier-mache' type yeuk in places. Soaking with plain water and working at it did yield results.

[Philip]

"  any pre-soak or chemical been found to loosen the grot? "

I found this stuff works well.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-heavy-duty-degreaser-5ltr/88668

I sprayed it on neat first, left it to soak for a while before blasting it out with a hose from the rear.
Then kept applying it diluted, working it into the fins with a brush.

Just kept going until no more dirt came out & I could see through the rad with a torch.
It's a slow business but you will get there in the end.

Temp guage now sits at 3 bars riding along.

Make sure you wear rubber gloves ( ooh err Mrs ) & eye protection.
It is strong stuff.

[iamk1300s]

This rads too marginal for anyone using the bike year round in the UK. 50k from New in 2013 and it’s been cleaned out twice and now needing it again. I’ve never had a bike that’s needed that much attention to the rad. 2016 the bike kept overheating and cutting out whilst slowly making my way out of the Valencia circuit and that was in torrential rain in November!!
Prior to this I did 80k on a Triumph Sprint without having to clean the rad at all.
Still it’s an amazing bike so I guess I can live with it👍

[raesewell]

The joys of BMW ownership, comes at a price 

[Phmode]

Try running a car of similar performance and see what the maintenance costs.

I remember a guided tour of the Reading Porsche dealer 30 odd years ago. Derek Bell was giving a talk, which was the main draw but the highlight turned out to be a trip round the workshops looking at customers cars and the work the techs were doing, some of them in attendance.

There was a nearly new 911 on the ramps with all four corners stripped out. New discs, pads, caliper seals all round. The manager explained the customer was an 'enthusiastic' driver and this needed doing at every service. £1,000 a corner, 30 odd years ago.

I remember thinking that my Honda CBR1000 F-H parked outside would have run rings round the Porsche under most circumstances and new discs, pads and caliper seals, if it ever needed them would have been about £100 all in 

[richtea]

The joys of BMW ownership, comes at a price 

I think it's just our model/range.
I had a close look at the S1000R in North Oxford and it has a short mudguard and zero stone / crud protection, but still with ultra delicate radiator fins.
I asked the service guy (hairy middle-aged hipster one who seems to know a lot about Ks), and he said the S1000 range never have rad problems, it's just Ks. He did say S1000 frames get v hot, though!

So maybe something about the engine config of it laying down, or airflow, or oil cooler size causes it to be hotter than an S1000?

I guess we have to save £100 every year for a replacement rad.

(Having seen the generous S1000 rad exposure, I'll definitely be removing the plastics as my last ditch attempt to save any failing rad, as suggested by someone - Sutty, I think)


[Edit: S1000 rad picture added, with pelmet, sorry mudguard]

[Sutty]

Rich, been out today and rode it like two stroke, overcast first thing but very warm, did about 150-160 MLS we came back through Worcester about two and the traffic was heavy but the cooling behaved as it should. When I got home I let it run on to get the fan running and did a draw test on the rad area that you suggested was masked to improve the area that the fan pulled air over and you were right, there is pull from the whole area. I still think that that is the cause of the corrosion.
Brain says maybe solenoid operated louvres that are open when the fans off but as soon as the fan is triggered the louvres are closed, that would give a bigger volume of cooler water available for traffic riding Or maybe I'll just flush the rad out more often.


Best regards.  Mick

[redcomet]

I have taken off all the tupperware and fan and cleaned the rad that way. Now I spray Muc off at the front of the radiator, leave for 5 mins then hose off gently. (i.e. not power wash). I do this 3 or 4 times and the rad is clear. Probably technically all wrong to do but it works.
Best Wishes,
Pete

[Phmode]

I think we have all concluded that there is no right or wrong way short of wire brushing and poking the fins being toward the wrong end of the spectrum.