Radiator getting blocked on the outside

[Eastsussexbiker]

Me again sorry ! Hopefully with some useful advice. Sadly I still have the cam cover leak which has been going on for weeks. However it takes me half an hour to get the cam cover off the bike now which is good, but I just wanted to show you something which amazed me considering I only cleaned the radiator flushed it through on the outside and made it really good and almost like new from the point of view of cooling. But the problem is I went out on the bike just the once and got caught in the rain and this is the result of that 30 mile journey in very light rain, but the roads being very very wet. So my advice for anybody who has one of these bikes is to get if you haven’t already a mudguard extender which I bought a while ago but haven’t fitted and I am now going to fit it, especially seeing this. As far as the cam cover leak is concerned, I will shave off a bit more of the cam chain guide as I didn’t take enough off and I will seal it on both sides of the gasket, especially in that corner. The rest of it is fine. It doesn’t leak anywhere else. I didn’t put any sealer on top side of the gasket where the cam cover fits, so this time I will do top and bottom of the gasket and then see how it works after filing flush the cam chain guide flush with the head I mean.

[Phmode]

Welcome to the wonderful world of K ownership.

When I put the brand spanking new radiator on the K12, it was crud-laden after about 250 miles of summer riding. Of course, summer in the UK wasn't all sweetness and light, it was wet and hot/cold by degrees.

From many years K experience, it is wayyyyy more important to look after your radiator than it is to do oil changes, especially with the average annual mileage of the average K. Coming a close second is not letting the exhaust headers rot. Either of these will kill a K long before the normal modern bikes Achilles heel of the ECU going AWOL.

Just sayin'.

[nealchaykin]

Wow! Thank god I live in Canada. My rad just gets full of bugs…the hard shelled ones that dent and bend the aluminum fins. 

[Phmode]

Wow! Thank god I live in Canada. My rad just gets full of bugs…the hard shelled ones that dent and bend the aluminum fins. 

Ouch! I felt that. Having had kamikaze wasps and bees make a bee(wasp?)-line for my hands many times over the years I can tell you the impact is well hard, even through armoured gloves so, god knows what a June bug type thing would do to the finning.

I'm fairly sure that a lot of the muck that gets encrusted in our rads is also the toasted remains of many bugs mixed in with all the other crud.

[Matt]

Wow! Thank god I live in Canada. My rad just gets full of bugs…the hard shelled ones that dent and bend the aluminum fins. 

...A... tortoise...?

 

[CC Mac]

I vac my radiator and then spray it thoroughly with vinegar and leave it to soak for an hour. Then more vinegar and a rinse and wash with car wash wax. I recently replaced it with a new one which I got for a good price. The mechanic called me and asked if I really wanted to replace it because the original one was very clean and totally unblocked. That's after almost 60,000 miles. I said replace it anyway and I will keep it as a spare. I always spray it with Scotoiler 365 after any wash. I am not an obsessive bike washer by the way.

[richtea]

I vac my radiator...

That is a very good idea, CC - suck the gubbins out. Might try that next time as step 1.
And the vinegar does what? Dissolves something, presumably...

[CC Mac]

Vinegar is good for dissolving the crap. I use the white vinegar and spray it in with one of those pump action plant sprayers, you know the ones that you can pressurise with the plunger on the top. Cost next to nothing from a garden centre. The Scotoiler 365 is very effective at stopping corrosion.

[GlynH]

Not sure I’d like my bike to smell like a local branch of Harry Ramsdens though!

I remember years ago when I used to keep my Thunderace in an old garage with a blanket thrown over the top.

After the first winter the blanket took on a musty odour all of its own that seemed to permeate the bike which I could smell even after a run out!

-=Glyn=-

[Phmode]

We all need to bear in mind (even those of us with a hoard of new radiators stashed away) that the K rad is aluminium- not copper-cored and has plastic side tanks which are crimped in place utilising tabs moulded in the aluminium. If these tabs lose their grip then the rubber seals between the ally and the plastic start to leak and then all is lost. This is how I lost the rad on my K12.

So it isn't just the crap that causes the overheating but it may also be eating away at the tabs. As may anything that we squirt on the rad in our efforts to clear out the crap...

[chriscanning]

So are Sycamore the only ones with a new rad in stock ?

[Phmode]

No! I'm guessing...

But, they are the ones that are selling them off through eBay. I'm sure if you walked into your friendly local BMW stealer and asked for a new radiator, they would probably charge you the full retail price which from memory was about £600. Rae was the last person who I know of who was forced to buy one so he can confirm the cost.

When I was trying to match some tiles from B&Q, the only place that had any was one of the Bristol stores. I rushed over and bought the entire stock and when I asked why they had them and no-one else did, they surmised that head office had sent all the existing stock from other stores to them to dispose of; they were massively discounted when I bought them.

So, perhaps the same thing is happening with the K rads. Either way, I'm now doubly insured...and desperately trying to stick a load of white tiles to the bodywork 

[chriscanning]

Very early on with my K ownership made the decision that A it was long haul ownership and B buy what ever spares turn up along the way combine both of those with use of my K has also needed a decent 3 day weather warning and it’s hardly been wet never mind subjected to winter weather,although  I’d recommend avoiding any HS2 construction because even with the many road sweepers they can muster still desperate road conditions.

And the decision on what transport this Wednesday for Le-Mans(Moto 24 hour) is still open to debate looking out the kitchen window.

[raesewell]

You're right Brian it was around 600 of our British quids. It was at that point I decided it had to go, so the BMW was ushered out and the Yamaha ushered in.

[Phmode]

I remember your angst at the time Rae. You were on holiday somewhere iirc. The West Country?