Vacuum filling cooling system.

[Costas]

Much easier here as they're the same people.

[Phmode]

Some, in fact most, of ours are both car and bike. It's just that all three of the nearest bike dealers are 32, 33 and 34 miles distant whereas the nearest car only dealer is a mere 11 miles away.

Brian (who can only think of anti-freeze and headlamp bulbs that might be common to both bikes and cars apart from the air in the tyres of course  )

[AndyLP]

Really are supporting the BMW brand

[Niall]

Hey Brian, do you get someone local to do the coolant or take it to a main dealer?

This is really the one area I am going to struggle with. I've got a bloke who will do basics but won't touch the cooling system or for that matter do valve clearances. The clearances isn't an issue, they haven't moved. They hadn't on the original engine or the rebuilt one

[Phmode]

Do it myself my friend, it's as easy as getting a cracked cylinder head 

I leave the servicing to the stealer at the moment but for routine stuff I'm happy doing the coolant re-fill myself.

I don't understand the fear factor about vacuum filling among techs, let's face it, they manage it in BMW dealers 

Almost all modern automotive set-ups use vacuum filling and the only difference between our bikes and a car set-up is the size of the radiator cap orifice, or rather its lack of size.

The vacuum device I bought off t'internet claimed it had plugs for all sizes of radiator and it certainly had one for the K bike; about forty squid from memory. Of course, you have to have a compressor to power it but I have heard of a vacuum cleaner being used with success 

[Blobby]

The only issue I would have would be adapting the radiator valve cap. I have vacuum cleaners, one of them manual vacuum devices for doing oil changes through the dip-stick and an air conditioning vacuum pump, which of course can pull down to an absolute vacuum.

[farmer]

interesting thread, i'll probably "understand" better when i look at my own bike .
but i do have to ask whats going on with the bottom of your oil collector  in the first pic, i've got a bit of a headache looking at it....maybe that was your plan all along.

[Phmode]

I think you'll find it is a noptical dilusion.

The bowl has oil in it and what you are seeing is a reflection on the surface of the bricks in Tom's house wall behind the bike.

Now, if only he could have got the brick pattern to align with the brick sett pattern on his drive, then that would really have given you a headache 

[farmer]

thanks for that....once explained it's obvious...
so either plaster your wall or concrete your yard to stop me squinting at the screen,
better again as phmode says, get your house brick and paving brick lined up ... perhaps that would be a different thread, or maybe site for that matter.

[chriscanning]

Compressor id Aldi's best

[Bruno]

I have just come across this on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prp-c2hCRjg

[Foothills]

I just changed mine using a vacuum very similar to the one Chriscanning posted.  I used Pentosin Pentofrost NF.  It has the same spec and is listed for use in BMW.  It was also less money.    http://www.pentosin.net/specsheets/Pentofrost_NF.pdf