Cheaper way to cool Bike

[Fate]

After moving to Florida, I have noticed that My bike does not like the hot days and has been running hot. I installed a Muzzy fan the GoldenChild sent me and it helped a little. The area I live in has lots of low speed roads, lights and stop signs. When I was in Saint Louis, we had lots of choices of interstates and could stay at high speeds, here the bike is doing under 45 a lot. It was time to change the coolant, but since I am in Florida, there is little risk that the bike will get cold enough for the water to freeze, I went to Walmart and was going to find some regular coolant and found a bottle of Hyper-Lube Super coolant. It reminded me of water wetter. I thought I would try it for the 6 dollar price. I flushed my system fully, put the stuff in with only distilled water and went for a really slow ride. The fan kicked on at a lower temp than normal, gauge ran much lower, and bike felt much cooler. My gauge was staying right below half here, now it is closer to a quarter. If you are having temperature issues with your bike, give this stuff a try, highly recommended

 

[NCpanther01]

Good information!!!!

 

[Mr Bogus]

not sure how any additive would make the fans come on at a lower temp.. this is a sensor function.

Sounds more like you may have had an airlock you fixed by opening the system and flushing it..

 

[Fate]

not sure how any additive would make the fans come on at a lower temp.. this is a sensor function.

Sounds more like you may have had an airlock you fixed by opening the system and flushing it..

Is this something that burping the bike would not have fixed? My fan would kick when temp got a bit over half, now fan is on under half.

 

[Fate]

I tried burping bike right after installing Muzzy, and it did not make much of a difference.

 

[MO-BUSA]

interesting

 

[Mr Bogus]

"burping" may or may not work.. in our reverse flow motors, we had to go to extremes to get the air out.. we would always test for 'trapped' air by compressing the cooling system with a tester.. (strategically placed air bleeds work wonders, shame Suzuki did not put these in) Reverse filling of a motor can also work wonders but can be hard to accomplish on some..

I bet what may have happened is the air lock was between the coolant and fan sensors..

with an air lock, the temp sensor could see higher temps than the fan sensor, but the tipping point on the fan sensor would be the same.. The same "airlock" could affect how long it takes to cool the motor as well (restricts water flow or creates a hot spot in motor)

Regardless, fixing the problem is key (broken or cracked heads result from these problems)

I for one prefer to always keep cooling systems wet (not draining, but exchanging fluids) You can use the coolant in/ coolant out method and you will get 90% of the old stuff out with only a 10% waste of fluid..

 

[Fate]

"burping" may or may not work.. in our reverse flow motors, we had to go to extremes to get the air out.. we would always test for 'trapped' air by compressing the cooling system with a tester.. (strategically placed air bleeds work wonders, shame Suzuki did not put these in) Reverse filling of a motor can also work wonders but can be hard to accomplish on some..

I bet what may have happened is the air lock was between the coolant and fan sensors..

with an air lock, the temp sensor could see higher temps than the fan sensor, but the tipping point on the fan sensor would be the same.. The same "airlock" could affect how long it takes to cool the motor as well (restricts water flow or creates a hot spot in motor)

Regardless, fixing the problem is key (broken or cracked heads result from these problems)

I for one prefer to always keep cooling systems wet (not draining, but exchanging fluids) You can use the coolant in/ coolant out method and you will get 90% of the old stuff out with only a 10% waste of fluid..

Thanks, good info. My fan stopped working for a time too, then started working again, I thought it was my thermostat. I read a few different topics here about cooling issues and had read that water ran cooler than antifreeze but did not want to risk the lack of lubricant in the system. That is why a chose this additive. I wish I would have known this info earlier. I am sure you are right about the air lock. Water does run cooler then antifreeze and this additive boasts 20 percent cooler running systems. It seems to run cooler which may also account for the fix of the air lock. I would not recomend using this in a bike that may sit through a cold winter up north without replacing the fluid with antifreeze.

 

[DropBusa]

Did you check the bottle of this super lube for silicate free?? it'll eat your pump blades in a second!

 

[Fate]

I did an internet search and it was mentioned as one of the silcate free products, I also read a review and they did extensive tests in water wetter and this product and the results:

The results? This stuff works. All of them, but to different degrees and in slightly different ways. But there were stipulations. When mixed with coolant, our temperature drops were negligible, but still there. But with straight water, the temperature drops were nothing short of impressive. We expected this. There's no glycol-based antifreeze, or any liquid cooling agent for that matter, that we're aware of that can dissipate or transfer heat as well as plain old water. But you can't run plain old water, at least not without rusting or destroying your engine. Here are the highlights.

How They Work
Cooling system additives work by transferring heat more efficiently through the radiator. They can be used with an antifreeze/water mix or with water alone. They get their job done by reducing the surface tension of the cooling system mixture, which promotes thermal conductivity, or heat transfer by being able to penetrate heat-prone metal surfaces better. The process, called metal wetting, is also aided by an anti-foaming agent. We can run straight water with any of these products since they all have a corrosion inhibitor, which stabilizes the mixture's pH level. By balancing these negative acidic effects, you don't have to worry about rust, electrolysis, and deposits commonly associated with straight water mixes.

 

[84Ninja]

Maybe the new fluid doesn't conduct heat from the metal very well, thus getting the lower temp reading, but engine still running hotter.

 

[MC MUSTANG]

Randy,
How about posting a How to on fluid in/fluid out... I always drain and flush, but always like to learn...

 

[Charlesbusa]

Water wetter mixed with distilled water, its the coolest way to go.

Draw back, it'll freeze in low temps.

 

[Over_Easy]

I'll go with the good ol' green toxic coolent until a track day presents itself.

 

[Over_Easy]

Water wetter mixed with distilled water, its the coolest way to go.

Draw back, it'll freeze in low temps.

If it were to freeze overnight in the garage let's say would it be alright if it melted out in the sun the next day before ever starting it?

Reason I ask is that on rare occassion it will dip below freezing (32*F) here in FL. Now I doubt it would freeze while in the garage at 26* outside but just curious all the same.

 

[thebbbusa]

Water wetter mixed with distilled water, its the coolest way to go.

Draw back, it'll freeze in low temps.

If it were to freeze overnight in the garage let's say would it be alright if it melted out in the sun the next day before ever starting it?

Reason I ask is that on rare occassion it will dip below freezing (32*F) here in FL.  Now I doubt it would freeze while in the garage at 26* outside but just curious all the same.

Generally in Fla you would need it to be way colder than 32 for a LONG time for your bike's coolant to freeze.

On the other hand, water expands when it freezes, if there is no where left to expand it could crack the block or the radiator.

 

[Fate]

Maybe the new fluid doesn't conduct heat from the metal very well, thus getting the lower temp reading, but engine still running hotter.

The actual bike felt cooler too. The section right below seat would burn through my pants, now it seems cooler. Less heat blowing out from fan.

 

[Fate]

Water wetter mixed with distilled water, its the coolest way to go.

Draw back, it'll freeze in low temps.

The write up I saw showed same results from cheaper stuff. It probably is better, but would like to see some more comparisons.

 

[Fate]

Water wetter mixed with distilled water, its the coolest way to go.

Draw back, it'll freeze in low temps.

If it were to freeze overnight in the garage let's say would it be alright if it melted out in the sun the next day before ever starting it?

Reason I ask is that on rare occassion it will dip below freezing (32*F) here in FL. Now I doubt it would freeze while in the garage at 26* outside but just curious all the same.

The water would have to freeze almost solid or it would have to at least freeze enough to cause a blockage. It would have to get below 30 degrees for a a few days to do it. A quick night at 32 then warming back up during day and back down is probably not going to break a engine block. I used to deal with rental properties and a few were trailors. With water in plastic lines exposed outside to the elements, the lines would break if you had multiple days of cold weather and low wind chills. A day or two even at 20 degrees did not do it. In the teens and they were toast. We had to wrap heat tape around them and insulation.

 

[Bosshound]

I tried Engine Ice and Burping the Engine. Bike is now at the Dealership.