SV superbike leaking/using coolant

[Morgan Jones]

Interesting.. Any thoughts on why this might have happened?  Is it 
normal for a head gasket to blow again 2 years and 20 track days after 
it was been replaced?  Is it possible the gasket was not replaced 
properly?  Are worked motors more susceptible to this?

One thought is that I added a fan sometime last year and before that was 
very careful to not let the motor go above 200, now it once and a while 
gets to 220 where the fan kicks in.. ie I'm less careful since the fan 
is there.

Thanks.

-morgan



Ernest Montague wrote:
> Looks like a head gasket leak trickling down the cylinder.  I just 
> fixed one that looked like that. From the corrosion looks like it has 
> been going on for awhile.
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> On Sep 21, 2008, at 8:18 AM, Morgan Jones wrote:
>
>>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> My '99 SV track bike has developed what I think is a coolant leak.. 
>> It was down probably a cup of coolant after my last track day.   I 
>> filled it and took it to the track again yesterday.  After a full day 
>> of riding it is down about 6 inches.  It still cools fine but of 
>> course that's sort of a lot of coolant for a track day..
>>
>> Well in the middle of the day I pulled off the bodywork and this is 
>> what I found:
>>
>> http://www.philadelphiariders.com/gallery/Pocono_080920/MG_2975
>> http://www.philadelphiariders.com/gallery/Pocono_080920/MG_2981
>> http://www.philadelphiariders.com/gallery/Pocono_080920/MG_2982
>>
>> It's definitely coolant--it's just a touch damp and smells like water 
>> wetter.  There is evidence that there was fluid in the belly pan but 
>> very little (like 1/2 cup).  The pan is totally dry.
>>
>> I cleaned it up and ran the bike until the fan kicked on and couldn't 
>> see evidence of leaking.  I took the bike back on the track and it 
>> used more coolant.
>>
>> A little background: I bought the bike with a popped freeze plug 
>> which lead to a blown head gasket.  That was 2 years and 12-20 track 
>> days ago.
>>
>> This is a worked bike:  680cc, carillo rods, valve work, race cams, 
>> flat slides.  The work was all done many owners ago and as far as I 
>> can tell it was done well..  it has run like a Swiss watch in the 3 
>> years and probably 25 track days I've owned it.  It's 90hp at the 
>> wheel depending on whose dyno you ask.  It is clearly faster than 
>> other SVs on the track.
>>
>> Any ideas?  I want desperately for someone to tell me that's dripping 
>> from somewhere and I just need to look harder..  That's not what it 
>> looks like to me.  Could this be a leak from the water jacket at the 
>> base gasket?  Does that ever happen?
>>
>> thanks.
>>
>> -morgan
>>
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