SV superbike leaking/using coolant

[Randy Grein]

Well, at 220 the cooling system is under pressure. Could be the leak  
was always there but now it's being pushed out instead of dribbling.
Randy Grein, WMRRA #41

On Sep 21, 2008, at 8:32 AM, Morgan Jones wrote:

>
> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 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
>>>
>>
>