Refilling radiator

[Jim Stewart]

Thumper Ray wrote:
> I'm at work without access to my manuals.  Anything special about
> refilling the radiator?  Rad had to come off and drained for repair.
> I figure on slowly pouring in a couple quarts of Hondaline brand mix,
> rotating the crank a couple times with ignition off to turn water
> pump, and topping off, repeat.  This should eliminate air bubbles
> although some air might bleed off over the first few miles.  Sound
> reasonable?
> 

Nope. You'll never get rid of air bubbles that way, but you don't need 
to anyway. Just fill the radiator to capacity, squeeze both hoses to get 
the air out of them, and start the bike. I often do this with the cap 
removed. When the engine comes up to temperature shut it off and add 
coolant to the top, squeezing hoses again. Install cap.

When the engine cools down, check the level again - it should be up to 
the top. If not, top it up.

> By the way, what is the coolant capacity, and should the overflow
> tank be empty before starting up?
> 

Don't have my manual handy, sorry. The overflow tank should be filled to 
half-full or so.

BTW, you can save about 50% on your coolant by buying undiluted and 
mixing 50-50 yourself. I use regular green automotive antifreeze. There 
are issues with the red stuff, but I forget what the problem is...

-js