Hey there. I did my first coolant change today. It's so satisfying seeing this blue gradient. I did a total of 4 flushes. I only managed to get over 2 liters of water out on one flush. I don't know what I am doing wrong. I think it's going to be okay for the season. Before winter, I will do one more flush, but this time it will be only coolant premix, so the percentage of distilled water will drop to satisfying levels.
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You're doing nothing wrong.
However... If you disconnect one of the hoses to the heat exchanger on the front of the engine you can let another 0.5l out.
J
However... If you disconnect one of the hoses to the heat exchanger on the front of the engine you can let another 0.5l out.
J
Well this is perfect timing! I Plan to do my first one on monday or Tuesday! Its overdue now as i have had the bike 4 and a bit years! (I do like to live dangerously!) I still need to get some Distilled water though, can i ask how much you used for flushing? i was planning to get 5 Litres?
I just flush with some coolant, if you order 3L and you're careful you'll have a bit to flush with and enough to refill. Or order 4L and go crazy 😂
J
J
There is also a draining bolt on the bottom of the water pump.
Yes, that bolt will drain about 2L of coolant.
J
J
All done! managed to get the system pretty much empty, needed to use a syphon pump down the filler cap to clear out the Rad though, Just been out for a bit of a run and the temps look good, fan engaged as normal, everything seems to be good! Thanks for the advice folks!
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Used like 6 liters. I did 4 flushes!
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Was your coolant dark blue like mine? I start thinking that I have a problem with the head gasket. Even though my oil looks clean, the original coolant that I flushed looks like blue ink and the bike is running hot easily since day one. After short rides my radiator fan always kicks in.
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The only thing that I didn't find in any guide/tutorial was that if you take off the little screw on the lower left side of the radiator, quite a bit of coolant will come out. Then you can use a hose and big syringe to draw the rest of the coolant sitting on the bottom of the metal piping!
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That's the final result. First picture is the old coolant (bottle on the right is original honfa coolant and the rest of the bottles represent a flush with distilled water. The rest of the pictures are my old oil. Under the sunlight it looks kinda creamy, but under normal light it looks good....I hope 😂 then again, I have absolutely 0 experience. It was the first time I did something like that!
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My coolant looked somewhere between the first and second bottle on the right in your first pic, I’d say. If yours is still the original coolant on a 2014 bike, it’s definitely possible it’s just degraded and darkened over time.
My radiator fan has kicked in from day one as well (I bought the bike new), so that part doesn’t sound unusual. As long as your temp gauge isn’t creeping into the red, you should be fine.
If you had a head‑gasket issue, the bike would usually overheat pretty quickly, and either the oil or coolant — or both — would start looking like mayo (thick, yellow/mustardy). From your photos, nothing jumps out as worrying to me.
I’m no expert, but based on what you’ve shown, it all looks okay.
My radiator fan has kicked in from day one as well (I bought the bike new), so that part doesn’t sound unusual. As long as your temp gauge isn’t creeping into the red, you should be fine.
If you had a head‑gasket issue, the bike would usually overheat pretty quickly, and either the oil or coolant — or both — would start looking like mayo (thick, yellow/mustardy). From your photos, nothing jumps out as worrying to me.
I’m no expert, but based on what you’ve shown, it all looks okay.