Mint condition, still on warranty until 04/2019, 4.400KMs on it, sold for 4.400€ - Pretty sick deal isn't it? What do you think?
Few things I noticed that I'd like to ask:
One is the "reservoir coolant jug" beneath the bike. It was basically almost completely empty. It had just a tiny bit left in the "sag" part of it (see image, red line).
I rode it to the closest motorbike shop (not Honda Official or anything of the likes), and the guy told me "it was completely fine as the radiator was full and this jug was just the reservoir". But then again, why does it specify in the manual that the level of coolant should be between the marks if according to him it's unimportant? He added some and that was about it. I must say that I made about 70kms before that and the Temperature Light did not show up, and it was a T-Shirt hot day. I also haven't spotted any leaks around the engine or droplets in the floor overnight. Where specifically should I look for leaks and if leaking wouldn't be the issue, why the **** was the jug empty of coolant?
Another question I have is about the tires or most importantly the rear one. It seemed pretty square (flat in the middle) to me, at the very least very square for just 4.400KMs. What do you guys think?
because I also did not have greater confidence leaning at slow speeds than the confidence I had doing so with my old CBR125R. Could be the tire being too squared/flattened out?
The answer to both questions is don't worry so much.
Your rear tire is going to square. It's the nature of the 500. This amount of squaring at this point in the tire's life probably indicates the previous rider didn't keep the pressure up to specs. Run the life out of that tire. It'll be just fine. When you're ready for a new set, consider the Battlax BT-023. It has a more linear tip in and requires more deliberate input. That should give you more confidence leaning over. I personally prefer the sharp tip in of the stock Dunlop, but the Bridgestone is a better tire overall.
You got a very fine deal. Congratulations! You're in for a real treat with that bike!
I personally wouldn't worry at all about the coolant. If your radiator is full, you have nothing to worry about.
Very interesting. Probably an overlook by the dealer? (usually they're kept without fluids while they're sitting in the dealerships). Brand new as in ordered a unit from factory, or maybe that was a neglibily used unit returned by somebody else or whatever?
It might be that the front sprocket is gunky with chain oil and is dripping down. Search for how to change the front sprocket on this forum, which will tell you how to get to it.
This is my gunky sprocket that I cleaned a few months ago.
That's from oiling the chain, excess collecting and it will drip. When i looked at it at first i thought it was high up under the gas tank. There is a breather line up there that can weep, but this is from oiling the chain.
It doesn't look that serious to me TBH. I'd clean the area with brake cleaner or other degreaser, take it for a ride and have a look at it for fresh evidence of leakage.
You might check the WP mounting bolts to ensure none are loose.
If it has started leaking coolant replacement is pretty easy. The worst part of the job would be draining the coolant and re-filling/burping air out of the system.
Clean and inspect again. I had the same issue and it ended up being the water pump. Oil should not come out the hole. The hole is for weeping coolant. See manual for details.
When the engine is cold, top up the coolant to the top level mark and keep checking (when the engine is cold). If the level keeps dropping, there might be a problem which would need further investigation. When I had my CB500X from new, I had to keep topping the level for the first 1200 miles but it has remained at the same level since. You should keep the level between the upper and lower markings.
Thank you boys. Still working out my riding license, so I can't do that many KMs to be checking things yet. I did already fill the coolant tank up to right below the Top mark, so next move will be have the license ready, ride to the dealership and have the issue inspected for the bike is still under warranty. If it's a false positive (don't even think so), will wipe the water pump clean and see if it starts building up mess again (it will, since pretty much all bolts look wet and oily - It's obviously not chain grase).
It's normal for the bike to give and take coolant from that overflow tank, that's why it's there and marked as such.
Mine was low from the dealer (new bike) so I added some. A week later, low again. Added some more, as it wasn't leaking. It's never low now. What happened s is that when the bike is new, it takes some time for every area in the cooling tank to get full.
However in your case, the bike may have taken a hit in the past, causing a coolant leak. They fixed the obvious signs of that, topped off the tank, and sent you on your way.
It's critical that you keep an eye on it and make the dealer make it right. After toppings off a couple times, it's NOT normal for it to use coolant. If it is, it's either burning off or leaking along the way.
The squaring off of the tire is normal. The OEM tires are there because they're cheap, not because they're very good.
I only got 7000 miles out of my rear (Dunlop "Sportmax"), before it was about down to the cords. It wasn't sticky enough either. The rear slipped on me one time while I was leaned over in a corner and almost caused a crash, and I wasn't even leaned over enough to scrape a peg. (I'm sure it was close though.)
Now, it is replaced with a Pirelli Angel ST, which sticks tighter, is better in the rain, and is alleged to last a good while longer. I'm hoping for 10-12k miles. (16,000 km or more) Good sport touring tires are REALLY worth the money.
Over there, the big brands are Avon and Pirelli, right? Does Michelin have a strong presence there. Lots of Americans love the Michelin Pilot Road series of tires... I've had great luck with Avon, Michelin and now Pirelli sport touring tires.
As far as the bike goes, it has not taken a hit ever. The bike was 4.400KMs and in pristine condition, alignments and whatnot. It was me, by the way, who topped the coolant tank right after buying it off the guy - The bike did not have any liquid whatsoever (does anyone know for a fact if the bike does actually drain it to 100% as in 100% empty jug, instead of leaving maybe half a finger of liquid in it as in the pipe not being able to pick up that last bit? Because that's exactly how it was when I bought it, and it is the cause of my concern as in is whether or not the bike has been overheating for this long due to that).
I must say as well that before refilling the jug, I opened the radiator cap and it was full, so I don't know. Wish the bike could speak for itself (is there even any way to download any data logs off of it? Times the overheating light has gone on and whatnots, that would be really handy).
Anyway. As far as the tires go I'll just get a stand, lift it, start it, and very mildly sandpaper the sides of it, specially the far edges (never used, completely slippery at the touch as opposed to how grippy the inner sides and center are). Michelin does have a big presence here, yeah. Have you had better luck pushing your leans further with those new tires of yours? Certain you didn't catch some gravel/oil at the moment?
Regards!
by the way, I also noticed this on the radiator at the time, and forgot to even ask. Is this even normal? The stain is in the middle as you can see, but the exhaust pipes right beneath are exactly as clean in that area as they're further below or anywhere, so it can't be crap tossed up by the front wheel when spinning. Probably another leak/problem then?
Anyway. As far as the tires go I'll just get a stand, lift it, start it, and very mildly sandpaper the sides of it, specially the far edges (never used, completely slippery at the touch as opposed to how grippy the inner sides and center are).
FWIW. The coolant tank level should be checked when the engine is cold. It will be at it's lowest level then ( lower mark). When the engine cools it draws coolant from the tank, when it heats up, it expels coolant to the tank.
That crud around the water pump looks like oil or whatever off the chain. As someone mentioned, clean it up and keep an eye on it. The tires look fine as does the rad.
Take care of the important things....throttle freeplay, clutch freeplay, chain slack and lubrication, tire pressures, engine oil level.
Relax and enjoy your bike.
Saaanx - My touring bike suffered from squared-off tires from long drones in western US and Canada. I reshaped the tires and removed cupped edges with a Stanley 6" Surform file. Worked easily and quickly, and restored handling for the remainder of the tread on the tires. Rick
Just came back from a Honda dealership. The guy confirmed it's a leak (an obvious one) and that some 500 (R/X/F/Rebel) units come with a faulty water pump, which in this case will be replaced using the warranty I have left on the bike. Will keep you posted for the sake of future Google visitors or forum users with the same issue.
I noticed my water pump on the f model leaking from the bottom seal , can see some green staining. Bike a 2016 with 18,000 miles. Not overheating or nothing like that. Have not found drips on the floor or a large loss of water from the reserve tank. So when should you buy a new one?
UPDATE: Bike will be plugged into a computer at the Honda dealership, which will be able (according to the mechanic) to check how the bike has been doing ever since it was first started. Didn't know that was possible, so here it goes for whoever did not know so. Apparently "it keeps logs of everything and will feed an entire sheet with all data thus far, like for instance whenever (if ever) the bike had the overheating light on during the previous 4.400KMs of ownage before I bought it." Pretty dope to be honest. All in warranty, obviously, in this case to check whether the water pump issue has led to some other hidden issues on the bike. Once they check everything is in order they will flash the bike to factory defaults and that will be about it.
Quoting my mechanic "for as long as the bike has been ridden with adequate oil levels, the temperature light has never showed up and the radiator has been full of liquid (regardless of the reservoir pump) the bike should be fine". So I guess it's up to you but not a big deal.
I just think it's a bad idea to have the bike started up, in gear, without a rider on it in general. Even on the ground that's a bad combination, but even worse on a stand. If the stand fails your bike is going flying. If something gets caught in the chain, sprockets, tire, etc., it's going to be too late to pull back. It just seems like a risky maneuver to me. I'm sure if you're careful and nothing goes wrong you could accomplish it, but I question the need to even do it, and there's always the chance that something goes wrong... So at least record it so if something does go wrong we can all be entertained by your misery.
You do sound like an amicable and cool person indeed. Don't worry - whenever terrible happens to me you'll be the first to know so you can have your dose of entertainment.
This is good advice. People lose fingers and have damaged bikes every year from this. I might mention, I would take no entertainment from it. Just don't. It's unnecessary.
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Cheers chzeck. I must say I never work alone on a bike while it's on - I always have someone with the fingers on the key, and this time I was planning to do the abovesaid wrapping a pole with sandpaper, just to slightly polish a bit of the "chicken strips" off, and gain some mental confidence in my leans, plus some grip on the tires regardless of how mild. (What Bumpa suggests, whereas interesting to regain the tire's round profile, I find it to be too unaccurate and would probably leave an uneven tire with many bumps and whatnot @Bumpa. No clue though).
Bam - I agree with you and Chzeck. Working your way around a stationary tire with a Surform tool assures control. A little bit at a time, and before you know it, your tire has regained as much of its original profile as possible. Rick
2016 model, bought the bike 2nd hand with an empty coolant reservoir jug, filled it up, mechanic blamed it on the water pump leak (which got replaced and hasn't leaked ever since).
UPDATE:
All good, until today I checked again, and the coolant jug is once again one hundred percent empty. Less that 1.000kms went by ever since I bought the bike with an empty jug, fully refilled it, and today. I'll drop by the dealership again tomorrow and keep updating for the sake of anyone experiencing this same annoyance to know how to proceed.
They told me that it is normal that the reservoir jug was (again) empty. I told them it went from full to literally empty in just 600Kms, and again, they told me it was normal:
They say that bikes "consume" coolant/antifreeze liquid. Not that they burn it / consume it, but that it evaporates from the reservoir jug overtime. Can anyone confirm this statement is true? Also, can it really be possible to evaporate almost a full jug in just 600Kms, specially in autnum-winter as we are?
Does that mean it is normal to have to be non-stop, constantly filling the reservoir with liquid on motorcycles?
Also they used a pink colored "Organic, -34ºC, for-aluminum" type of coolant/antifreeze liquid. Should that be?
no it is not normal and bikes do not consume coolant.sometimes after a water pump change when the system is refilled it may empty the overflow tank once to completely fill the system.if it does it again after the first run cycle you better find out where the coolant is going.
Hi, yotee. Thank you for your answer. Also did you read the messages in full? I mean the bike is not literally consuming it, according to the dealership head of mechanics it evaporates from the jug since it's not a sealed circuit (open overflow hose). Also, there's many droplet marks and whatnot all around the interior of the jug (as in just like a transparent sauna), which would confirm the evaporating argument. Do you indeed mean this isn't normal?
Nonetheless, it also crossed my mind what you say about the system having perhaps sucked up a big amount of coolant liquid post waterpump change, and that could have been the reason. Be that as it may, today the reservoir jug was topped up again, so if the level keeps going down, I can discard that.
My understanding is the cooling system is a “sealed” unit. The coolant heats up as it cools the engine. If it wasn’t sealed steam would be going everywhere. However, if the coolant gets too hot, there should be an escape valve somewhere for the steam to escape. If your coolant has gone completely after 600kms, then there must be a leak.
However, as previously said, if you fill the system from empty, it might take a while for it to circulate around and will need topping up.
I suggest when cold, fill up with coolant until at the right level. Make note of how much went in. Then compare that to whatever the manual says. If you can put the whole lot in, then it was empty. Etc
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