Stupid question but how do I know if I have a radiator leak

[Davemc37]

I had quite a lot of steam coming up from my radiator area this morning for the middle hour of a 100 minutes journey but being mechanically stoopid I’m not sure if it was just because it was so wet the front wheel was covering the radiator with wet and grimy stuff or if there was a genuine problem.

How can I tell if there’s a problem. Please help before I embarrass myself forever with my local garage.
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born again biker with a mere 23 year gap between bikes.

[Davemc37]

My bike is a 15 plate suzuki gsx 650f with 5,500 on the clock, which I have owned for about 7 weeks and night from a suzuki dealer.
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born again biker with a mere 23 year gap between bikes.

[colink98]

Sometimes when i come to a stop at the lights etc there will be steam coming from the engine/radiator/exhaust areas.

i always assume it was becasue

a: i am ghost rider
and
b: rain getting onto hot metal things.
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PCX125 (stolen) - CBF600 (current)
Ride it like you stole it.
ride sensible and not like an idiot and you wont get 6 points in one week.

[stonesie]

Just keep an eye on the level in the header tank.

Sounds like its fine though, just rain on the hot radiator and exhaust.

[Rogerborg]

[MCN]

Coolant level cold on the Normal Line = No leak.

Coolant level cold below the Normal Line = Leak.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Evil Hans]

We ought to have a Workshop section for questions like this
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Triumph Sprint ST 1050. And it's Red.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

so crazy it just might work
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Itchy]

Keep an eye on the temperature.

Through experience you should know the bike temperatures at different speeds and different parts of your ride.


If the bike is unusually hot and doesn't cool down to normal cruising temperatures then there might be a problem with your cooling system.

My current CBR had a crack on the overflow pipe. It meant that when it got to 100c it went into the expansion bottle but some of it leaked out through the crack. Normally the temp stays at 79-82 when riding normally and up to 98-107 when stopped at traffic lights/slow filtering.

I knew there was a problem when it got to temperature really quickly (about half a mile from cold) and kept on climbing and wouldn't go below 98.

Even fast motorway work would only get it down to 87 and it would shoot back up. I got home and replaced the radiator.


On my other CBR same symptom got hot really quickly and wouldn't go down to normal cruising temperatures. This was just low coolant as the radiator cap had not been done up right.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Pete.]

[Davemc37]

[Baffler186]

I get this all the time on the SV, especially when you lean the bike over on the stand having just stopped riding. Might just be the water pooling somewhere, and then pouring onto hot bits when the angle is right.
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Current: 2009 SV650 S, 1990 Kawasaki GT550
Previous: 2009 CBF125, 1998 GSF600, 2004 FZ6 Fazer, 1978 CB400a Hondamatic

[AshWebster]

Weirdly I have never encountered this at all.. Either because my fairings dont drip onto hot pipes or because I dont ride much (if at all) in the wet :p I have pictures of ghost rider at the lights haha

ps. It's definitely NOT a stupid question to ask about a possible radiator leak... The stupid thing to do would be to ignore / assume it's alright and then end up with a ruined head gasket/cylinder..
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Honda cg125 J reg peice of shit ---> CB650F ---> 2016 CBR600RR
Ford KA ---> 93' MR2 ---> 94'MR2 ---> 98' Subaru WRX STI Ver 3 (track car)

[Polarbear]

[Evil Hans]

My Bandit has been known to chuck out steam like Thomas the Tank Engine when it's raining.

And it's an air-cooled Bandit!

Keep an eye on the fluid levels, and if/when it steams on a dry road, then start to worry
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Triumph Sprint ST 1050. And it's Red.

[Pete.]

[Evil Hans]

[adengtg]

[Rogerborg]

[Polarbear]