duke

Member
Oct 9, 1999
484
0
Recently I did a little 30 mile loop on a local fire trail, portions of which were littered with some decent hills. In fact, the entire first portion is made up of a slight gradient, all of which required the bike to screaming for a good portion of the time. When I started the level of anti freeze fluid in the resevoir tank was at the top. When I returned to the truck, I noticed the right portion of skid plate covered in what appeared to be anti freeze coolant, which had come out of the over flow hose, and the anti freeze level had dropped to where it registered low. Is this normal to have consumed this much radiator fluid? Also how often do you folks have to add or replace your transmission fluid? On rides like these where I clutch it a lot, the level of fluid seems to have been really depleted and darkened.

Bill
 

John Harris

Member
Apr 15, 2002
552
0
You should get lots of responses. My 200 will not keep coolant above the lower line in the overflow reservoir, but it does stay there seemingly forever. My '01 200 never overheats even going slow in the heat, but I understand that many of the 220s have problems. Keep your eye on it for awhile, but I suspect what you are seeing is pretty normal. Cheers John
 

NGE

Uhhh...
Sep 6, 2003
197
0
Hard to say for sure (not being there and all)...

IF the reservoir was FULL, then the overflow could be normal.... the purpose of the overflow reservoir is to catch anything blown out the radiator caps pressure release mechanism... and then allow it to be "sucked" back into the radiator when it cools.... thus, as the fluid expands and contracts with heat/cool it maintains the radiator full, without loosing any fluids...

But, in order for this to function right the reservoir must have room for the "hot" fluids coming from the radiator.... or it will overflow...

Even if this was the case (you overfilled the reservoir) it should be in the normal operating range once you have ridden the bike hard and it has cooled back down...

as a note, my '01 KDX 200 ALWAYS shows the fluid in the reservoir as a little bit low... but that IS it's normal operating range....

Try riding it now without filling it back up.... keep an eye on it while you ride (just in case I'm wrong)... bring it home, and let it cool down..... is it at the same level it was at?.... if so, all is probably fine.... if the fluid is low, in the radiator or reservoir, you should check things out before going on, becasue something is wrong...

As to your other and related question.... fluids should not, leak, combust, or otherwise go missing (aside from the fuel of course) when riding your bike.... you should never HAVE to fill your reservoir or oil... you should only have to change them... i.e.- take out as much as the new that you put in...

WIth that said, some bikes do leak and it is not a major issue to some folks.... they just keep up with the leak... no doubt you know some people who do that with their cars too....

A radiotor leak may be a VERY hard thing to "keep up with" though... I would make sure
 

Junkyard Dog

Member
Mar 31, 2004
63
0
Change your trans fluid after a few long rides if you use your clutch alot. I change mine once a month or after about 16 hours of dusty desert riding. Bel Ray gear saver 80wt. starts out red, after a few rides it turns dark brown, that's when its time to change it.
Use all of 1 quart in the trans.
Good luck
 

jamin326

~SPONSOR~
Oct 29, 2002
130
0
Do what i did along with many others i imagine, take off the resevoir tank and route the overflow hose coming off of the filler neck down the frame, i just used a couple of zip ties to secure it, i simply just check the coolant level before every ride, you'll never be able to keep the resevoir tank filled, it always comes out, I have a 99 KDX220 and they put that tank right behind one of the rads so taking it out also increases your airflow through that rad in my opinon
 

chris kuba

Member
May 31, 2003
83
0
Try searching this site for other options. I run Evans coolant, which will never boil or freeze and you will never run into that problem again. It also lasts forever. Read on. And you won't need your resevoir either.
 

Rhodester

Member
May 17, 2003
549
0
When I had the "overflow" tank on my 200H it would always have antifreeze mysteriously disappear during every ride. I took it off altogether (I'm a light weight fanatic) and checked my radiator level after every ride. I've never lost any antifreeze from the radiator no matter how I ride. It may increase air flow and thus cooling effect through the right radiator by not having the tank there to block the air flow too. I just routed one of the overflow tubes up through the frame hole and down the left side to below the edge of the frame from the radiator neck outlet nipple.
 

jdbrusch

~SPONSOR~
Nov 11, 2001
185
0
Try to run the antifreeze level at the low mark on the overflow tank,if you run the overflow tank at the full mark most of the antifreeze makes its way out the overflow tanks overflow hose from just riding(bouncing) down the trails.Even just a inch in the tank is good enough.
 

hunter1

Member
Feb 27, 2004
37
0
This is a normal condition, if you do some jumping this also tends to shoot some coolant out of the overflow. Keep an eye on the level before every ride and now and again during riding, the level should stabilise towards the lower level indicator of the reservoir.
 

yortz

Member
May 16, 2004
35
0
You may remove the tank as others have mentioned,and route the overflow hose over the pipe.[ low towards were the pipe leaves the cylinder] then if a boilover occurs it is really easy to smell the burning coolant. May be a bit messy, but still it is some type of early warning..
 

duke

Member
Oct 9, 1999
484
0
Thanks all. I still have to rectify the delemma of the excessive lack of tranny fluid. Does any know of a reputable repair shop in the Los Angeles area? Is reputable and motorcycle repair shop to be considered an oxy moron?

Bill
 

mikdxer

Member
Mar 6, 2003
23
0
anti freeze leaking

I found out on my 2002 kdx 200 mine was losing a little coolant after riding it. I felt the cylinder to see how hot it was and felt no way that it was overheating. I pulled up on the over flow hose a couple of inches figuring it must be slopping out on the rough rides. Problem solved, I keep it on the full mark and have never lost another drop. I'ts probably 2 inches higher then the radiator neck.
 
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