Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Ok lets delve a little deeper into the actual situation which occurred. Picked up the bike from lithgow some 90 something kms from sydneys west. Was so happy with the bike and keen to get the 2hr return trip over and done with that nor me or any of me mates checked the liquids-not to say there definitely was a lack-of. After having completed a major part of the trip having reached katoomba my mate decided to pull over for some food. He is adamant that it was not until he switched the engine off that the engine lights came followed by a freak overflow of GREEN fluid-which i can only assume to be radiator fluid from an overflow pipe(???) under the body- which then was followed by steaming coming from inside the fairings.

We then proceeded to check oil levels which was low and hence refilled. poured more warm water in and waited a half hr before driving again as we could not pin the problem down to anything definitively. One thing i did notice was that nobody could make out fan noises, so we checked out the fan fuse bearing a 15a indicator but had a 15 fuse which im not sure is at all relevant.

ybjls4 wrote:Ok lets delve a little deeper into the actual situation which occurred. Picked up the bike from lithgow some 90 something kms from sydneys west. Was so happy with the bike and keen to get the 2hr return trip over and done with that nor me or any of me mates checked the liquids-not to say there definitely was a lack-of. After having completed a major part of the trip having reached katoomba my mate decided to pull over for some food. He is adamant that it was not until he switched the engine off that the engine lights came followed by a freak overflow of GREEN fluid-which i can only assume to be radiator fluid from an overflow pipe(???) under the body- which then was followed by steaming coming from inside the fairings.

We then proceeded to check oil levels which was low and hence refilled. poured more warm water in and waited a half hr before driving again as we could not pin the problem down to anything definitively. One thing i did notice was that nobody could make out fan noises, so we checked out the fan fuse bearing a 15a indicator but had a 15 fuse which im not sure is at all relevant.

How much water did you put in ?
How much oil did you put in ?

Re: workshop ... Kelen's Kawasaki ( Penrith ) are 30 mins from Parramatta - very good service, and KSRC discount.
HTH ..

6maniac wrote:

ybjls4 wrote:Ok lets delve a little deeper into the actual situation which occurred. Picked up the bike from lithgow some 90 something kms from sydneys west. Was so happy with the bike and keen to get the 2hr return trip over and done with that nor me or any of me mates checked the liquids-not to say there definitely was a lack-of. After having completed a major part of the trip having reached katoomba my mate decided to pull over for some food. He is adamant that it was not until he switched the engine off that the engine lights came followed by a freak overflow of GREEN fluid-which i can only assume to be radiator fluid from an overflow pipe(???) under the body- which then was followed by steaming coming from inside the fairings.

We then proceeded to check oil levels which was low and hence refilled. poured more warm water in and waited a half hr before driving again as we could not pin the problem down to anything definitively. One thing i did notice was that nobody could make out fan noises, so we checked out the fan fuse bearing a 15a indicator but had a 15 fuse which im not sure is at all relevant.

How much water did you put in ?
How much oil did you put in ?

Re: workshop ... Kelen's Kawasaki ( Penrith ) are 30 mins from Parramatta - very good service, and KSRC discount.
HTH ..

Water- till full
Oil- dont know the exact amount but it was the biggest bottle of 4t oil available at the petrol station.

In terms of where the oil level was at prior to refilling, it was full enough to cover the whole circle when upright but only 20% when leaning to the foot stnad side of the bike.

Would you recommend riding the bike given the above particulars though mate?

No ... it looks like you have overfilled the oil - there is a line on the outer case halfway up the window. That is the maximum fill level, when the bike is upright on a level surface.

As for water, do you know the AMOUNT of water you added ?

We really f'd up with the oil side of thinhs then.

Theres no way for me to know how much water we added but it wasnt as if the container was empty before filling which we did until it was completely full.

Any idea what the original problem with the overheating was though?

Would you suggest the bike would be ride-able if I drained the oil back to the indicator level?

if the water blew out of the overflow after rilling the overflow bottle to the brim, then that would be understandable.

When the bike gets warm the water level rises (hence the Hot level and Cold level) on the overflow bottle.

If its overheating while moving, thats a bit odd, normally a speed of 30km/h or so is enough to get the bike cool.
if you were sitting in traffic idling then yeah it could get hot, and f the fan wasnt coming on then could overheat.


Read your owners manual. it tells all about oil and water levels. your mate doesnt sound like he knows what he's on about

Wattie wrote:if the water blew out of the overflow after rilling the overflow bottle to the brim, then that would be understandable.

When the bike gets warm the water level rises (hence the Hot level and Cold level) on the overflow bottle.

If its overheating while moving, thats a bit odd, normally a speed of 30km/h or so is enough to get the bike cool.
if you were sitting in traffic idling then yeah it could get hot, and f the fan wasnt coming on then could overheat.


Read your owners manual. it tells all about oil and water levels. your mate doesnt sound like he knows what he's on about

Ye well he didnt allude to the fact that he didnt exactly know what to do in the situation and just tried what was most obvious to him.

Like i said the bike did not acutally overheat or show any signs of intending to until the bike was fully stopped at the petrol station as mentioned above.

Also i dont think it was water that came out once the bike did overheat as the fluid was green.

Green fluid is coolant. Basically water with a higher boiling point. A complete oil change and filter now youve overfilled it and probably mixed different types of oil. Take it to a bike shop

Wattie wrote:Read your owners manual. it tells all about oil and water levels. your mate doesnt sound like he knows what he's on about

+1

Just an update...took it out to kelens penrith-who were nice enough to agree to take a quick geeze at me bike despite being booked out till 21/12- and I've been assured by the mech(Chris?) there that i shouldnt be worried as nothing out of the norm happened. The bloke was helpful beyond words and I would directing or servicing and mech work to him. Thanks got the recommendation to those who did