How full is the reservoir? Things expand when heated, and if the coolant is filled to the brim I could see that causing some leakage.

 

Where is the resoivoir on these bikes? (sorry i'm still learning where everything is on bikes haha)

 

it is on the right side of the bike, near the front. my bike is naked so i can see it clearly, but you can prob see it behind the upper cowl on the right.

 

I'm hoping ill get the loan (should know friday, and for gods sake its a $2500 from my own bank where i have 2 accounts so i would think i would get it)...and i really want this bike. I'm thinking that the SMART thing to do would be to have it taken somewhere on my dime for them to check out the cause of this coolant leak. I dont care about the leak if its an overfilled resovior, or thermostat, or tube or something but I can't buy a bike if it needs a headgasket or something. But again, is there any way to see what the problem is w/o taking in to a mechanic?? Even if i can't diagnose the problem exactly, is there a way to absolutely rule out a head gasket problem??? Like i said, I dont know much about bikes, but I would think that if coolant is coming out of the overflow tube immediately upon shutdown of the bike after longer rides, that it wouldn't be a headgasket problem (because wouldn't the coolant be leaking somewhere else?)

Could it be that upon turning the bike off, it heatsokes alittle (as pretty much any engine will after its shutdown after driving for awhile) and thats causing the coolant to bubble up and thus come out the overflow tube?

 

things that come to mind to rule out headgasket:

do a compression test

normally on car engines (should be similar to MC engine) coolant would get into the combustion chamber or mix with the oil system. you would notice your exhaust smoke to be white/grey and smell the coolant. If it got mixed in the oil system, your oil would be milky.

so.. go with the easy route first and check the reservoir to see if its overfilled.

 

How do i do a compression test?

 

It requires a compression gauge, an adaptor and a Service Manual.
Basically you heat the engine up, quickly remove the fuel tank, plug wires and spark plugs, then screw the compression gauge into the spark plug holes and crank the starter for 5-10 seconds. The needle on the gauge cranks up, hopefully up to the serviceable range mentioned in the manual; if it doesn't, you have leaky rings and/or valves.
Might be best done by a dealership.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Peace!
-CCinC