Antifreeze overflow from reservoir

Gregger said:

Several questions for you. Answering them helps determine the need to delve further into this issue. I'm guessing what you are seeing is normal.
1. Are you the original owner? If so, have you ever done any engine work or addressed an engine overheat issue? If not, do you know what the previous owner did or how he treated the bike?
2. When did you last replace the coolant? Did you bleed the coolant system by removing the bleed plug beside the thermostat? (Failure to do so will cause the dreaded coolant puke issue)
3. How many miles on the bike? (Not really an issue since these usually don't have cooling type problems but good to know)
4. Do you refill the overflow bottle after some coolant is lost? (Doing so may cause the problem. This system will eventually self align if there are no other problems)
5. What is the coolant level in the overflow bottle before you go for an extended ride and the pee incident happens? Full cold, full hot or overfull?
6. After a pee incident, what is the level in the overflow bottle when the bike cools?
7. Have you ever gone for a long ride and it doesn't loose coolant? Were you able to see what the coolant level was before this non event?

I agree with Turbo. After a pee incident, I'd check to see what the level is in the bottle. As long as it is showing, even a trace amount of coolant, I'd ride. If the overflow tank eventually empties when cold, I'd then remove the rad cap (cold) and check to see what the level is in the rad itself. I bet it will still be full. If so, ride the bike and don't worry.

When I purchased my bike new, there was no coolant in the overflow bottle, but the rad was full, I topped it up to the full hot mark (overzealous) and ran the bike. It burped to the low level and it's been like that forever. When I flush the coolant system, I make sure to fill the rad with the bleed plug removed until coolant comes out, then plug the bleed, continue filling rad till full, cap the rad, then top up the overflow tank to low level and go through several hot cold cycles and recheck. The rad will draw what it needs from the overflow bottle and stabilise.

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Mongler07 said:

One last thing.
Coolant may look good but actually be bad.
Buy a coolant refractometer and test the coolant.
If there is not enough ratio (too much water) it can boil over on normal operation like these long rides.
As for a sticking thermostat? Highly doubtful.

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Old rocket man said:

Thanks for such great advice! I’m the second owner and purchased the 2007rocket 3 classic tourer with 8100 miles on it and the dealer serviced it before purchase. The last pee it had almost emptied the overflow tank BUT my radiator has always been full when I checked it cold. I’m probably overthinking a little but with the bike running so well otherwise. The only other thing I can think of is if the thermostat is sticking and finally opening up with too much pressure to the overflow tank and pissing. BTW the antifreeze color looks great as well. I’ll go ahead and use the test kit on it today at the overflow tank. It arrived too late yesterday and didn’t want the neighbors to complain about my loud pipes after dark lol.

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Gregger said:

Do you have TuneECU? If so, hook it up and monitor your coolant temp. You can see the temp rising, the fan kicking in and the temps drop, basically showing when the thermostat is working. I haven't heard of anyone with a problem thermostat yet. Doesn't mean it can't happen.

Because your rad is always full, when cold, I'd let the overflow tank puke than run it without filling. Run it like that for a while to see what happens.

Checking the coolant strength with a hydrometer is easy. Hydrometers or coolant testers are cheap. Make sure you are using the proper coolant type also. If you are still stock, you want an HOAT type coolant. Mixing types can cause coolant to gel in your engine or separate.

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Old rocket man said:

Not sure if it has a tune or not but I am leaning towards yes because sounds like the baffles are out of the mufflers for one.

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Mongler07 said:

SO, if you want to "flush" the system, check out Thermocure
Amazon.com
BUT be prepared to flush it about 10 times or so.
Here are some pictures of when i did mine. My bike had OEM coolant in it and at 9500 miles was when i did this service and LOOK how much BS came out of the system. The 1st picture is the order that i flushed it. See the BS at the bottom of all those gallon containers... RUST and RUBBER.
there was nothing "wrong" with her when i did this but i do it to all my vehicles when i get them.
Each of those gallon containers in the line are a flush, the left 2 are just getting the coolant out, then the black one is the 1st thermocure flush after 5 days of running it. The rest are just one cycle of heat, and i was able to flush it in one days work on a lift.

This might be something you want to do to ensure that its not the thermostat sticking and or clogged up head gasket coolant ports.
Do not be fooled by other flush meathods and products, the ONLY one that worked this well is this thermocure. I have used iron out, vinigar, and a lot of other scam cleaners you get at box stores or online. Iron out and cascade work the best but for very sever cases. I will not use anything else from now on.
for referance none of the cars and bikes i did this too came out this bad. The system is only like 1.5 gallons so this is VERY impressive how bad it could be.

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Mongler07 said:

SO, if you want to "flush" the system, check out Thermocure
Amazon.com
BUT be prepared to flush it about 10 times or so.
Here are some pictures of when i did mine. My bike had OEM coolant in it and at 9500 miles was when i did this service and LOOK how much BS came out of the system. The 1st picture is the order that i flushed it. See the BS at the bottom of all those gallon containers... RUST and RUBBER.
there was nothing "wrong" with her when i did this but i do it to all my vehicles when i get them.
Each of those gallon containers in the line are a flush, the left 2 are just getting the coolant out, then the black one is the 1st thermocure flush after 5 days of running it. The rest are just one cycle of heat, and i was able to flush it in one days work on a lift.

This might be something you want to do to ensure that its not the thermostat sticking and or clogged up head gasket coolant ports.
Do not be fooled by other flush meathods and products, the ONLY one that worked this well is this thermocure. I have used iron out, vinigar, and a lot of other scam cleaners you get at box stores or online. Iron out and cascade work the best but for very sever cases. I will not use anything else from now on.
for referance none of the cars and bikes i did this too came out this bad. The system is only like 1.5 gallons so this is VERY impressive how bad it could be.

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Gregger said:

FYI Maybe you misunderstood me when I inquired about TuneECU. TuneECU is a program that runs on an Android device (for a fee) or a Microsoft computer (free) that along with the proper OBD cable can access your bike's ECU, read the codes, diagnose, adjust parameters (like max speed, adjust speedo error, fan turn on temp, max rpm, etc) and reprogram your engine timing and fueling maps. It is invaluable when it comes to diagnosing your bike or tweeking it to your liking. I have used it on my ride to turn the rad fan on at a lower temp and raise max rpms a bit. I've read error codes, cleared them and switched maps on the recommendation of some of the fellows here.

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