Leaky Radiator

[07speedtriple]

Last week some moron decided to cut me off and the left side of my bike hit his car door then I high sided...bike should be fine but now i have a problem.
When I start the bike up, coolant spits out of the radiator cap eventhough that side of the radiator was not damaged. I burped it, changed coolant etc.
any ideas?
thanks in advance...

[29138]

Make SURE it is on right. One time it was BARELY unscrewed, gave it a few millimeters of a turn to tighten and it stopped leaking...blew me away.

Are you 100% sure it's coming from the cap? Where the cowl bolts to the radiator is a very very common place to leak fluid after even very mild impact. The bolt holes are "welded" into the side of the radiator and the "weld" very VERy easily breaks and permits fluid to leak. happened to me also.

[07speedtriple]

S3Junkie you're dead on!
On the right side of the radiator the top bolt weld broke so I had to sand, repair etc...I'll double check the cap...thanks again.

[29138]

be VERY careful!!

I sanded it very well to bare metal...the radiator AND the little nugget that fits into the side of the radiator that the bolt goes into. Cleaned it VERY well. JB Welded it and let it sit for 2 days. Bottom line is...it didn't hold, it leaked again.

I wound up taking it all off and to a shop that can weld aluminum. When i got it back ($40) I cleaned up the weld with a dremmel grinder...primed it, painted it and reinstalled it. You can't even tell at all. And mentally I feel better knowing it is properly welded.....I ride in deserts that get well over 100f so th epeace of mind was worth the little extra trouble. Even if it is still attached with a hairline crack it WILL spread....I promise.

While the radiator is off (easy to do!!) have them reinforce all four welds.