High Performance Coolant?

[scubajosh77]

With the "heat issue" associated with our Sprints, has anyone considered or tried high performance coolant? I use my Sprint as a commuter primarily and can often spend 20-30 minutes in stop and go traffic without exceeding 20mph. I was thinking that because higher engine temperatures are directly correlated to engine wear, that perhaps a high performance coolant might help. I've found these two brands:

http://www.evanscooling.com/html/mcycles1.htm

http://www.ridersinc.com/engine-ice-...ant-p3494.html

Anyone have any experience?

[TornadoST]

I use that Engine Ice stuff in my dirt bike and it cured an overheating problem I had. I have not tried it in a street bike yet. I was hoping that someone else would volunteer to be the guinea pig.

[dolson]

Heat that roasts your butt or in my case my right calf isn't related to engine temperature. If the coolant temp isn't above what it should be there is no concern. The main heat you are feeling is coming off the exhaust anyhow and not an indication of engine operating temp. The exhaust system is divorced from the engine by an air gap and has very minimal effect on the engine operating temperature.

Remember you have about three items that contribute to engine cooling. The coolant system of course which mostly keeps the top end from frying, your oil which aids in cooling the internals and some residual air flow.

A proper coolant at the proper mix at the proper level and the system burped and everything else up to snuff you should have no issues.

If you have an overheating issue the additives won't help as this would be either a leak, a mechanical failure or improper servicing.

If you want to put the snake oil in that is of course your choice but is not needed in a good system and won't help in a not so good system. Engine cooling systems are designed to meet the demands of the engine and to keep it in their proper operating range. Trying to drop the temp and you also come up against the ECU and it's censors trying to maintain a tune in a cooler environment than what it's programed for.

Many here ride in ambient conditions much hotter than you would experience without issue. I have never heard of one of our bikes with a properly operating and serviced cooling system that overheated.

[DaveM]

And the Sprint is not the hottest bike to ride by any means.

The '08 R1 Yammy will roast your leg a lot quicker than our cooler Sprints.

It gets pretty hot here in Ozz in Summer and I have never heard of a Sprint cooking.

DaveM

[kredge]

I've tried something similar to Engine Ice and have noticed a few degrees difference. What I like about the two you listed is they're not so caustic. So even if that few degree difference is just my imagination, at least it's not going to eat through my paint or kill my cat. I knew a guy who had an RC51 with overheating issues and he tried Water Wetter with distilled water and that worked great- keep in mind, though, that combination won't work as antifreeze.

[Groucho]

I'm riding with a group of questionable sanity that should really test the Sprint's cooling system- we're going to Death Valley National Park on the first weekend in August ..

Forecast high there today- 123 degrees F.

[caddydaddy]

Originally Posted by Groucho

Forecast high there today- 123 degrees F.

Yeah, but it's a DRY heat!

[SprintST]

I switched my '99 Sprint ST to Engine Ice, from whatever Triumph put in it, and it ran cooler on the gauge. My '02 Sprint ST has run nothing but Engine Ice in it, works really well.