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1985 K100RS. Only luck is bad luck it seems!

mcmlcccvrs

New member
Bought a used rad from James Sherlock Oct 22, 2020 with a 6 month warranty. Had it pressure checked that November with no problems. Just fired the bike up about 3 weeks ago to make sure rebuilt water pump and this rad didn't leak and they didn't. Got the bike hot and cycled the cooling fan a couple of times. Everything was tickety-boo. Beautiful day today so I was heading out for a ride. As I just checked the valves I did a preliminary run-up to make sure the valve cover wasn't leaking. After shutting the bike off I noticed a pool of coolant on the garage floor about the size of the palm of my hand. After removing some of the body panels I found the leak was coming from the tank crimping just by the thermostat cover. AHHHHHHHHHHH! The good news? It has a 6 month warranty which expires April 22. Hopefully they honour it. I have contacted them. Just freaking unbelievable!

DAd06c.jpg
 
Good to hear. I have a couple but wasn’t sure of their condition as they were given to me so didn’t want to offer up another problem rad. Is that tape on your coolant hose, coming through your crank case cover? Looking forward to hearing about you back on the road soon.
 
Good to hear. I have a couple but wasn’t sure of their condition as they were given to me so didn’t want to offer up another problem rad. Is that tape on your coolant hose, coming through your crank case cover? Looking forward to hearing about you back on the road soon.


There isn't anything on that lower hose. Not sure what you're seeing.
 
Has anyone ever considered/attempted something like JB Weld for fixing leaks like this? It's by no means severe, so........ While I do have another rad coming from Drake Smith, I'd like to have a go at trying to stop this leak. Nothing to lose really.

And on a not-so-happy note, it would appear James Sherlock in the U.K. is not going to honor his 6 month warranty on this rad. I'll refrain from any negative comments here as I don't want to run the risk of being banned from a forum that has been extremely helpful and useful to me. Not very happy with this guy.
 
JB Weld is certainly a option.
People have fixed alot of stuff using it. It's been around along time. I bet it would work.
I've got a unopened package of Gorilla Glue epoxy on my workbench I'm looking forward to using soon on something.
The Gorilla Glue line of products is good stuff.
Good Luck
Nick
1990 K 75 RT
 
45 years ago on my Dodge Dart I fixed a similar leak with a stop leak additive, Bars Leak I think it was called. I was pleasantly surprised it worked but had no idea if it gummed up anything else. Never had any issue with the car for a few more years before I traded it in though.

I am not implying you should try this. Just remembering when.
 
And the bad luck continues. This is the rad I got from Drake Smith at Kbike parts.com two days ago. I did get a clear understanding from him that if I started up the bike and it leaked he would refund my money. Well, that is pretty much what happened. It only took a couple of minutes for this to appear.

More heartbroken than anything else as riding season is here with no prospects on a good rad.

nfIN9z.jpg
 
And a big shout out to Drake Smith of Kbikeparts.com. who kept his word! Drake replaced the leaky 3-core with a 2-core at his expense. The 2-core is leak free and I am back on the road. I can't tell you guys how much it means to me to have someone who acts honorably and keeps their word. Thank you so much, Drake!
 
I bet you can change out those radiators out in your sleep now.
Glad you got it running again.
Nick
1990 K 75 RT
 
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