I have taken delivery of a brand spanker Strada and after first ride of 190km I checked the coolant tank level to find it empty. Once the bike was cold I checked the radiator to find no coolant as well. Would this have done any damage? Would the temp sensor give an accurate reading given it had no coolant to read off??
There's a known problem with the way these bikes are pre-delivered in terms of filling the cooling system. Many people have reported similar issues. I had a similar issue on my bike. The temp sensor should give an accurate reading without water, because it will still have air to measure. Air can get much hotter than water. Did the engine temperature gauge on the bike increase above normal (the normal range is about halfway). I'm talking about the bar graph at the bottom of the display, not the air temperature in the scrolling list. If the bike ran ok until you checked the coolant, and still starts ok now then you have probably not done any damage. If you're close to your dealer, take it back and ask them to fill up the coolant. There is probably coolant in the system, it is just below the thermostat level, so you can't see it when you take the radiator cap off. Search back through this forum for existing threads on Radiator issues for more info. And welcome to another Buell Ulysses owner (although I sold my Buell in 2008).
Also note that the oem coolant is a very, very light blue color that can't be seen in the overflow. There may actually be coolant in the overflow and you wouldn't even know it.
Yeah, get yourself a dowel/straw or something and dip it in the overflow. The stock coolant is almost clear and tough to see in the window. You can also get a good flashlight in there and take a better look.
The coolant in mine is a very deep blue and still almost impossible to see through the window. I just take the top off and if I can see blue I consider it is the correct level. I think my overflow bottle might also be cracked near the mount or have a leak from a bad seal on the hose (I think both of these issues have been reported by other riders) under the viewing window judging from the moisture I can see on the black plastics in that area, but I haven't taken the time to strip it down to take a proper look yet. This might be something for me to do when i get home from work today.
Thanks all! The temp gauge goes no further than half way and the bike starts and runs fine. I called the dealer and in his experience, to fill the overflow to the indicating window is too much. He reckons there should only be about 20mm or so in the bottom of the tank when cold. I will check this with dowel/straw. You are right about the coolant, it looks almost like water so tricky to see. nev, still enjoy the Buell!
