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SB 6 Radiator cap
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Hursty



Joined: 29 Aug 2012
Posts: 319
Location: New Zealand

PostPosted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 10:34 pm    Post subject: SB 6 Radiator cap Reply with quote

I am starting to suspect I may be in need of a new Radiator cap as I am still loosing a little fluid Crying or Very sad

It was fine being overheated on the dyno and at the track day but getting stuck in traffic in 27 c seems to be a problem Confused

I recall reading in one of the threads that its not going to be easy to get a new replacement cap and I might have to get the neck of the radiator modified for a different one Shocked

Please clarify this for me so I can sort it out with minimum time off the road.

Cheers Cool
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Jonny B Bad



Joined: 05 Dec 2009
Posts: 555
Location: NE London

PostPosted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:51 pm    Post subject: SB6 Rad Cap Reply with quote

Hursty, I guess the 6 cap is the same as the 6r. Perhaps Oily could confirm, as owner of both? If so I can confirm that a comprehensive search could not turn one up. So I got a new neck with an outlet for the reservoir added on. A fabricator for the Motorsport industry should be able to sort you out.
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Vince186



Joined: 23 Mar 2012
Posts: 636
Location: Nijmegen (Netherlands)

PostPosted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hursty,

Are you sure it’s the radiator cap? (I do not mean this as a criticism, just want to help)

I ask you this question because if it is difficult to get a radiator cap it would be probably expensive to get one and it could be a waste of all the effort to get one if it’s not causing the problem.

Try to look more critically at the problem.

Are you 100% sure that the leaking starts at the radiator cap?
If yes, check/inspect the seals of the cap.

Check the neck for cracks or irregularities where the seals touch/sealing the neck.
Maybe you can fix the problem or temporary fix it and look for new parts.

If you not 100% sure remove the connector of the (fan) thermostatic switch.
Start the engine and heat it up (use common sense you don’t want to make a giant cigarette lighter)
Use a torch/flashlight (how you call it) and a small mirror and inspect the cooling hoses.
At the same time monitor the cooling reservoir, the level should raise if not check for an obstruction in the hose to the reservoir.

I hope this way you find the leak so that you can fix the problem.
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oily



Joined: 05 Apr 2008
Posts: 4788
Location: worcestershire

PostPosted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jonny B Bad wrote:
Hursty, I guess the 6 cap is the same as the 6r. Perhaps Oily could confirm, as owner of both? If so I can confirm that a comprehensive search could not turn one up. So I got a new neck with an outlet for the reservoir added on. A fabricator for the Motorsport industry should be able to sort you out.


Yep, I can confirm.....
They are both the same unobtainium Wink





...It'll be the first time I, personally will have heard of a cap failing.
Only thing that can go wrong is the seal perishing..... Question
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Hursty



Joined: 29 Aug 2012
Posts: 319
Location: New Zealand

PostPosted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Guy's

I hope its something simple (just like me) but after the last leak my mechanic checked ever thing over gave all the clips another tweak and then disconnected the thermostat and ran the motor up hot so that it was pumping coolant into the catch tank, and nothing Confused the coolant was up in the steering head cavity from the first leak so we know its coming from that general region.

The joy's of Bimota ownership never seem to end Wink
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oily



Joined: 05 Apr 2008
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Location: worcestershire

PostPosted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 10:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hursty wrote:
the coolant was up in the steering head cavity from the first leak so we know its coming from that general region.


There are a couple of places the leak could be coming from in that area.
As Vince has said, run it up to temp and keep searching until you find the leak Wink
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Jonny B Bad



Joined: 05 Dec 2009
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Location: NE London

PostPosted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:37 pm    Post subject: SB6 Rad cap Reply with quote

Shame on you Oily - you of all people should know that what can be relied upon never to occur on any other bike will undoubtedly happen on a Bimota. I had a catastrophic failure on mine - i.e. a crotch full of hot coolant. I knocked up a new seal and the thing still leaked. So I junked the neck and had a new one made up for which caps are freely available. I'm steadily working towards having so little of the original bike left that there's nothing left to drop to pieces Laughing
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Jonny B Bad



Joined: 05 Dec 2009
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:41 pm    Post subject: SB6 Rad cap Reply with quote

I've also had various hose connections leak. Whereas a CBR 600 which has been twice round the universe over the last 23 years has never lost a drop - and if that doesn't put the curse on tomorrow's commute Laughing
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oily



Joined: 05 Apr 2008
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:42 pm    Post subject: Re: SB6 Rad cap Reply with quote

Jonny B Bad wrote:
I'm steadily working towards having so little of the original bike left that there's nothing left to drop to pieces Laughing


As should ALL sensible Bimota owners be doing Wink

How/what exactly did yours fail?
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Jonny B Bad



Joined: 05 Dec 2009
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Location: NE London

PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 12:45 pm    Post subject: SB6 rad cap Reply with quote

1) rad cap
2) clocks
3) wheels and exhaust raised on the doughnut diet
4) alternator coupler
5) cracked fairings at mounting points
6) gear change pivot ally grinding on ally
7) fuelling to cock
Cool fuel warning light sensor
9) dissolving fuel tank
10) side stand

I'm going to stop now 'cause my head's starting to hurt!
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Evilchicken0



Joined: 12 May 2010
Posts: 2996
Location: London

PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 7:57 pm    Post subject: Re: SB6 rad cap Reply with quote

Jonny B Bad wrote:
1) rad cap
2) clocks
3) wheels and exhaust raised on the doughnut diet
4) alternator coupler
5) cracked fairings at mounting points
6) gear change pivot ally grinding on ally
7) fuelling to cock
Cool fuel warning light sensor
9) dissolving fuel tank
10) side stand

I'm going to stop now 'cause my head's starting to hurt!

That's just fettling.
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oily



Joined: 05 Apr 2008
Posts: 4788
Location: worcestershire

PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 9:53 am    Post subject: Re: SB6 rad cap Reply with quote

Jonny B Bad wrote:
1) rad cap
2) clocks
3) wheels and exhaust raised on the doughnut diet
4) alternator coupler
5) cracked fairings at mounting points
6) gear change pivot ally grinding on ally
7) fuelling to cock
Cool fuel warning light sensor
9) dissolving fuel tank
10) side stand

I'm going to stop now 'cause my head's starting to hurt!


Looks like you managed to get hold of one of the better examples there JBB Wink
And to be fair, the alternator coupler isn't Bimota so that makes it a really good example Laughing
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Vince186



Joined: 23 Mar 2012
Posts: 636
Location: Nijmegen (Netherlands)

PostPosted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 8:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hursty,
Update please Wink
Have you find the problem yet Question
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Hursty



Joined: 29 Aug 2012
Posts: 319
Location: New Zealand

PostPosted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 8:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No progress yet the hot weather here has peaked and its back to the low 20s so its not leaking at the moment and my mechanic has been busy with race bikes Very Happy but thats over now and i also want a little more dyno time to fine tune the low rpm its still a little off in the 3-4000 rpm range so will strip it down again in the next few weeks.
Will update when sorted Cool
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Gammaboy



Joined: 25 Feb 2016
Posts: 188
Location: Brisbane, Australia

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2019 6:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

May have stumbled onto a rad cap that fits that's not the 1.8bar KTM unit... The rad cap on mine was one of the pieces robbed when it was being canabalised for spares - but i had a few different caps floating around the workshop, a couple of suzuki ones, an aftermarket one that came with a weld on radiator neck for another project... and one that came on an Aprilia RSV4 radiator I was looking at using on said other project... anyway, the RSV4 cap is spot on - the RSV4 neck is the same dimension as SB6.
Downside/upside (depending how you look at it), it's a 1.4 Bar rating (is stock 1.1 or 0.9?) - which in theory raises the boiling point of the coolant a bit, but does result in the cooling system running at higher pressure... however as far as I can see, hose and connection construction hasn't changed, gaskets are much the same, radiator wall thicknesses don't appear to have increased, so the cooling system should be able to cope.

Curiously, the RSV4 guys are putting the KTM 1.8 bar cap on their trackbikes to give them some more cooling capacity (cooling capacity is related to the temperature delta between the coolant and the ambient air - so the higher a coolant temp you can run, the more energy you can dump through a given size radiator) without having to go to the (even bigger) big racekit rads...

I have a suspicion that the Ducati ST3/ST4 cap might do the job to, and it's a 1.1bar
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