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Cooling System explained and troubleshooting
(LAURA BRANIGAN - Self Control) lyrics
2012 playing with a new color scheme
2009-6-20 original posting
After a long period of fiddling with the right color, I finally found the right color for my Spidermax.I started with a hight gloss gold on the front fender. It looked gorgeous but with a couple layers of glossy clear coat it looked kind of dull and I did not like it much.
Since the Burgman and the Pegaso were blue I tried a metallic blue on the fender for a few months. I also painted the top part of the top box pearl white since there was no way to get my hands on a Malaguti silver.
To boost visibility I played around with aluminum tape but it always had little crinkles and looked good from far away only.
The I tried a combination of copper and gold on the steering column inlay. It looked still non glossy but I kind of liked it. After a few sprinkles rain I discovered that the several layers clear coat did not shield the metal paint from getting blotchy.
Then one day it hit me, since the Spidermax is more of a sporty motorcycle then a scooter like the Burgman or most others, I wanted to try a fire engine red.
After looking through what paint is available here on out tiny island (50 km diameter) I found a colour I wanted to try.
Well I did not like it that much when I saw it.
I wanted the top case and the mirrors in the same color but something with the mirrors did not look right. I hd only painted the mirrors but not hre ball joints what connect the mirrors with the arm. So I repainted the black ball joints from the mirrors red and now it looks perfect. It is just a minor detail, but it did bother me every time I looked into the mirrors.I also left the air outlet silver and left a small silver band below the "head" to accent it better.
With the results I am very happy except the big red rump might need something silver to make it look a bit sleeker. But since I already masked the part below the chrome molding with non glossy black, the side looks so already much better.
Ever since I saw the red interior of a classic corvette the black dashboards or normal cars and bikes looked kind of dull to me. When I discovered the Spidermax I recognized design elements from the corvette. So I wanted my dashboard to be red too.
... and while we are comparing style elements from this beautiful 1961 Corvette how about the side air outlets with the chrome moldings behind the frontwheel? Coincidence? Come on I like to get a statement from the Malaguti designer that he was not inspired by the Corvette.
Here now a couple pictures to show my painted girl...
The fancy Corvette inspired red dashboard. The black GPS unit will get a matching red front plate too.
The other images are a bit too high compressed and the red color appears blotchy, here is one with a better quality and an extra camel - and a cute chick on the side.
The little silver band brings better out the insect like head.
The silver air outlet and the silver main frame setting a beautiful accent.
The red front plate and mirrors add to the visibility footprint - and lets not forget the dashboard.
The silver accent curtessy of aluminum tape.
So I spend 20 € on red spray paint and a little bit more on other paints to make up my mind. When I look at the front break disks, the metal does not look too nice, kind of blotchy. I think I might get them shiny and then paint them red too ...
When I got my Spidermax last year, the chrome molding from the air outlet right were broken off but thankfully were still with the bike. So why I was lazy and did not remove the back to paint it, I needed to remove the front fairing to fix the chrome moldings.During the removal I peaked in every nook and cranny I could find and found a screw what must have fallen into the bike during the montage in Italy. Sadly the screw was pressed now since some years against a water hose.
It had left a permanent indent in the hose what did not recover within a day.
This looked like hose waiting to develop a leak while I was high up into the mountains with no cell phone coverage to call service.
Well I decided better be safe and cut the hose to put a connector in between.
After the cutting I saw how thick the hose was and that the indent would probably had not caused trouble, but since it was cut I needed something to connect it with. Sadly here on our little island things are limited and my choice was between a plastic connector what was a bit to small and a self made metal connector from our local hardware store.
I decided I did not trust the plastic too much to with the hot water, so I went full metal. I cut some cm of the hose to have the same length and installed my overkill connector.
I topped of the water what I had collected when I cut the hose and happily put my newly painted bike back together after a short test if the hose was not leaking.
At the test drive I noticed that the Spidermax was suddenly overheating.
When you see the temperature suddenly climbing fast and the the red overheating light comes on, its kind of scary. My way home was interrupted by 4 stops to let the engine cool down enough for the next couple kilometers.
With the help I got from my Italian friend Sloper I could see the whole water circulatory system and try to figure out what was wrong.
I had to let the air out on top of then engine. And now comes the nice part, Malaguti made 2 easy access areas to the engine to change the sparkplug and to let the air out. all I needed to do was remove the black clip on cover from the main frame and find the right wrench to open the valve screw. Let the air out while ideling until water comes out and everything should be peachy.
NOT SO!
The bike was still overheating and I decided to take it apart again to find what was wrong.
With the help from Google translate and my wife the translation what I should do reads like that:
Left side drain
Remove the cap placed on the drain fitting (A)
Insert a link Tubino in (A) of the purge valve on the head of the engine.
Supply of the coolant expansion tank, as described: (S/BP.16).
Unscrew and remove the filler (B).
Enter a quantity of liquid refrigerant within the main radiator (left).
Loosen the coupling: (A) and continue to rinfornire the main radiator until liquid comes out (with regular flow) from Tubino.
Right side drain
Loosen the bleed screw (C) placed on the radiator (right), to make out with a bit of liquid flow.
Close the screw and make a topping of fluid on the radiator principlae.
With the help of a second operator, the vehicle to tilt slightly to the right and kept in this position, slightly loosen the screw (C), to make out any remaining air from the radiator right.
Tighten the bleed screw (C), which is also the lives of the mass.
Open the drain valve on the head of the engine and check that the liquid bait Tubino indicating that the purge was carried out correctly.
Close the connection (A), remove the Tubino and insert the stopper.
Well we did all that and the bike was still overheating and the side where I had cut the hose was still cold because to much air in the right radiator. So I sucked some cooling liquid out of the reservoir and with a water bottle some tubing and a small fitting I squeezed some water into the radiator after removing the bleed screw (C). I had opened the filler cap (B) before and squeezed water in until it came out of the filling opening (B). The Spidermax was on the center stand and idling to move the water around.
This did the trick and I could check the 4 stage water circulatory system
Engine (8) starts and water pump (9) circulates water in the small circle.
The valve (7) opens at 80-84 degrees and the water circulates now through radiator (1) and the engine. At 63-67 degrees the valve (5) opens the way to the second radiator (3).
The cooling fan on the main radiator (1) kicks in if that is still not enough and the water temperature is over 100 degrees.
Here you can see how warm your engine is. (parziale = temperature bar)
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