Finally got my bike running ! Basically a total new engine, thanks Pinsonnault Racing. Anyhow got the engine back together and in then off for a 20 minute break in /shake down run. On the return parked up and noticed a stream of green liquid shooting out of the water pump hose. Apart from that, sweet. Checked out those green silicon hose kits on Ebay. $60 for the set to suit KX500. Thought that was quite expensive really so scrolling down I found the silicon hose kit with a pair of KX500 radiators for $103 ! $53 for a pair of rads is not bad but it was in the back of my mind yous pays for whats yous gets. Any how gave it a shot cause the originals are well abused and probly due to blow apart.
Arrived on the courier this morning only 6 days after ordering. Rads look nicely made. 2 core meaty and shiny, hand welded. The hose kit is quite a thick wall hosing which is good for impact resistance I suppose. Green looks good too. The hose from the pump to the radiator lower pipe was cut 3 inches too short. Luckily some of the others are too long and I had a spare portion to join with a sleeve to make it fit. So the hose kit is OK. Good quality hose for sure but the bends are not that flash and all of the lengths are wrong. But with a bit of tweaking I managed to get it all fitted up and water tight.
The radiators are nice looking and with an extra bit of coolant capacity that is a bouns. As for fitment thats a different story. Had to tweak the shroud mounts to the right angle to fit the plastic guard/ vent things. The top pipes with the thicker hose stop the tank finding its old home and lifting it enough as not to be able to bolt the tank mounts to the frame. So I made a 3 mill (1/8) spacer to sit under the plastic brackets that bolt up to the tank to give the desired hieght above the rad pipes. Seems OK at this stage. Although it seems to have pushed the tank hard back against the sub frame mounts under the seat. Will keep an eye on it. Dont really like the idea of the tank resting on it much.
The shrouds also were a prob as the nut clippy push on things that the front bolts screw into could not be used because the material thickness is too meaty compared to the original and there was no way they were going to slide on. So I bored out the holes and used Wellnut fasteners. I had some spares off the Ducati fairings. They seem to work good but time will tell to see if they will last the distance. Went through a few on the Ducati over the years. The shrouds do seem to stick out a little further. Maybe just my imagination being a 2 core thing. But its no biggie.
So thats it. All fitted up. They look nice. They should keep things cooler. Sure there was a half day of mucking about to get things looking sweet and serviceable but for an extra $53 over the cost of the hose kit, I dont think its too bad at all really. Definatley more sturdy than the OEMs which were pretty munted up on my bike. Actually quite surprised that they had not failed before now.
Will keep you updated.
