Getting ready for the season and was thinking about preventative maintenance items. Any feedback on things in general would be great. I've noticed traces of coolent at a couple of the many hose ends and thought maybe it would be a good idea, and cheap insurance, to change all the original water hoses with new. Not alot of miles on them but they are still 13 years old.

I went thru the bike when I got it last year inspecting wear items and changed all the fluids and oils. New set of AVON tires and plugs. Good to go, put about 6000 miles on it last year.

 

They may go a bit longer, if you flush them through. Problem may have been caused by not using the correct water and coolant mix. When Squeezing the hoses did you feel a crusty sensation from inside? If so then thats limescale which is easily solved with flush.

 

Hey:

If the hoses have the stock spring clamps and you have taken the hoses off,
replace them with good stainless band hose clamps. The hoses if they have any
crack line when squished together or have an frayed end means time to replace
them. A good upgrade is silicone or Goodyear blue hi mileage hose with nylon or
stainless wrap on them. They will last a very long time under hi heat and do not
dry rot with age like normal hose, the downside is the are not cheap.

Also make sure you don't mix different types of coolant as some like dexcool
and the common old greenstuff react and turn into a jello like crude causing
cooling problems. Its best to drain fully, flush with water till all clear with no coolant
trace, and then add water with waterwetter(good for heat but no cold weather protection,
it will freeze if cold enough, also water is required if used on a track for a trackday),
or add your favorite coolant. I used Dexcool in the USA, because I had it on hand,
and needed it for the temp ranges. I only used water and waterwetter in hot places.

Good luck
Dub

 

Like above said, try reclamping, clean up the corrosion on the sealing surface and put on some new clamps. Some people think tighter is better, regarding hose clamps. That is not true, do not over tighten to the point hose buldges through the inside windows of the clamp band.

 

Did you change your brake fluids (front and rear)? Some people neglect it, since you don't have to do it so often. Its real easy; pump up, hold down, bleed, seal, release - And repeat

 

Hey WhiteHawk, I did flush the brake fluid completely last season. A very good idea. Thanks!
Back to the radiator/water hoses. If the '94's were built with steel spring clamps on the hoses, the first owner must have changed all of them over to the adjustable screw type. I flushed the cooling system last year and refilled it with 50/50 mix of fresh 5 year, orange stuff, Prestone. No cooling problems. It gets hot as you would expect when the ambient temps are in the high 90's and you get stuck in slow traffic, but normal operation the temp gauge is just past midscale.
My normal rule of thumb would be to change out rubber parts, like water hoses, at 10-12 years. On close inspection I would say any seepage is due to some surface corrosion on the aluminum fittings where the hoses are attached. I'll have to pull all the hoses off and clean things up, if I go that far I might as well put new ones on. I checked on DiscountHondaParts.com and priced it out. All the hoses, plus changing the thermostat is like $100 with shipping. Gee, I never had to buy any water hoses in past 27 years for my '79 CB750F! Thanks all.