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Drained my coolant earlier this week and forgot to order some. I'm a fan of the Honda stuff in blue bottle but Isn't there something available at Walmart or Autozone that I can use that is probably cheaper anyways? What can I run in my 2023 KX450?
Lol, exactly. But which one can I run in bikes?
I use 50/50 Autozone, Walmart whatever. Orange or green. I make sure it’s rated for aluminum. It seems to work for me in hot as hell Houston Texas.
I also use the 50/50 cheap coolant from wherever, works just as good as anything else and gives you the ability add water in an emergency.
I do use a higher pressure cap.
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Thanks. That's exactly what I was thinking of using. Yeah first thing I do on my bikes is toss the lousy 1.1 radiator cap and throw an OEM KTM 1.8 cap on.
For a 1.8 cap, Kawasaki OE part number is 49085-1077 (off a KX65, I believe). MooseRacing and Twin Air (along with a host of aftermarket companies) sell cheaper 1.6 and 1.8 options that work equally as well…
I just use distilled water and Water Wetter.
You can literally run any aluminum safe coolant for cars (which is most of them due to aluminum heads/blocks being so common). Zero reason to buy overpriced “motorcycle” coolant.
Just make sure to flush the system if you’re switching to a coolant that’s not compatible with what is in there.
Only exception would be if you have an engine modified within an inch of its life and need the extra few degrees of cooling of a “special” coolant, and/or ride extremely tight woods at slow speeds, or are a really fast pro. 99% of us will never exceed the capability of a good old fashioned green coolant.
My only alternative would be one of the pet/kid safe coolants for safety.
Keep in mind if you use water wetter as suggested above and your winters get below freezing, you need to drain it as it has nearly zero antifreeze capabilities.
I bought a gallon of PEAK a couple years ago solely because of the Peak Honda team 35 years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNEznWP1uz8
All of this is true. Just a heads-up about the "special" coolants: they do not actually provide extra cooling. Most (all, as far as I know) simply remain in contact with the inside walls of your radiators better when reaching the boiling point than "standard" coolant does. This will prevent a runaway heating effect and possibly give you more time before overheating. Your bike won't run cooler; it will simply run hot for longer before overheating. To achieve better cooling, you need more radiator surface area, larger water volume, or both.
The old-school, green, Ethylene Glycol coolants tent to bubble when the boiling point is almost reached, which creates a gap between the liquid and the radiator, lowering the coolant's ability to transfer heat to the aluminum. The new, high-tech, Engine Ice types are usually Propylene Glycol-based, which have better adhesion to the radiator. Thus, the liquid can transfer more heat to the aluminum, hopefully keeping the whole system below boiling temp.
BTW, Propylene Glycol is non-toxic. Ethylene Glycol will kill your dog or your kid in minutes. ☠️
50/50 peak
I've ran Prestone in my bikes since 1983, now days I buy the 50/50 mix. I never had cooling or overheating problems that weren't self-induced by heavy mud or crashing and smashing radiators.
Ethylene reduces heat transfer around 15% than water, propylene is around 30% less. So straight water with some anti corrosive additive is the best for cooling. Ethylene with additional additives will protect your cooling system better and last way longer than straight water, plus the lower freezing point. It's why cars and motorcycles come with ethylene in the cooling systems. Propylene is what we use for building HVAC because if you get a leak no one will die. I don't know why people started using it in motorcycles, but if it was better, it'd come in them from the factory.
Personally I use the Toyota blue from Walmart because it's cool to use blue coolant in a blue bike. If I was on a Kawi I'd run green, Suzuki yellow, Honda Red...
Well there you go, facts. 😎
I was unaware that the heat transfer inhibition was so great with Proplene. Probably why they mix it 50/50 or more with water.
Both Ethylene and Propylene raise the boiling point and suppress the freezing point a bit, correct? I forgot the details.
Yes on both boiling and freezing points. At my latitude we generally run 30% propylene 70% water in HVAC. Farther north it increases, farther south it drops a bit, but you really don't want to go below 25% because chilled water loops will grow bacteria.
If a building is engineered for glycol, the chiller evaporator and chilled water coils in the air handlers will be larger than if it was straight water.
I'm not sure if anyone has seen this, but it's a pretty interesting test on most of the coolants that we use in our bikes.
https://youtu.be/mNEznWP1uz8?si=tVD4WYGNkTfGUEnD
Interesting indeed, I expected a better performance from Engine Ice.
Wow this thread really blew up. Thanks for the responses, this has been an interesting read. I ended up using a brand new bottle of Honda coolant simply because my buddy had it in his garage, and because it's what I ran in my Hondas. I'll keep this stuff in mind for next time I'm in a pinch. I never gave much thought to how coolant works and the properties in it. At 63 hours, I don't think I ever lost a drop running the stock Kawi coolant off the showroom floor and a 1.8 radiator cap. The brand name/OEM stuff is overpriced, but it works.
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