Mothballing 1984 CR250 Cooling System

vetski179
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Tacoma, WA US
vetski179
I've had this bike since 1985. Can't bring myself to sell, even though I've no plans to ride it. I was concerned about the coolant eventually eating its way through the aluminum the clutch cover. I've drained all the coolant from the radiators, cylinder, and water pump area. I've removed the water pump cover and impeller. Aside from sediment, everything seems fine, and the oil is not milky. I've also removed the radiators. How can I mothball all these parts to keep them as preserved? Thank you.
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JMCR250
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Chesterfield, MO US
JMCR250 10/18/2020 11:20am
10/18/2020 11:20am
The stock clutch covers on these bikes were magnesium, which rots out over time with exposure to water/coolant. If yours is aluminum, it's an aftermarket or later model cover, which should not be susceptible to this. That said, draining the cooling system and blowing compressed air through it will remove most of the coolant, which should eliminate any corrosion issue. The mag water pump housing on the 80s CRs was their achilles heel as they grew older.
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vetski179
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Tacoma, WA US
vetski179 10/18/2020 3:17pm
10/18/2020 3:17pm
I did replace the clutch cover with an OEM part many moons ago after the first cover rotted. If it's magnesium, it'll say it somewhere on the cover, like the rear brake backing plate? Anyway, I flushed it, the radiators, cylinder, and hoses of coolant and gave them all a quick fogging of WD40 and loosely put everything back together. Interestingly, when I took the seat off, I found the air filter had completely disintegrated!
Tracktor
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Tracktor 10/19/2020 12:35pm
10/19/2020 12:35pm
I don;t think they ever made a OEM non-mag cover for that year but I could be wrong. Most don;t have any notation on them from what i have seen. As long as dry with no moisture should be fine. If concerned clean and primer the coolant passages...

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Whymee
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Whymee 10/25/2020 6:24am
10/25/2020 6:24am
sandman768 wrote:
Evans waterless coolant...
Ding, ding, ding... We have a winner!

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