Hi all. I noted the paint had flaked off the bottom of the radiator on my 2012 mts. Its on the side chambers, pressumably due to corrosion following stone chips. Short of a full strip and rebuild of the rad, what is the best approach to deal with this ? for example, is there a good chemical primer, and top coat (spray or brush finish). smootherite perhaps ? I don't want to just leavre it as I'm concerned it may develop into a hole, I doubt the alloy is that thick... Cheers, John.
If the bike is a "keeper" then would mothball a spare:- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324823510920?hash=item4ba0fd6f88:g:4~8AAOSw8KthYXFH&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA8GYjJWLqTcOmXdtUT4OjYMvKZ78IxrXg8dS8nIXG7t/44lD0iOX614k9GoZ4wkUpnDHrvbwHPfAlpIhwu2IXdodRzorrezuRlg3QuJetkYo0QrLCRqJq9TVy9VMzNNcG/SgI8RaQk7jTUkF0QYfdjZbKEbL08zTs5kNGC2VjnKOofCkDWTq2zLuBoXjrLWWPdFK9dMc2kt5NNtqxr8Uk7dG+qzXldPZ4gI/WDm76ZDXapcCbYicsVB0PFAO3kQrHzFCW7xki8lm7QDwojGhSK4tgai89CkIp5vZqRiVqh0dJfyjGZf9zRQs5FZZhOHg+2A==|tkp:Bk9SR4r20J3pYA or below from China at £129 as for currently fitted rad, unless your bike is concourse/you want to keep it concourse, you could lightly prepare and apply smooth black hammerite in satin or similar - haven't looked at what's available lately, and anything short of removal and full preparation won't guarantee that it won't corrode somewhere. can only speak for me, at my age, avoiding stress where I can.
I had a look, and they do offer that service Viv, I would want to research it a bit more plus I think he wants to work on it in situ.
Hammerite and then followed by regular cleaning to ensure contaminates from the splashed up from the road don't promote further corrosion works pretty well for me.
Cerakote will outlast any normal paint or you could have it ceramic coated. Either way if you've the budget, it's worth every penny. Here's my rad after I let Hi-Spec Coatings get hold of it.
I had a number of parts done at the same time, so I can't give you a figure for the radiator alone but give Wesley a call at Hi-Spec Coatings. He's pretty reasonable price wise and certainly on par with others offering either Ceramic or Cerakote finishes.
Interesting. I'd have thought that coating the radiator would lower its effectiveness as you're applying an insulator all over??
When I had the MTS1200 it too had problems with the paint flaking off the radiator ends and subsequent corrosion. I cleaned them back to bare metal and then sprayed with a coat of AutoTek Etch primer followed by a couple of coats of their satin black, perhaps matt black would have theoretically been better but it looked good and lasted. I've used the same products for the satin black engine cases with good results.
thanks for the replies. Yes, I hope this one is a keeper. Yes ideally I want to just touch in the paint for now, so the bike is still rideable. Chris, Good call on buying a second and putting on the shelf That would allow me to maybe fit a spare / replacement rad over winter. I didnt realise cheap chinese copies were available. Wonder what sort of quality they are. I hadn't concidered ceracoat, so will look into it. Derek, autotek etch primer is the sort of thing i had in mind, thanks
Hi John Re:- "I didnt realise cheap chinese copies were available. Wonder what sort of quality they are." I can't give you a definitive answer as I don't think i've used that supplier, but going by the 3 I have bought for 1098 I would have no hesitation in buying, and looking at the picture in previous post should encourage you. Sometimes there were a few slight dimensional inaccuracies, but I reckon things have improved there generally. My Chinese water rad has been fitted and used for over 3 years and is actually sturdier than the original.
I fitted on to a 1098 Bayliss 3 or 4 years ago and it is still there with no problems. It was definitely better built than the original and the only fault was that the fan mounts were both for LH fans which was easily worked around and at £80 as opposed to £800 it was a no brainer.
