Do I have an issue?

Twice now, I've topped up my coolant (2 years) Each time there was coolant in the reservoir (way low, below the low mark )  the bike was cold each time.  Filled it to the high line.  Both times it has given most of it back through the overflow.  My cars don't do this.  There are not signs of overheating and the fan runs as it should. 

The owners manual is not real helpful.  

Ideas?

Sorry mate, I can't even find a place to put coolant!

I just typed coolant into the search box & a few things came up , but I'm sorry , this problem hasn't occurred with mine .

I topped up mine with 100ml or so probably on an annual basis. Buggered if I knew where it was going. Didn't worry in the end. It took a fair amount at 500km if I remember correctly.  For what it's worth my VFR1200F took a heap at 1000km but nothing in the next 7000.

What are you adding to the cooling system to top it up? 
If the answer is straight water (distilled being preferable,  but tap ok) then you are doing the right thing. 
If you are adding coolant, you run the risk of a chemical reaction and the resulting damage to the cooling system.  ( Major contributor to the auto cooling industries earnings)
Your radiator may have one or more blocked tubes, causing running temp to be slightly higher than normal. This results in the extra expansion and loss of coolant. 
If you let the level rest at pre top up level, does the bike continue to lose coolant through the overflow? or just stay at the low mark? If it stays steady at the low mark, then you are ok. So long as the radiator is full when the bike is cold, the level in the overflow bottle is not that crucial.  
If it continues to loose coolant, then you may have an issue.

Hmm, call me negligent, but in 70,000kms I've never checked the coolant level - isn't there a warning light that tells you you need to do that?

Ewok1958 wrote:Hmm, call me negligent, but in 70,000kms I've never checked the coolant level - isn't there a warning light that tells you you need to do that?

They should have done it when they serviced it 

The dash has a red warning light that indicates you should have checked your coolant 20000km ago.

Now for a Cajun burger and a not Samuel Adams Boston lager...........

(Mind you, after the motor museum I should keep well clear of any coolant threads)

Ewok1958 wrote:Hmm, call me negligent, but in 70,000kms I've never checked the coolant level - isn't there a warning light that tells you you need to do that?

No Ewok, the warning light doesn't let you know the coolant level is low. It lets you know that the motor is overheating. In the 4x4 world, people have started to fit audible low coolant sensors in the upper radiator hose. That is not to say you shouldn't check the level. It's just a safety feature in case the radiator is holed by something flicked up while on the road (or 4x4 track in their case). It gives them plenty of warning before overheating becomes an issue.

If you follow the overflow tube from the radiator neck back to the overflow bottle you will find a Y piece just before the overflow bottle, one goes into the overflow bottle the other winds its way past the bottle up under the ducktail of your bike joins onto the overflow tube at the top of the overflow bottle and then backdown to come out under the bike, so as your bike heats up the coolant out of your radiator will take the path of least resistance which isnt into your overflow bottle but up the tube that runs beside the overflow bottle and out the overflow tube onto the ground as you ride along,( were not talking very much coolant here) when the bike cools down overnight is sucks the coolant out of the bottle and you then have a low level in the bottle next day, if this continues over a period of time you will eventually have no coolant in your overflow bottle and then low coolant in your radiator, i removed the Y piece so the hose goes straight to the bottle then removed the other hose and connected the overflow tube straight to the neck of the overflow bottle, so now to loose any coolant out the overflow tube the overflow bottle will have to fill to the top, have not lost or had to fill my overflow bottle for over 12 months now, pryor to this i had your problem. not sure who at Suzuki designed this system but its not how a recovery system works in  a car

my manual said the coolant level should be between L and F, and as mine was below L, I asked the Suzuki dealer about coolant. As it has the
original Suzuki coolant still in it from purchase (should get it replaced every two years apparently) I was told to top up with demineralised water for the time being.
So I did, not easy using a tomato sauce squeeze bottle lol ive had no issues.

talon440 wrote:If you follow the overflow tube from the radiator neck back to the overflow bottle you will find a Y piece just before the overflow bottle, one goes into the overflow bottle the other winds its way past the bottle up under the ducktail of your bike joins onto the overflow tube at the top of the overflow bottle and then backdown to come out under the bike, so as your bike heats up the coolant out of your radiator will take the path of least resistance which isnt into your overflow bottle but up the tube that runs beside the overflow bottle and out the overflow tube onto the ground as you ride along,( were not talking very much coolant here) when the bike cools down overnight is sucks the coolant out of the bottle and you then have a low level in the bottle next day, if this continues over a period of time you will eventually have no coolant in your overflow bottle and then low coolant in your radiator, i removed the Y piece so the hose goes straight to the bottle then removed the other hose and connected the overflow tube straight to the neck of the overflow bottle, so now to loose any coolant out the overflow tube the overflow bottle will have to fill to the top, have not lost or had to fill my overflow bottle for over 12 months now, pryor to this i had your problem. not sure who at Suzuki designed this system but its not how a recovery system works in  a car

Ah. Wise words Grasshopper.  
I remember something regarding the t piece and was going to mention,  but thought it was on my SV. 

Bosco15 wrote:

talon440 wrote:If you follow the overflow tube from the radiator neck back to the overflow bottle you will find a Y piece just before the overflow bottle, one goes into the overflow bottle the other winds its way past the bottle up under the ducktail of your bike joins onto the overflow tube at the top of the overflow bottle and then backdown to come out under the bike, so as your bike heats up the coolant out of your radiator will take the path of least resistance which isnt into your overflow bottle but up the tube that runs beside the overflow bottle and out the overflow tube onto the ground as you ride along,( were not talking very much coolant here) when the bike cools down overnight is sucks the coolant out of the bottle and you then have a low level in the bottle next day, if this continues over a period of time you will eventually have no coolant in your overflow bottle and then low coolant in your radiator, i removed the Y piece so the hose goes straight to the bottle then removed the other hose and connected the overflow tube straight to the neck of the overflow bottle, so now to loose any coolant out the overflow tube the overflow bottle will have to fill to the top, have not lost or had to fill my overflow bottle for over 12 months now, pryor to this i had your problem. not sure who at Suzuki designed this system but its not how a recovery system works in  a car

Ah. Wise words Grasshopper.  
I remember something regarding the t piece and was going to mention,  but thought it was on my SV. 

Wish I had seen this before

Thank You talon440. That makes perfect sense to me.   

I might also check the "high overflow" outlet.  If this is blocked, it would account for the "pump out" effect

Anyway, this will provide me with an excuse to pull the tank, check that the coolant level is completely up to level in the system (change while I am at it) to discount the possibility it is low in the engine/radiator as a result of not noticing loss that may have occurred. 

Time to have a real good look at it.  

Thanks again

Well I did.  The relay relays, the fan sucks like a 13 year old poofter when fed 12 direct. I am mystified as to why I don't seem to be able to provoke the fan to run just by idling the bike on the stand for 5-10 minutes.  Reason tells me I might have a problem with the Coolant Temperature Sensor.  I did not check the wires between the relay and the fan connection - next time. 

I did chase up all those little hoses that run back up and around the reservoir and discovered something, and remembered that the first time I opened the coolant reservoir cap, it was not pushed all the way down.  The top vent (overflow) is up there in the neck. the bottom two ribs in the cap have a slot in them which would allow coolant to escape past and out the overflow.  the rest of the ribs are solid.  In pushing this cap all the way down, solid ribs are pushed beyond the overflow outlet and this would render the top overflow inoperable, so the coolant would come out the hoses connected further down.  I've not pushed it down so hard. We'll see if this makes a difference.   

Honestly, there might not be any sort of a problem.  I'll continue to read the repair manual and My next crack at this will be to see If I can get an error code out of it.  - I'm out of time for the moment, but I see no reason to stop riding it in the mean time. 

I am impressed what I read about the SDS - they might be a reasonable tool to have?

Bosco - your way of looking at it aligns very much with my own.  In a 10 minute idle, (with some revs intermittently) the level rose a couple of cm in the reservoir, and there was no spill on stopping.  That tells me I probably have nothing to worry about.  

I might be violating one of my own rules - "If it aint broke, don't fix it."  Still, what I've done has increased my understanding and confirmed what I don't have a problem with.