Can I run with water only in my radiator all the time?

[2crazy2stop]

I will be doing my 1st track day with my fz6 and the track requires water only in the radiator. My question is, can I just run water all of the time, or do I need to switch back and forth between water and anti-freeze?

I asked about Water Wetter, and they said no, water only.

Thanks.

 

[skooter65]

This is a two part no:

First; Running water only loses the " anti" part of the anti-freeze. Given that you live in the north east; there are bound to be times of temperatures below freezing.

Second; There are a number of additives in anti freeze that stop corrosion within the components of the cooling system. Again, lost with running water only.

 

[CBRF3RIDER]

This is a two part no:

First; Running water only loses the " anti" part of the anti-freeze. Given that you live in the north east; there are bound to be times of temperatures below freezing.

Even if the temperature is above freezing the windchill can still freeze the water. There was a guy over on the CBR forum that was running water in the spring and cracked his engine block from it freezing!

 

[dxh24]

Agreed, if the air is below 32 you no longer have a functioning radiator. I've seen one that actually blew the top off of it when it became ice and distorted the whole radiator. Wouldn't recommend it in the winter, and as for summer, there's a reason they use coolant not water when they sell you a bike. Water is a good temporary substitute but not a permanent option

So yeah, unfortunately for your track day you'll have to drain whats in it, switch to water, then when it's over, within a reasonable amount of time, i'd drain the water and get coolant back in it... I believe they want water in it because water will evaporate if you wreck, whereas Antifreeze/coolant will pose a serious slip hazard to everyone else on the track (i think anyhow, never been to a track day that wasn't offroad.....yet )

 

[2crazy2stop]

This is a two part no:

First; Running water only loses the " anti" part of the anti-freeze. Given that you live in the north east; there are bound to be times of temperatures below freezing.

Second; There are a number of additives in anti freeze that stop corrosion within the components of the cooling system. Again, lost with running water only.

Thanks, that is what I was thinking.

I wasn't to worried about the 1st part because she lives inside during the winter and I am baby when it comes to riding in the cold

for the 2nd "no", lets say I was doing a track day, then another one two weeks later. Lets say that I would ride 50 miles 10 times between the two dates...would you change from water back to anti-freeze and back again to water during those two weeks? Basically am I going to be changing back and forth every time I go to the track?

Thanks

John

 

[dxh24]

With most vehicles, water in the radiator is fine for a few weeks, Ca't really say for motorcycles though (again other than off road)... Dirtbikes i know can run off water for all summer, although watch the temps...Motorcycles tend to build heat faster due to low tolerances and high rpms... So if you do keep water in it, keep an eye on your temp... with liquid cooled engines the cylinders are built with a much finer tolerance than air cooled, because the inner paerts will expand less because they are kept cool. so overheating will do damage quicker to a liquid cooled engine.

Just my .02, Have fun on your track day, have somebody take some pics :thumbup:

 

[Randomchaos]

Ah this reminds me of a story a friend once told me. A friend of his ended up buying a nice Speed Triple one summer. When winter came, he stored it in his garage. Spring time rolls around, he goes to get it out of the garage, only to find the engine cracked. Turns out the previous owner had switched to water for some track stuff, and had not told him.

I would just change it out for the trackday as track prep work, and change it back when you get home. Its real simple on these bikes.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

It's best to use distlled water, keeping the mineral deposits to a mimium. You can get get it in one gallon containers at any grocery store.

Winter, you should use anti-freeze for obvious reasons.

 

[DefyInertia]

It's best to use distlled water, keeping the mineral deposits to a mimium. You can get get it in one gallon containers at any grocery store.

Winter, you should use anti-freeze for obvious reasons.

THIS

You can leave the distilled water in there until the temps start dropping later in the year. That is BS that they won't allow water wetter.

 

[2crazy2stop]

THIS

You can leave the distilled water in there until the temps start dropping later in the year. That is BS that they won't allow water wetter.

There exact response was this:
No....it is as bad, maybe even worse than anti-freeze to get off the track.....I don't know that it's ever been discussed, nor have I heard of anyone using it before, but I had a car fire on a private street rental years ago, and the real county fire trucks had to put it out, we were not even there, they were not racing, just doing a photo shoot or something, and one car had an electrical fire...track was ruined for racing that night because they used the wetter.....and soaked down a huge area.

 

[Marthy]

Thanks, that is what I was thinking.

I wasn't to worried about the 1st part because she lives inside during the winter and I am baby when it comes to riding in the cold

for the 2nd "no", lets say I was doing a track day, then another one two weeks later. Lets say that I would ride 50 miles 10 times between the two dates...would you change from water back to anti-freeze and back again to water during those two weeks? Basically am I going to be changing back and forth every time I go to the track?

Thanks

John

For track day use Water Weather (The pink stuff) Just make sure you change the fluid before it get too cold. You need some sort of additive to that lubricate the water pump... and raise the boiling pts. plain water is not recommended, distilled water of course.

 

[DownrangeFuture]

Water wetter is basically just distilled water with some of the anti-corrosives in it with something to lower the freeze temp.

He wasn't even there. Who knows? It's probably from the AFFF they used to put out the fire. That's basically soap, so I can see that messing up a large portion of the track. And county fire trucks don't normally carry PKP or something that wouldn't kill the track.

Got to love retarded people.

 

[Marthy]

Water Weather is sold by about every part peddler at any race track. If it's good for about 95% of racecar I worked on in the past 10-15 years, it should be good enough for a bike. Mixed to the right ratio (before it goes in the rad) it's good stuff. It bring the boiling pts just a little higher, keep everything from rusting... At the end of the day, that's what it was made for... replacing Prestone for racing, so it don't grease up the track.

If the F.D. got the track wet anyway, all the oil will get out too. You should see when it start raining... the first few minutes you can see the oil floating on top of the water.

 

[Robmac]

I know many people that race their bikes of the weekend and tracks do not permit the use of antifreeze, only water. After track day they swap out the water for antifreeze for better protection etc.

Also, a note on a earlier post regarding windchill: If the air temp is above freezing (0c / 32f) then no amount of windchill can bring the temp of the water in your rad/engine below that temp. The "Windchill" effect simply removes heat faster and makes it seem (to us warm blooded animals) that it is actually colder then it really is.

 

[FinalImpact]

.... You need some sort of additive to that lubricate the water pump... and raise the boiling pts. plain water is not recommended, distilled water of course.

More specifically the seal in the water pump needs lubricant so the spinning shaft doesn't harden it. Without some form of lube the seal becomes hard and leaks water into the water pumps bearings and the pump fails.

Think of your elbow across the gym floor at 14,000 RPM

 

[FinalImpact]

Some facts about Water Wetter. . .
It seems when mixed with water it reduces the surface tension of the water at a molecular level. Meaning: A large molecule of water turns to steam at lower temperature than a small one. So it does effectively raise the boiling point higher than water itself and 50/50 mix water/glycol. Who knew!!!


This is worth a read folks. . . But it says the sight is moving so the link may not last too much longer. 2011-08-15
WaterWetter® Tech Info

 

[Shiny_side_up]

Yup, WaterWetter is a surfactant - you effectively get more "contact" between your coolant and the surface you're cooling. I ran a 600hp Mustang (blown 331) with a stock radiator and under driven water pump in Northern California year round with distilled water, WaterWetter and a synthetic waterpump lubricant. 192^ thermostat and no problems with overheating. I wasn't able to do that with anti-freeze in there (water transfers heat much better than anti-freeze). Since the car never saw really cold weather - it was viable.

That's interesting that a bike froze up on the track from wind chill - you'd think that 600-1000cc heater would keep the water warm and flowing...

But yeah, I'll agree with most here that you can get away with straight water, but make sure you go back to the real stuff right afterwards or your internals could suffer.

 

[fastar1]

I will be doing my 1st track day with my fz6 and the track requires water only in the radiator. My question is, can I just run water all of the time, or do I need to switch back and forth between water and anti-freeze?

I asked about Water Wetter, and they said no, water only.

Thanks.

I would get a second opinion on the "no water wetter' rule. Ask someone else who's part of the organisaion, it doesn't make sense.

If you really have to run water alone, use distilled water to reduce the buildup of deposits in the cooling system. Then change it back to coolant with antifreeze or water wetter when you can. They both provide improved cooling ability and protection for the cooling system.

And BTW wind chill will NOT reduce the temperature below ambient, so if you don't come close to freezing temps then water wetter is the best option (less environmentaly hazardous).

 

[FZ6_Dude]

+1 water wetter will not be any harm to the track if you have a spill... i would recommend you go ahead and use it anyways and just not mention it to anyone that told you not to use it... ive had water wetter in my bike for over 15k miles and no ill effects and ive done atleast 2-5 trackdays a year since '06... its cheap to pick up a bottle and they wont be openning up your radiator cap to check anyway... the person that answered no on water wetter and said its worse than a glycol based antifreeze is a moron...

 

[Marthy]

+1 water wetter will not be any harm to the track if you have a spill... i would recommend you go ahead and use it anyways and just not mention it to anyone that told you not to use it... ive had water wetter in my bike for over 15k miles and no ill effects and ive done atleast 2-5 trackdays a year since '06... its cheap to pick up a bottle and they wont be openning up your radiator cap to check anyway... the person that answered no on water wetter and said its worse than a glycol based antifreeze is a moron...

LOL You have no idea how many of those "Race Fan" that end up in those little local race track club. 1. They don't race 2. They don't even work on bike 3. They probably even don't own a motorcycle 4. I'll bet $100 he doesn't know the difference between pink coolaid, W/W or regular coolant. Well, maybe someone told him green is no go... :spank:

W/W has been around for quite some time. It's proven! It work! Not much more to say about it!

Here's another link... http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=74&pcid=10