Motorcycle Repair: Goldwing GL1200 cooland comes out, head gasket, radiater

Question
I bought a '84 GL1200 Aspencate of a guy who had not driven or run the engine in 5 years. Now when i filled the cooling system and started the enging the cooland was pressout at starting up. This appears every time i start the engine. I've replaced the pump, but still this problem appears. Even when the radiater is closed with the cap, it presses the cooland thru the cab out. What can this be and what to do?


Answer
Marcel, Wings are not my speciality, but the cooling systems are not much different than on a car. If the engine is getting hot and releasing coolant into the overflow reservoir, then probably the thermostat is stuck closed.
Replace the thermostat and see if that fixes things. If not, at least on many cars, if the head gasket is blown, it will pressurize the cooling system and push fluid out quickly. Get a cooling system pressure test down to see if it is holding pressure. If it fails, then coolant will be getting pushed into a cylinder, more than likely. You may want to pull the plugs when the test is done, in case a cylinder starts filling with coolant.
A leakdown test or at least a compression test may be in order. A qualified mechanic can read the spark plugs to see if coolant is being drawn into the cylinders, too.

Bill Silver