Wet Spot on Road

[Trophimus]

2007 ST1300 with 10,400 miles. After a 15 mile ride, parked the bike and later found a 2 foot sized wet spot where it had been parked with a smaller wet spot where the kick stand had been. The wet spot dried up and was gone later. Took the bike for a couple more short rides, but there were no signs of any leak or loss. Checked the coolant level in the reservoir tank on a warm engine and could see it at the upper line of the reservoir tank. So, could this have just been an overflow from a hot engine on a hot day? I don't know the fluid level that the previous owner had in it either. Thoughts?

 

[BakerBoy]

Had it been washed that day or the prior day or two?

 

[ToddC]

PO probably overfilled the coolant. Been there..done that. ToddC

 

[TerryS]

My 1300 certainly drips for a long time after a good wash-down with a hose. The radiator traps a lot when the fins are horizontal on the centrestand, and then releases this later when put on the sidestand.

 

[SMSW]

Might have been a leak in the road. Nothing to do with the bike. You have to look outside the box for some of these things.

Keep an eye on where you park the bike. A second occurrence means the pavement was probably not the problem.

 

[CYYJ]

I agree with @BakerBoy and @TerryS - the most probable explanation, assuming the wet spot "dried up" without leaving any residue that suggested coolant leakage, is that it was water trapped in the engine area from when you last washed the bike.

The 'V' between the cylinder banks can hold a lot of water if the very small drain hole at the front of the V is blocked. Refer to this post: ST1300 - Water Pump Weep Holes, in particular, the last two photos in that post, to see where wash water can accumulate in the V between the cylinders.

It's easy to rule out coolant leaks (and thus reduce your stress level) - just watch the coolant level in the reservoir tank located down by your left foot. Check it when the bike is stone-cold, after it has sat overnight. If the reservoir tank is dirty, you might need to remove the little cap and shine a flashlight down the hole in order to determine the coolant level.

Michael

 

[dwalby]

2007 ST1300 with 10,400 miles. After a 15 mile ride, parked the bike and later found a 2 foot sized wet spot where it had been parked with a smaller wet spot where the kick stand had been. The wet spot dried up and was gone later. Took the bike for a couple more short rides, but there were no signs of any leak or loss. Checked the coolant level in the reservoir tank on a warm engine and could see it at the upper line of the reservoir tank. So, could this have just been an overflow from a hot engine on a hot day? I don't know the fluid level that the previous owner had in it either. Thoughts?

1. Where did you park it the first time, if it was in your garage, then you may have an issue to monitor. If it was on the street somewhere, are you sure the wet spot wasn't already there when you parked?

2. if it was caused by an overflow, would the level be abnormally high in the reservoir after an overflow? Don't have much experience with this, I guess it could overflow when hot, and then suck coolant back in when cold and bring the level back down to something close to normal. Not sure how much the level goes up/down during a normal heat/cool cycle, but I'd suspect that if it was looking normal after cooling down it probably didn't overflow to begin with.

 

[Mophead]

Bike just needed to take a leak.

 

[caldercay]

Bike just needed to take a leak.

Our horses do the same ... one minute, you're grooming him or putting on the fly mask, then the next minute, there it is, a big wet spot underneath him.

 

[SMSW]

Our horses do the same ... one minute, you're grooming him or putting on the fly mask, then the next minute, there it is, a big wet spot underneath him.

You have some well trained horses there - they know enough not to splash you.

 

[ST Gui]

Was the spot still there when it dried? If not it's not coolant. If so then coolant is a possibility. Or you just happened to park on a pre-installed spot.

 

[Trophimus]

I went to the bike today, cold engine. I took a wooden skewer from the kitchen (about the diameter of a ball-point pen filler) and ran it down into the reservoir tank until it hit the bottom. The skewer showed liquid about 5 inches up from the bottom in the reservoir tank. Regarding the spot, it was directly in front of my driveway and was not there when I parked the bike. I have not washed the bike, but it does stay parked on my driveway with a full cover over it. There have been several rain showers, but the bike has not been without the cover. The cover does have a small tear or two around the foot peg from a previous blow over on another bike that had that cover on it, but that is it. I doubt if it were rain accumulation on the engine. Best bet is coolant overflow, I think at this juncture.