Cooling System Maintenance

I haven't seen anything here about the cooling system.

Does it need annual flushing?

Drain and Fill?

Anti-Freeze Recommendations?

I'm a former Ford Dealership Parts and Service Manager, so I've got some general knowledge - but I also know the "sales" side of this. Sold a bunch of cooling system "flushes" at dealerships - but are they necessary for the Swing?

General thoughts, processes and procedures...

Use Honda Coolant.

Other opinions to follow...


Tim

Ride it to at least 50,000 and then worry. Meantime if waterpump fails/leaks replace.
Coolant...maybe change at 50,000 miles, using Honda stuff.

Your choice of any that are designed for aluminum engines, OEM or others the biggest difference between them? color and price.

My Silver Wing is over five years old and changed the coolant about a year ago for no other reason than I'd probably been reading too many posts from the cool kids on here. I bought Honda branded coolant from the local Honda car dealer just because I happened to be passing the showroom one day.  It was easy enough to undo the drain plug without removing any Tupperware, and the stuff I drained off didn't look any different from the fresh coolant I added. Then again neither did the brake fluid I changed around about the same time.

How many Kilometers/miles are on the scooter?

Modern coolant lasts a few years so don't worry too much. Mine is four and a half years old and I'll probably change it sometime this year.

The important thing is that the coolant should not contain any silicates. This is important as silicates will damage the water pump seals.
Just make sure it says 'NO SILICATES' or words to that effect on the label somewhere.

Google, Wickepidea, gives a pretty good explanation on differences in the anti freeze industry. I do know I can't buy 100% Honda and add a gallon of distilled water to mix with it to get the 50 - 50 mix. Our Honda shop sells only the premixed at the dealership, what I was told it was for the mechanics convenience so they didn't have to bother doing that. In any case the color doesn't matter unless it's Dexcool ( GM ) the rest is just dyed to suit the brand. Diesel application has other additives not used in automotive. Aluminum is used somewhere in most all engines so using your choice of a low silicate brand should cover most everything we drive. Remember the day when Methanol was used? now it's being phased out slowly but surely.