i don't know what store to recommend since you are in england so i am just going to post a link to the tool and you can find it. you just use the pressure tester to put it up to 20ish psi and leave it. take off the side panels and wait, eventually you will start to see a leak if there is one. the leak may be more noticeable when your bike is hot from metal expanding. if you find it local you can take your rad cap there to make sure the kit have the correct adapter

Amazon.ca

 

I like the kit, but for a one time deal? I'd throw you in the cheap seats and just change the radiator cap. Once the 220F's are flying, that cap is working opening and closing. So my guess is not a leak, but the blow-off valve change, see if that did it.

Top off the rez right at the high mark, top off coolant to the neck. Go out and beat pretty and bring it back in the same condition. Let it sit in the garage and let it belch away. Come morning, the radi sucked in some rez coolant so you check that first thing come morning. Top it off one rez more time, no point taking off the cap.

Finally another hot ride or slow ride and let it heat up, but next time you look, the rez stabilized at the high mark and no leak... it was the cap.

 

i hear what your saying about the one time deal for the kit, i don't know where he would go in england but there has to be some cheap china tool store like harbour freight or princess auto over there that you can pick one up for 30-40 bucks. its cheaper then a shop and then you have a clear answer instead or just throwing on parts at random

 

I appreciate all the info! Going to pick one up at some point and run the test! I am excited but at the same time I hope it’s nothing major ! Lol! Thanks guys . I will follow up at some point with my findings

 

I agree if we send it off to the dealer, minimum labor at the drive is the 1st hour pretty much burned out checking things out, then yes, take that shop [hour] money and buy the kit. Especially doing it yourself.

Got to work the OP's complaint and guess the post did not mention a puddle on the ground after a ride. The most likely answer is the cap not holding pressure. That's how I deduced it's just a cap as the only leak. Again, no mention of a green crusty dry hose end. No smell once parked.

The next one would be is to go look under and back where the drain hose is, wind sends all that dried colored powder under the frame right by the drain hose... Tells where the leak is coming from. Especially you put a finger over the hose end and comes back wet. Shows the cap is draining at that area. I wish it was rocket science, but as you can see...

 

Good info. No coolant build up. All was inspected and as clean as it was the day I went to look for the leak the first time ( about two years ago)

I am going to get the kit and test it myself.

 

I just went through a similar issue with my 16 where I smelled coolant at stops and tracked it down to the weep hole on the water pump. My issue cleared itself up after 2 flushes and a some miles, luckily. Definately check that area on the water pump.

 

Had an issue like this once on a friend's bike. No leaks visible but smelled like hot coolant. After pressuring it The small hose from the thermostat up to the top of the rad had the tiniest drip that was running into the radiator fins and evaporating off before it could even make a puddle. These small issues where somethings wrong but not really wrong just enough to bug you are the most annoying to me. I wish stuff would just break so I can fix it and we go on with our lives lol.

 

turns out it was just that very tiny leak on top of the rad where it connects to the tiny hose, I think. I say I think just because when I did the pressure test it was dropping very slowly but it was due to the crappy pressure testing kit I got on eBay. They are replacing it for an additional cost so I’m going to test it again but I had found no visual damage anywhere…

will keep this updated so the next guy can benefit from it

 

Check for pin hole leaks in the radiator, a lot of road debris can cause small holes. Also the radiator cap, its just as important as any other part of the cooling system, take it off and inspect the gasket where it seals, you can be boiling it off and steam could be escaping from it, check the oil as well to make sure it’s not mixing from a leaking water pump internally. Sometimes on top of the engine where the thermostat there could be a small trickle and it boils on the engine before you notice it leaking down. Pressure test is always a given.

 

Also, check for loose or damaged radiator hose fittings and o rings.

 

When the bike cools off, check the level. Probably settled out and with less water, it may have shown it was heating up. So running, the fluid will push out. Engine off, the water level is right up at the neck. So you might have to either monitor the overflow tank and see that level drop and that pulls in fluid to the radiator, or you physically open the cap and top it off, ride it, check the temp level, ride home, let it cool, check the neck level so it's topped off.

I changed my coolant and had the same burping problem. I watched the reserve level drop, added more, watched it drop again until it finally settled out. I too watched the running with the cap off and it started to overflow out the neck. Once it cooled off, it was a different story.

Signed,
Keep checking