Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

Yes you can use distilled water no issues, coolant just has higher boiling point and better heat dissipation properties.
It's only when you are running the engine at higher rpms and during long durations that coolant is helpful.

In normal running the radiator fan doesn't even start, ns engine is that relaxed, after lock down go the service center and get the coolant topped up, my friend uses Castrol coolant, he bought from Amazon.

Once my vw polo had a minor accident and the radiator got busted, the coolant leaked ofcourse. On the service center's recommendation i repaired the radiator with m-seal, filled it with normal water and drove back to my home, 350 kms, five people in car, 100 kmph average speeds and peak Rajasthan summers.

So no worries

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

In an emergency, you can top up with distilled water, if it is available. Don't use tap water or anything now as the level is just above minimum and not below it. There should be sufficient coolant inside the hoses and radiator.

Normally, you will top up with pre-mixed coolant.

For Future:
1. The SVC will do the top up for you.
2. If you want to replace the coolant yourself:

Bajaj recommends Castrol Radicool or Motul Motocool. Don't use Castrol heavy duty meant for trucks. It has nitrites that is beneficial to cast iron block lorry engines - should not be used in NS. Choose SFO-premix if you choose Castrol. Motul Inugel also can be used as the bottle says it is fit for two wheelers.

For NS/RS, any coolant fit for Aluminum engines/radiator can be used.

Congrats on getting BS6 NS200!

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

I dont recommend to use distilled water or other car coolant I guess you can find total's coolant best and cheap

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

Yes. As of now he needs to do nothing as the level is above minimum. After lockdown, getting topped up at SVC is the way since his NS is brand new. Does Total have a dedicated two-wheeler coolant?

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

Usually from the factory all fluids won't be filled upto the brim. It's SVC's responsibility to check these during Pre Delivery Inspection.
They will do a small top up to ensure the reservoir stays at perfect level.
Don't worry it's just the reservoir that's low. You radiator will be perfectly filled.
If you are going for a topup I recommend to use the same brand. Most use Castrol radicool and motul inugel expert.
If you wanna upgrade to a better coolant go with honda motorcycle coolant as it's silicates free and cheap per litre.
Silicate free coolant improves your coolant pump seal life.

Also have a practice to replace coolant every year or every 15k kms. Will result in cleaner radiator as well as less flushing and cleaning work.
Congrats on your new purchase..

Regards
Manoj Sivaraman..

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

Do you have a picture of the Honda motorcycle coolant, not able to find the exact one searching online.

Thanks
Srvn

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

This is the one, HONDA RADIATOR LIQUID, and Manoj is right. This is blue colored premixed coolant.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

Thanks Vijay!

How much does Honda radiator liquid cost? How is the performance?
Have been using Castrol Radicool Heavyduty as per ktm recommendation for past 2 replacement cycles. So far has worked out cheaper with optimum performance.

Thanks
Srvn

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

What bike do you have now, I thought you had a Gixxer 155. Try to avoid Radicool heavyduty - according to it's MSDS, it has nitrites that will help prevent corrosion of cast iron engine blocks of trucks. For Duke/NS, it spells trouble - it will deposit/form a coating on the internal walls. Also, I think heavyduty is concentrated and not pre-mixed.

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

KTM and NS are prone to coolant pump seal failure.
Mainly because of silicates in coolant. Even Motul inugel expert has traces (read in forums).
But Honda coolant is a gem I would say. Exactly 2°C cooler than inugel expert. Doesn't heatup aggressively.
On average of 5 readings I took, Honda coolant turns the radiator fan off early by 10 seconds.
So equates to better heat transfer.
Also the price of under 300 bucks for a litre is neck on neck with motul inugel expert. Also proven record of not damaging the seals which are EPDM btw. So coolant rubber hoses too stays healthy for a longer period..

Regards
Manoj Sivaraman

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

260 approximately, and it's used specially for my CBR. She performs as she's supposed to and nothing dramatic. Radcool, or Bajaj Kool or any green coolant, especially premixed will do the job well.

Not only Radcool, any coolant which hasn't been periodically replaced and or premixed with dirty brine water will cause deposition. Extending the coolant for years without periodic inspection will cause deposition eventually and cause scaling.

The key is periodic replacement, using the right coolant premix ratio 50:50 or using premixed ones already available, Motul Motocool, Motul Inugel, Honda Radiator Liquid, Engine Ice are some of the premixed examples.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

Agreed
Since I was working at KTM SVC previously. I've seen worst cases of scaling and waterpump seal failures.
A D390 owner actually suggested me to use Honda coolant since he owned a CBR as well. The results were good compared to inugel expert which comes as stock and his 390 was a pretty new one. The results are actually noticable. Was seeing a 2°C diffrence.

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

The guy's absolutely right, though I've used Blue premixed Inugel Expert for a long time, since then I've switched to Motocool Expert for my other bikes, in fact it's been years all my bikes are on MMX. HRL was used specifically for the CBR and I have used it on the R15 as well, performed more or less the same. CBR and R15 have great cooling systems in the first place, especially the CBR gem of an engine and equally fantabulous cooling system, kudos to their engineers. I'm always in awe with such finely done engineering.


One of the primary reasons, my using Motocool is, I happen to purchase a carton box full as it worked out cheaper, premixed, plus, I change my coolant frequently, so having it in stock helps.

The Duke was flushed off the stock coolant and oil well before the first service, in fact I knew how under or overfilled fluids were for the KTM series, and both off the drain, since then it's been running on Motocool, and has held up pretty much to what it has to offer.

Idling more than 15 minutes, the coolant holds the temps extremely well, and the fan comes once and keeps the temperature in check with engine idling.

The Duke's cooling system is good but not great. A bigger radiator with good surface area and a better quality bigger, silent fan, will do wonders to the Duke's cooling efficiency, or like the ADV a curved radiator too helps with the same setup to the Dukes.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

Ashwant I own 2013 D200 37K kms on the odo, Friend owns 2015 Gixxer SF.

Had water pump seal failure once in the past, odo reading around 21k kms 4 years back. That's when I switched to "Radicool Heavyduty" (KTM Recommended) concentrate, have always prefered a 35:65 ratio. Radiator Fan almost always kicks-in ~17 minutues into riding/idling, if cooler atmospheric condition then couple mins later (still runs of the open shroudless radiator fan, may be that helps too)

Never been a fan of Inugel, infact it is not even recommended by KTM, alas all svcs stocked only Inugel (untill 3-4 years ago not sure of current scenario), and yes Inugel contains silicates If I'm not wrong. Motocool expert 1L priced ~500/- and Radicool Heavyduty 0.5L priced ~150/- and 20/- for distilled water seemed no brainier to me. I follow a drain interval of 12-15 months (though my odo running is less) performing complete flushing of the system and refill, and as expected Radiator+expansion chamber drinks a close to 960-970ml out of 1L of Coolant.

Many a times I have noticed, svcs fail to fully drain old coolant hence refill around 800-850 ml, I suspect this plus Inugel are may be cause of pump failures in KTMs.

Never knew Radicool had a premix SF-O variant (bonus being it is silicate free vs Radicool Heavyduty with low silicate number) and I have heard all praises of Honda coolant, so was planning on trying either of these for this time depending on the availability post lockdown)

Thanks
Srvn

Re: Pulsar 200 NS Owners Review and Experiences

Thanks for the insight. I was also under the impression that Duke's pump seal is too simple in design. It looks like a fork tube seal. Others like CBR and Kawasaki - the seal itself looks complex and much robust. Also, I believe CBR, Ninjas and R15s have weep holes to warn pump seal failure.

Did you notice any pattern in their failure? Did they all fail at more or less a particular odo reading, say 20-25,000 km. What is the SOP for repair - disassembling the whole engine to replace that seal and the one behind it?

Honda's coolant is priced very reasonable!

VJ, In your CBR/R15/Duke - How often do you:

1. Clean the radiator fins
2. Replace the coolant
3. Replace the hoses

Nice to know, it's a fun machine to ride. Use 50-50 ratio as the ethylene glycol also lubricates the seal.

Try Honda Radiator Liquid as suggested by Manoj and VJ.