Re: 2013 kawasaki ninja 300 - rush is addictive

OMG, I can't understand her even after riding 400+KMs ....
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YES YES YES finally she had arrived on 31st and yesterday I spend with her half a day (315 KMS)....

Today I'm gonna change my oil in Chennai Selaiyur station.. already members have adviced to change Motul Mineral 3000 till 1st service, Pls advice if any Chennaities owners around here regards to new service station in SELAIYOOR....

Thanks,
Prakash B

Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

Acknowledgements: Before I start this write up I would like to acknowledge Vikram and Vijay of Motozone, Pune (also in Mumbai), for their excellent support. They spent their entire Sunday on my bike and made arrangements for all the required items and consumables. I just needed to take the bike to them and they did all the rest. Vikram, Vijay, really appreciate the time, effort and the professionalism shown by you.

Couple of weeks back I had posted my experience about the first service of my N300 wherein I had mentioned that the service center does not use Motul Motocool pre-mix. The fact is they use some coolant, which they mix with tap water. That really made me a bit uncomfortable and I had decided that I needed to change over to Engine Ice coolant sooner rather than later.

It has been at the back of my mind since that service like a nagging woman (no offense to our fairer counterparts) that I need to change over soon. I called up Vikram and asked him if he could help me out with changing the coolant. He readily agreed and also informed me to just bring the bike, he would take care of everything else.
Like a fussy new mother worried about her newborn baby, I inquired with him about how he would go about doing the change. What I really appreciate about his response is the fact that he assured me that the coolant would be changed as per the coolant manufacture’s recommendations and the instructions. They would ensure the whole process is done it in front of me to my satisfaction.

I reached Vikram’s place at around 11.15 am. Vikram had already kept every thing ready. 6 bottles of battery water (demineralized water), 1 liter of white vinegar and 2 bottles of Engine Ice were ready for the change along with all the tools required to start the process.

We allowed the bike to cool down for about 45 minutes. In the mean time the seat and the fairing covers were removed.









The first thing that Vikram commented on seeing the engine was the quality of build. Kawasaki has created a superb engine and taken all the inputs and experiences from the Ninja 250 and created a vastly improved designed. No offense to any of the other bikes in the same class (including KTM and Honda), this engine’s quality is head and shoulders above anything that the counterparts have to offer.

Vikram also appreciated the design of the ducted fan which in addition to keeping hot air away from the rider’s legs has the additional benefit of keep the hot air away from the cylinder head, thereby allowing to run cooler. Incidentally, the cooling fan is made by Panasonic.

The first step was to empty the coolant reservoir.







After the coolant reservoir was emptied, it was washed and flushed with demineralized water.



Once the coolant reservoir was cleaned of all the residual old coolant, the next step was to remove all the coolant in the radiator and the engine. To remove all the coolant, the radiator cap was removed and the coolant drain bolt on left side of engine at the bottom was removed.







To ensure that all the coolant was drained the left side radiator pipe was disconnected and the residual coolant present in the radiator was removed.





The bike was then left to sit for about 15 minutes to allow for any residual coolant to drip out.

After that concoction of demineralized water and white vinegar was made with a ratio of 50:50. Since the coolant capacity of the engine is 1.5 liters this meant 750 ml (one bottle) of water and 750 ml of vinegar.

The concoction was then poured into the radiator and the hoses were gently pinched to remove any air pockets and bubbles. The engine was started and run till the cooling fan started. The cooling fan was allowed to switch on twice before shutting the engine down



The engine was then allowed to cool for about 20 to 25 minutes and then opening the drain bolt the concoction was drained out.



In my enthusiasm I was asking Vikram to start the next step of putting plain demineralized water in to the radiator. Vikram explained to me his reasons for waiting for another 15 to 20 minutes before starting the process. There is always a one in million chance that while the radiator and the cylinders are still reasonably hot, pouring cold or room temperature liquid into the system could cause the hot metal to distort or even crack in extreme cases. Full marks to the gentleman for thinking in such detail and deliberating every step that needs to be taken. While such things may seem obvious, how many of us pay attention to such details?

After the engine had cooled down enough, 1.5 liters of plain demineralized water was poured into the cooling system to ensure flushing of the remaining of any of the concoction. Engine was once again started and allowed to run till the cooling fan started twice.

Once again the drain procedure was followed and the engine was allowed to cool down. The coolant drain bolt was then torqued to the recommended 9.8 Nm with a torque wrench.

Once the engine had cooled down, Vikram took a container of Engine Ice coolant and poured it in to the radiator.





He then poured the Engine Ice into the coolant reservoir.



Once again all the hoses were gently squeezed to remove all the air pockets and bubbles. The engine was once again started and run of 20 minutes. All joints were constantly monitored to check for any leaks. After the engine was switched off the level of coolant in the reservoir was once again checked before the reassembly of the fairings was started.

Usage Experience

I have been using Engine Ice in my R15 for the past 2 years and have been happy with the experience. Today on the N300, when the ambient temperature was 31 degrees the fan came on only once in the traffic, whereas previously it use to come on at least 4 to 5 times during my daily ride to office.
So overall a good experience and a Sunday well spent, thanks to the people at Motozone.

Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.


Thats a nice and detailed report Sir. I am really sorry I could not make it to Motozone this weekend. Now that makes 2 tasks for me.
1. To replace the coolant with Engine Ice
2. To remove the speed limiter

Would be glad if you could accompany me to Vikram. Please let me know your availability.

Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

Nicely explained method. Will try on my bike but then i have to get my hands on the Pack!!

Btw as per the above image, it seems rust marks(flow) from the tank's welding joint. Just get it checked as i think it would be cause of concern in years to come.

Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

Yup, I forgot to mention the rust marks. Vikram took the initiative and cleaned the rust marks with solvent. After letting it dry, he then applied a clear coat of nail polish to seal the area. That should solve the problem for the time being. It's something that all N300 owners are going to have to look out for.


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Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

Not much of a difference despite giving away 70 cee cees/5 PS and over 30Kgs to the Duke!!

Kawasaki Ninja 300 vs KTM Duke 390 - Drag Race - YouTube

Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

From my discussions with Vikram, the N300 engine has some serious potential to make power. It's a superb platform for hot rodding. With just a Free Flow Exhaust, pod type of air filter and micro fuel controller to correct fueling AreaP and Fuel Moto have achieved 40bhp at rear wheel!!!


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Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

@abhimanyu31- Awesome You really do take good care of your Ninja!

Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

Can u tell us what in particular impressed him about the engine?

Also, some info about Motozone...what do they do or specialize in?

Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

Motozone specializes in performance tuning of cars and more recently in bikes. Especially EVOs and Honda Vtec engines. Admitted as by Vikram, he is not a master of everything but he has the contacts and the network of knowledge bank to call upon when a customer requires something which is not available in house.

The one particular thing that impressed him the most was the cylinder head. Admittedly while we did not open and look into the head, we browsed the Internet on my IPad and took a look at available photos of the net. According to him the head is a derivative of the Ninja 400R head and has good potential. Also the over all build of the engine vis-a-vis the 250R is much superior. The larger oil sump, the fact that it uses the same oil filter that is used in Ninja 650, increase in oil capacity and overall increase in lubrication (oil also cools) makes for a very robust engine.


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Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

It was so detailed that I was hooked on to read every word. I have a humble Pulsar 150 which has got no relation to coolant but with such a beautiful narration with pics (it was like a story book chapter to me ) it was a ncie read and needs bookmarking for future, if I get to upgrade.

Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

is anyone planning to take ninja 300 for leh ladakh trip.... mostly for nxt year

Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

Not sure about next year, but one day for sure

Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

Now that's testimony to the legacy of Ninja

Re: Changing the coolant to Engine Ice.

I too have a Pulsar 200 and my break pads hardly last 7k kms.



Nicely written write-up there Abhimanyu. But i wonder how that Vikram guy could inspect an engine's build quality by checking it from outside?

After reading all that EngineIce is in my must buy list now.