I used to be a frequent visitor to this forum, but haven't been here in a long time. I wanted to post a cautionary tale about my Cox Radiator Guard. I purchased my Zx-14 new in April of 2009. One of the first things I added was a radiator guard. It was your basic black one from Cox, held on by zip ties at the top, and a bolt on the bottom. I purchased it direct from them on June 1, 2009. I installed it when I performed my first oil change at 535 miles on 6-9-09.
It had preformed flawlessly for the first 9 riding seasons and 54,300 miles. Late last fall, I was out in South Dakota enjoying some riding in the Black Hills. I stopped for gas and went inside to pay. When I came out, there was a green, 6 to 8 inch puddle under the left front corner of the engine. I had a leaking radiator.
It was a Sunday, and I absolutely had to be home the next day, 750 miles... There was no way I was going to trust any store bought additive, or external putty job to get me home. There's a whole lot of nothing across South Dakota and northern Minnesota, and I didn't want to break down in the middle of no where. I could just see my luck... A blown open radiator, in the middle of no where... with no cell coverage... and no one I know for 100's of miles... I left the bike with friends and found a way home. I went back a couple of weeks later and picked up my bike and trailered it home.
Winter came quickly to WI, and spring came late. The other day it was finally nice enough to start working on the bike to get it ready for riding.
It was pretty easy to take the plastics off and pull the radiator off. This is what I found...
The Cox guard came with small sponge foam blocks that were attached to the guard. They were intended to keep the guard from touching the radiator core. Over the course of 9 riding seasons and 54,300 miles, a couple of the foam blocks collapsed, and the steel guard made contact with 2 aluminum radiator tubes on the very bottom left corner of the radiator. Over who knows how many miles, the guard rubbed on the radiator and eventually, while I was far from home, the tubing got thin enough to leak under pressure...
I do not fault the guard, but want to remind others to check the condition of the foam blocks if the have a Cox Radiator Guard on their bike.
Here's some pics...
You can see the difference in the foam on the left Vs. right side.. The still thick foam...
The collapsed foam... see the bright marks where it's been rubbing...
Here's a close up of the radiator, see the 2 damaged tubes...
An over all shot of the radiator.. It's in great shape for 54+ thousand miles. There's a little sand/tiny gavel in some of the fins, but still looking good. Very clean inside too.
I was looking on Ebay for a replacement, but most of them looked like crap compared to mine. All mashed fins...
I found a radiator shop that can repair the aluminum and will guarantee their work for less than the cost of one of the crappy looking, crashed bike, salvage yard, ebay ones.
* Last updated by: ErikR on 5/8/2018 @ 7:27 PM *
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