Hi Guys,

Got an issue with my bike recently. Mine is a 2015 ZX14R with 32,XXX KM on it.

I'm from Singapore and it gets pretty hot here. I'm going for a short ride in a couple of days and checked my coolant reservoir and it was empty as I don't know why my bike likes to drink coolant. Not just mine but all my mates who ride a 14 have experienced this. We also have tried different brands of coolant but the results are the same.

So went to my usual bike shop for a free top of of coolant. When doing this, he noticed and informed me that coolant seems to be leaking from one of the hoses. I will try to get a photo of it but this is my description of it. It isn't like a major leak. More like its going to deteriorate soon.

So upon deciding to change the hoses, anyone experienced better performance with SAMCO or other silicon hoses when compared to stock ones? Just FYI, I got a quote of SGD $5XX for silicon ones and $3XX for stockers....

What'd you all think?

* Last updated by: static369 on 1/31/2018 @ 3:06 AM *

I'm going for a short ride in a couple of days and checked my coolant reservoir and it was empty as I don't know why my bike likes to drink coolant.

..but if you have a bulge in your hose or cracks, damn dude--change that like NOW. Get any kind of heater hose that has the correct diameter and put it on temporarily. Make it extra long if you need that to avoid kinking. As long as coolant flows through it, the length isn't important. Or else don't ride it. If she blows when your riding you'll be scalded and stranded.

So upon deciding to change the hoses, anyone experienced better performance with SAMCO or other silicon hoses when compared to stock ones? Just FYI, I got a quote of SGD $5XX for silicon ones and $3XX for stockers....
What'd you all think?

I have not had any coolant loss on my 08 zx14, I'm getting ready to replace the coolant in my bike and there looks to be exactly the same amount in the reservoir that there was when I last changed the coolant a couple of years ago.

Since the issue is not exclusive to your motorcycle, I would suspect that either each of the bikes were assembled with the same issue (for example, the same dealership sold the bikes and made the same mistake on each of them when assembling the vehicle for sale). It could be something with the environment where the coolant is getting so hot that it overflows the reservoir, I doubt this is the case since we would have similar reports from the southern US. Perhaps the type of coolant is the issue, although unlikely, if you are running straight water it will slowly evaporate away.

As for the hoses, the silicon ones sure look pretty and I'm not sure if they last longer than the stock rubber hoses. I have not needed to replace any on mine after 8-9 years so I can't imagine needing to replace all of the hoses on your bike after only 3 years! Perhaps if one hose is faulty and leaking sure, manufacturing defects happen, but that should only cost a few dollars not hundreds.

My '14 coolant level stays constant and its hot here in the summer and it is usually over 100F in the summer when I ride.

I recently flushed and refilled with Aluma Cool and the temp gage seems to be a bit higher than the first 7500 mile.

Thank you all.I'm still trying to get pricing from other places on the hoses...

Will try to post an update when I'm changing them.

This is for the Gen1 but I imagine the Gen2 water hose removal is nearly identical.

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=DB506338-EBDB-265E-2EBEA01A030B9094 

I was going to donate my water hoses to Samco for copy. I believe I checked into part numbers for the Gen2 and they were the same as the Gen1 part #s. but I could not convince Samco of that. They did not even believe me that the 06-07 was the same as the 08-11. LOL they would not even cover shipping to Britain so I said, screw you! Let somebody in Britain donate their hoses and I guess they did. Damn, you'd think a well known company like that would just buy a damn set of hoses for $300. I would have been mighty proud to have exact replicas of the Rook ZX-14 hoses on every 14 that got Samcos but that's a dream that will never come true.

* Last updated by: Rook on 1/31/2018 @ 10:56 PM *

Good point about why wouldn't they just buy the hoses themselves... Perhaps this way they also get the added benefit of a "free QA test" when you got the new hoses back you would install them and provide feedback on the installation. If they just bought the hoses they wouldn't be able to test fitment afterwards. Just a guess.

HMmmm--IDK--maybe my perception of the profitability of Samco is inflated but I'd think they could buy a bike to test fit the hoses themselves. Then sell the bike if they want. From my conversation with the Samco guy, it seemed to be more than just a small shop. there were a number of people involved in the development of the hoses. He could not make a decision without conferring with his team of coworkers. ?? They would have taken my hoses but would not agree to pay the $65 shipping to England! That sounds more like a guy working out of his basement.

Hi Guys,

Wanted to post an update on the current situation.

I managed to get the samco hose's for SGD $3XX instead of the previous price (Went to a different shop). I did not get the clips based on the mech's recommendations. I was informed that zx14r's hose clips are similar to the samco ones as in the internals won't damage the hoses.

It was also written on the package, it fits 14's from 2006 to 2016.

Currently the cooling system is out and for a wash. Previously was on maxima coolant. I'm not sure if that or whatever else has corroded the system. A lot of white powderish stuff inside the radiator.

* Last updated by: static369 on 3/24/2018 @ 10:31 PM *

Photobucket screwed you over too. Try the forum pics.